Rondo on Kings: 'I haven't been this excited since the '08 team in Boston'

It's been a tumultuous few months for the Sacramento Kings, but with the preseason fast approaching, the storm appears to have abated.

Vice president and general manager Vlade Divac has seemingly sorted out his trust issues with head coach George Karl, who in turn has seemingly mended fences with All-NBA center DeMarcus Cousins. Incumbent point guard Darren Collison, who initially seemed less than enthused about the Kings' signing of point guard Rajon Rondo, now says he's on board with the move.

And Rondo, coming off a trying and reputation-killing half-season with the Dallas Mavericks, is excited to reverse the narrative - both his own and that of the Kings, who haven't made the playoffs in nine years.

"Man I haven't been this excited since the '08 team in Boston," Rondo told Vince Miracle of Cowbell Kingdom, referring to the Celtics outfit that brought in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the offseason and went on to win the NBA championship. "If we can buy into coach Karl's system, I think we are going to shock a lot of people."

While nobody in their right mind is comparing the Kings' offseason to the one the Celtics had in the summer of 2007 - especially given that Sacramento whiffed on top targets like Wesley Matthews and Monta Ellis - additions like Rondo, Marco Belinelli, and Kosta Koufos should, in theory, make them a better team. In Cousins, they have a bona fide superstar, and as dispiriting as last season turned out to be, the 29 games the Kings won still marked their highest total since 2007-08.

Lost amidst the dysfunction were small signs of progress.

"You know I told myself when he (Cousins) came into the league, and I talked to KG a couple times, and I told him he will be the best big in the game; and he is the best big in the game," Rondo said. "Why not play with a guy that can dominate the paint. The game starts inside out and he can control the game in so many different areas."

Karl, for his part, also sounds optimistic about coaching Rondo, despite the point guard's much-publicized clashes with Mavs coach Rick Carlisle last season.

"Andre (Miller) is in my mind, the best passing guard I've ever coached and I think Rondo might challenge that," Karl said, before slyly acknowledging the potential combustibility of the situation: "It'll be interesting to see what I think about Rondo six months from now."

Rondo knows there will be doubters, both of the Kings and of himself, but it's nothing he hasn't dealt with before.

"They been doubting me since I got drafted," he said. "That's kind of how I always play. I have been doubted my whole life."