Author: Ziller

The Kings were involved in another trade today, sending Brian Skinner to Portland for Vitaly Potapenko and Sergei Monia.

Skinner, you remember, used to get playing time last season. Potapenko was a highly-touted Ukrainian big man in 1996, when he was picked 12th overall by the pre-LeBron Cleveland franchise. Now, Potapenko is just a big Russian man. He was benched earlier this season by Seattle coach Bob HIll for being overweight and out of shape.

Monia is a Russian rookie swingman who doesn’t look entirely different from a mid-1990s Devin Sawa. He hasn’t played much in the States, though he starred for Russia’s top club team for several years. He ain’t Andrei Kirilenko, but then again, who is? He needs to learn how to shoot before he can help the Kings do anything.

So, anyone want to suggest some fine Eastern European fare around Sacramento for our new neighbors? (Because you know the first thing Vitaly and Sergei are doing after learning about the trade is cruising to The Sac Rag.)

UPDATE: Rumors are swirling that the deal is off. Damn unstable players and their psychotic tendencies.

Extra, extra, read all about it.

Even the most casual fans know Artest, possibly because he was suspended for most of last season after inciting a massive brawl in Detroit’s Palace of Auburn Hills. Also, you may know him as the guy who shaved the name of his record label into the back of his head.

Peja spent 6+ seasons here in Sacramento. He’s off to the Indiana Pacers, presumably to get his stroke back and become an All-Star caliber shooter again.

Lock up the women and children. Or at least do that when the Kings are next scheduled to come home, a week from today.

NOTE: This is the first-ever edition of Pick & Droll, a weekly column devoted to the Sacramento Kings and the NBA, and available exclusively on The Sac Rag. Enjoy.

Now that Monarchs fever has subsided (hey, my temperature rose 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit!), the Kings are again the sporting focus of Sacramento. Training camp opens this week, which means opening day is but around the corner.

This squad is a largely unfamiliar team – only the nucleus of Brad Miller, Peja Stojakovic and Mike Bibby remain from last summer. The three players we got for Chris Webber are all still around, and three new rotation players have been added, as well.

So what are the biggest questions heading into the season?

(Column continued in extended entry.)
Continue reading “Pick & Droll: We Have Questions, You Have the Answers?”

The Kings got Bonzi Wells in a three-way deal. Bobby Jackson and Greg Ostertag are leaving Sacramento in the deal.

I’m sad yet relieved to see Bobby go. He couldn’t stay healthy the past few years – if he had, we might have a ring (we? Ha!). Tag? Good riddance.

I’m excited for BONZI though, mostly because Bonzi is a really fun name to say. Also, he’s a beast. We need more beasts.

And pot dealers – get ready! Business is about to go up!

The NBA’s free agency period is upon us. So what’s that mean for you, the Kings fan who hopes to see a winning team next year?

It means you need to shape up your yard. We don’t want to see any weeds and Geo Metros or anything among the Gloriosa lillies and crape myrtle – we’ve got a city to sell!

If you want Kwame Brown or Udonis Haslem or even (gasp!) Samuel Dalembert to be pulling down boards for your Sacramento Kings next season, you’d better put a smile on your face and greet those nice young men when they come into town to check out the practice facility. Free drinks, free merchandise and free coconut shrimp are all we ask of you, Sacramento merchants.

And if you work at Centerfolds or Risky Business and you see a tall athletic African-American fellow sitting with a guy with a mullet, be a team player and give him some special attention. The black guy, that is. Not Petrie.

(Cross-posted at Pick&Droll: A Kings Blog.)

You’ve heard by now that the Kings picked Louisville two-guard Francisco Garcia in Tuesday’s draft.

There were a lot of questions surrounding the Kings before, and even more now. One thing everyone has been harping on is what this means for last year’s pick, Kevin Martin, who is considered a very similar player to Garcia.

I’m more concerned with what this means for Maurice Evans, our restricted free agent. It’s nearly consensus that Mo would be great to have off the bench the next few years, and possibly as our starting two-guard at some point. But he’s not ready to start regularly this year, and neither are Martin or Garcia. And Cuttino Mobley is thisclose to officially being a free agent – one we’d have trouble affording.

So, who’s our starting shooting guard this year? We’re not getting Ray Allen or Larry Hughes or Michael Redd. Are we going to (gulp) start Bibby and Bobby? It’d be thoroughly entertaining, but we’d give up 140 points every time we played against decent guards (hello Kobe, Baron, Nash, Ray Allen and Tracy McGrady! Good to see you each four times a year!)

I think either a trade will bring us our starting shooting guard or we have a strong sense that Doug Christie will sign here cheap once/if Orlando releases him. I’m all for trades, because at this point, I’m barely eager to watch the assembled team. And Doug would be a nice fill-in and a defensive mentor for Mo (who we really should re-sign) and Francisco. Kevin, I’m afraid if I ran the team, I’d be saying it was nice knowing you.

By the way, hello SacRag readers! I’m Ziller, and I run a Kings blog called Pick&Droll. I’ll be posting both here and there, so feel free to visit both often. Often, I said.