Empty the Bench

By: Andrew Thell

“The Kids are Alright” series rolls on with a look at the Sacramento Kings, a team that finished with an NBA-low 17 wins last season but has some young talent worth keeping an eye on. Also from this series, don’t miss our take on the Detroit Pistons, Memphis Grizzlies, and Philadelphia 76ers … more to come.

Why They’re Worth Watching: After starting the decade with a string of elite seasons, winning between 55 and 61 games from 2000-01 through 2003-04, this team has been in freefall. Over the last five years they’ve won 50, 44, 33, 38 and 17 games. The 17-65 mark from a season ago was the worst in franchise history, and Sac Town is unquestionably in full rebuilding mode. Going into the season we all knew the Kings would be one of the worst teams in the NBA, if not the worst. Losing their leading scorer and highest-paid player in Kevin Martin in the first week certainly doesn’t help that prognosis, but perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise. Wins are not a priority right now. Developing talent and accruing ping-pong balls are, and the Kings should have plenty of opportunity to do both – while still showing distinct glimmers of hope.

The biggest reason I’m watching the Kings right now it to get a handle on and a glimpse of the 2009-10 NBA Rookie of the Year, Tyreke Evans. The guy is going to be a big name in this league for a long time. The absurd 22.2 field-goal attempts per game Martin had averaged on the young season have to go somewhere, and the leading beneficiary is young Mr. Evans, who now has the inside track on ROY honors after the injury to Blake Griffin. Even before the Griffin and Martin injuries Evans had a great shot at leading all rookies in scoring, but the rook responded to K-Mart’s first game absent with 32 points on 7-15 shooting (2-3 from deep), 16-19 (!) from the line, 3 boards, 7 dimes and a steal with just 2 turnovers – and he did it on the Utah Jazz defense, matched up against Deron Williams and Ronnie Brewer for a bulk of the game. He’s going to put up numbers.

Evans is a terrific athlete who can get to the rim at will and is capable of playing solid defense. He also played plenty of both guard positions both at Memphis and in high school, which is good because he’s going to be asked to do it a lot with Kevin Martin on the roster. He still has holes in his game, but Tyreke is a solid 6-6, 215-pound kid with a 7’3 wingspan, good instincts and a ton of upside. He’s a young man you’ll want to acquaint yourself with.

The future in Sactown up front is the young duo of Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes. The 6-11 Thompson has a strong offensive repertoire with decent range and plays with a lot of energy underneath. He can rebound and score around the basket, though it’s unclear at this point if he’s better cast as a four or a five. The tentative five of the future is Hawes, who has great shooting and passing skills for a young man of his size. These two could be a dynamic duo. Neither is the prototypical NBA center, but the way this league is going not many teams will have one of those in a couple years.

Also of interest up front is Donte Greene, a 6-10 second-year player out of Syracuse. A first-round pick in the summer of 2008, Greene is a hard worker who can score and clean the glass and oozes potential. He’s a long, athletic player who can finish around the basket and runs well, but will take time to adjust to the NBA level.

What the future holds in Sacramento, after the jump …

What’s the Plan?: Jason Thompson, Spencer Hawes and Tyreke Evans certainly have the look of building blocks, and each is promising in his own right. They’ll need to surround these kids with complementary young talent and decide if Hawes and Thompson can be a dynamic duo on the blocks.

The Kings are also committed to Kevin Martin through the 2012-13 with a large contract. For better or worse, he’s the starting shooting guard on this team for the foreseeable future. I’m not sold on his entire game, and I think he was overpaid for putting up big scoring numbers on bad teams, but he is an electric scorer with a lightning-quick first step who can take it to the hole and also possesses one of the sweetest mid-range strokes in the NBA – when healthy. As mentioned above, that means Evans is going to have to learn the point, which may be a bit unorthodox for a man his size, but could work given Evans’ skills.

And they may not be the most attractive destination right now, but Sacramento could be big-time players in NBA free agency over the next two seasons. Next summer the Kings will only be locked into $41 million in salary (and just $31 mill the next summer) and be looking at a free-agent class of Joe Johnson, Manu Ginobili, Am’a'r’e Stoudemire, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, Michael Redd, Tyson Chandler, Travis Outlaw and more.

How the Future Looks: Sacramento made a significant move off the court this season in bringing in Paul Westphal, a coach who can change the mentality and culture of this young team. He’s a coach with a proven track record of success that has taught young players winning basketball in the past. Westphal should have a strong hand in rebuilding this franchise.

I’m not entirely sold on Martin’s overall contributions as a basketball player when healthy, and with his injury history and contract concerns are added to the mix he doesn’t strike me as an ideal building block. But that’s what he is right now.

I really do like the trio of Thompson, Hawes and Evans. I think Evans and Thompson in particular could be exceptional NBA players. Donte Greene as well as rookies Omri Casspi and Jon Brockman are also promising role players who could be part of a winning rotation in the right mix.

Other than those young men, there’s not a lot to project here. The Kings have some extra draft picks to work with and a lot of salary cap flexibility. It’s all going to come down to how Westphal handles the youngsters, how they in turn develop and how Geoff Petrie handles all the roster freedom around that young talent. Off the court Westphal and Petrie are two men who have proven capable in the past, on the court Evans and Thompson could be stars.

Stay tuned.

More from The Kids are Alright Series:
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Detroit Pistons
- Philadelphia 76ers