Kings coach Paul Westphal hasn't spoken to his two young stars - Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins - since June because of the NBA lockout.
Westphal is hopeful that when he does see them, both are ready to go on the court.
"For them to take the next step to build on their talent and experience, they've got to be in the best possible shape," Westphal said.
In speaking with Evans' trainer, Rob McClanaghan, in July, he said getting Evans in optimal shape was the key to keeping him healthy.
Cousins' offseason regimen was also designed to improve his fitness for his second season.
Last year's training camp had a lot of talk about conditioning - the lack of it - and how it affected the start of the season.
Samuel Dalembert wasn't in the best shape and was quickly slowed by a pulled muscle in his leg. Evans and Donte' Greene also showed up bigger than expected.
Jason Thompson, Pooh Jeter and Darnell Jackson were the three Kings Westphal usually cited when asked players which showed up in optimal shape last season.
Improvement from Cousins and Evans are just a couple reasons Westphal is hopeful about the Kings' chances to improve this season.
Before the lockout the Kingss acquired John Salmons and J.J. Hickson. Drafting Jimmer Fredette is also another reason to expect improvement.
Westphal said the Kings aren't done "tweaking" the roster.
"We've added some experience to this team and we expect we'll add some more experience," Westphal said. "That factor of being such a young and inexperienced team, that factor diminishes with every day that goes by."
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