The Sydney Kings need to find their identity and be better equipped to cope with potential injuries to their star players if they are to be contenders in the strongest NBL competition ever, according to coach Damian Cotter.

It was an indifferent year for the Kings in 2014-15 – they won nine games but lost 19, including their last six after star import Josh Childress was ruled out for the rest of the season with a pectoral injury.

The poor finish raised questions about the squad's depth, but wholesale changes to their roster has filled Cotter with optimism leading into their first game of the season against the Cairns Taipans on Saturday.

"What we've added to the group is what we needed," Cotter said. "This year's group has totally different personalities to last year. That's what the pre-season has been good to discover; what we're good at and what we need to work on. Pre-season has been pretty productive for us. It's largely a new group. We're pretty optimistic about the adjustments we've had to make from our successes and failures from pre-season."

The big additions for the Kings – who will likely feature in their starting five – include NBA draft pick Marcus Thornton, Julian Khazzouh and seasoned guards Steve Markovic and Rhys Carter. 

Important imports: Josh Childress and Marcus Thornton. Photo: Christopher Pearce

Despite the likes of Ben Madgen (Belgium), Kendrick Perry (Hungary) and Cody Ellis (Illawarra Hawks) moving on, Cotter said the experience the Kings boasted would give them a fair chance of breaking their 11-year NBL drought.

Cotter identified three technical areas in pre-season the Kings needed to address: field goal percentages, overall defence and rebounds. Asked if the team was too dependent on Childress at times, Cotter said this year would be different, pointing to the "high degree of basketball IQ" within his group.

"Josh is going to have an impact because of the calibre of the player [he is] and his versatility and how good he is in so many aspects of the game," Cotter said of the NBL's biggest signing. "On one side, we don't want to be relying on him, but on the other side we want him there because he's so important to the group. We have to get better at that and make sure other players stand up.

"Last year's group did a good job in getting some milestone wins, but we just had some misfortune with injures. We've moved on from that. We've had a little bit of adversity to deal with; it's really helped us find our identity with a new team. So far there's been a lot of growth in the group."

Cotter said talk suggesting this year's league was the strongest ever was not far off the mark. He is not disillusioned about the challenge his side faces, but understands the importance of making the most of three home games in eight days to start the season.

"A lot of teams have really improved, the new direction of the league is exciting," Cotter said. "We've got really strong direction from the top. A lot of teams have done a great job at improving their roster and the teams that have been strong have kept their big core group, so they'll be good as well. It's going to be a really challenging year for everybody and I think that's going to be great for the fans."