For the right price you can have Tyreke Evans

Tyreke Evans was once thought to be the a major cornerstone of the Sacramento Kings’ rebuilding efforts. He was the rookie of the year and seemed to have a bright future ahead of him. His star has now dimmed and now is rumored to be on the trading block.

Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee touches upon why Evans could be had for the right price.

Kings executives will entertain trade offers for Tyreke Evans this summer, and they should.
Evans remains a major asset. His team remains in a major funk. When a franchise finishes near the conference cellar for six consecutive seasons, the general manager needs to make significant personnel changes, or the franchise needs to change its general manager.


But that’s an organizational decision.


Evans, who has a year remaining on his contract, has his own decision to make. He has to figure out what he wants and how badly he wants it. He has to determine what kind of player he wants to be and proceed accordingly, essentially controlling what he can control.

Evans has one year left on his rookie contract and is at a crossroads in his young career. There’s no doubt that he’s talented but which position do you play him at? He had a good rookie year as the point guard although he was miscast in that role. But when you look at him in college Memphis’ season didn’t take off until John Calipari put the ball in Evans’ hands and let him go.  

I’m not saying that’s what the Kings must do, but Evans operates best when he dominates the ball. Kings consultant Pete Carril says Evans needs to learn how to play without the ball.

“I don’t think it’s any big secret,” Princeton legend and longtime Kings consultant Pete Carril said the other night. “Tyreke’s got to learn to play without the ball. It’s all there. I see some games, and he looks very good. Other games … he just has to work harder. I’d love to see him develop a mid-range game.” 

If I were in the Kings’ front office I’d wait to pull the trigger on an Evans trade. They need to watch film and see what works best for him. On the flip side Evans also needs to watch film, get in the gym and develop a jump shot and work more on his game. Evans should be a natural at shooting guard, but right now he looks like a man without a position.

Cousins says he wants to stay in Sacramento

For all the headaches he provides, DeMarcus Cousins is a good basketball player. To me he’s a younger version of Zach Randolph as troubling as that might sound. He does come with less off court baggage. The young big man can flat out play and provided that he’s surrounded by a good team he’d probably less of a headache. Instead he’s in Sacramento with teammates just as young as he is and not much veteran leadership. Good thing head coach Keith Smart appears to have broken through to the young man.

Earlier this year there was a reported rift between Cousins and former coach Paul Westphal. Then there was Lakers center Andrew Bynum saying he felt bad for Cousins for having to play in Sacramento. Reports were saying he was trying to force himself out of Sactown. Despite the troubling season Cousins has continued to perform and says he wants to remain in Sacramento.

“Sacramento is where I want to be,’’ he said. “I want to bring the organization back, help the organization get started back winning. I love the city of Sacramento. That’s where I want to be. End of story.


“We can dig a hole, throw that topic in there, cover it with dirt, pack it down. I want to be in Sacramento. End of story.’’  


Don’t worry Sacramento, DeMarcus is in it for the long haul. Now about those Tyreke Evans rumors.  

Sacramento Kings Players Aren’t In Lockstep With The Coaches

You thought the Washington Wizards were a mess. The Sacramento Kings talk like they’re trying to get head coach Paul Westphal a bus ticket out of town.

It doesn’t look good when two of your supposed future cornerstones are questioning what the coach is drawing up on the sidelines. I know Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins aren’t the model citizens of the NBA, but if they have doubt in the coach and respected veteran Chuck Hayes feeling like he made a bad move by signing with the Kings, it may be time to cut bait with Westphal.

“Teams go on 10-0 runs, and we cave in,” forward Chuck Hayes said.

“It’s like we shoot because we haven’t put up a shot after three times up and down the court,” Hayes said.

Hayes is probably wondering what he signed up for.

“What offense?” Cousins replied when asked about the Kings’ most obvious weakness. “I really don’t want to say anything.”

“It seems like everybody is out there for themselves. He (Westphal) says to push the ball, but it’s like when the first pass gets through, we’re done,” Evans said.

From what I saw is that there is too much dribbling and not enough cohesion on a team that some thought would show some improvement this season.

“Everybody keeps blaming the coach, about the plays, the plays not (being) good, but, hey, it be like that sometime,”  Evans said. “You’ve just got to play.”

“We just look lost, “Evans said. “We’re just playing off our natural talent to get our points. It’s terrible right now. We’ve just got to figure something out.”

“I don’t know what that was,” center DeMarcus Cousins said. “Running the offense coach tells us to run. Just doing what coach say. Got to do what your coach say.”

Let me translate those thoughts. We’re only doing what coach tells us but the plan he has isn’t working and we need to try something different.

I know players play and coaches coach, but for Westphal’s sake the Kings better get it together before he finds himself out of a job.    

Scot Pollard Calls Phil Jackson Overrated

It didn’t take long for the Phil Jackson haters to come out after the Los Angeles Lakers were ousted by the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA playoffs. Scot Pollard, formerly of the Sacramento Kings and other NBA squads, voiced his opinion on the all time championship coach.

“Oh man. I just think he’s one of the most overrated coaches of our time. He’s only had the greatest players of our era on his teams. Put him in charge of the Sacramento Kings this year, and I don’t mean to offend Sacramento fans, but put him on a team with no Hall-Of-Famers on it at least no one that has established themselves as a Hall-Of-Famer already, put him as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers right now and let’s see how he does next year with no Hall-Of-Famers on the team. That’s all I’m saying.



I respect his championships, I respect his ability to get egos in line and get them in the same direction, but I just think he’s overrated because he’s only had the greatest players of our generation.


All I’m saying is I would like to see Phil Jackson coach a team that doesn’t belong in the playoffs. … I think if you put him in charge of a team without at least one or two future Hall-Of-Famers on it and I’m not sure he’s going to get you a championship ring. I doubt that.”

I see where Pollard is coming from on this subject and has a good argument. When Michael Jordan had his two year hiatus, the Chicago Bulls were competitive but not a true championship contender. On the other hand they weren’t thought of as a true contender until Jackson got to Chicago. You can also argue that    

Sacramento Sports Director Plays A Joke On Kings Fans

From Mediabistro.com

It was a cruel bit of hype for KTXL‘s 10 p.m. newscast: about an hour before the broadcast, sports director Jim Crandell, who has been nicknamed “Scoopmeister” by the Sacramento Bee, tweeted, “Coming up in my show at 10PM, David Stern makes the announcement no Kings wants to hear…”

Sacramento sports fans have been anxiously waiting a decision on whether or not their beloved Kings will move to Anaheim after the season. Last month, NBA commissioner David Stern expressed his discontent with the stadium situation in Sacramento and confirmed that a move was possible. Had Crandell landed a scoop that would break the hearts of sports fans in the city?

It turns out that, no, he hadn’t. After teasing the Stern soundbite throughout the newscast, Crandell merely played archival footage from 1985 of Stern (right) announcing that the Kings were moving to Sacramento from Kansas City, the franchise’s previous home. KTXL played the original footage first and then played it again with the cities crudely dubbed in so that it sounded like Stern was announcing a move from Sacramento to Anaheim.

The would-be joke sparked outrage among many viewers. The Kings are the only major sports team in Sacramento and the community’s enthusiasm has provided the team with one of the best home court advantages in the NBA.

After the scoop that wasn’t, Crandell had to deal with angry viewers on Twitter. “U seriously owe this city an apology for that BS u pulled 2night,” wrote one.

“YOU DO NOT MESS WITH THE HEART OF SACRAMENTO @ A TIME LIKE THIS.”

Crandell responded to Kings fan “LocalStreetHero” tweeting, “Wow, Local, you are one mad dude. Sorry you got so upset. Thankfully, most people took it in the spirit it was intended.”

Sacramento Has To Remember Cousins Is Still A Kid

Whether the brass in the Sacramento Kings’ organization like it or not, rookie center DeMarcus Cousins is still a kid. Now don’t get my words twisted. He’s still a kid in a sense that he still has to grow up mentally. He’s going to give you headaches now and it’s going to take a year or five for him to get his head straight. Maybe he’s a lot like Zach Randolph, who now looks like a model citizen. Yes, insert joke there.

Last night Cousins’ immaturity was on display when he made a choking motion to Golden State’s Reggie Williams after he missed a late game free throw. Coach Paul Westphal wasn’t too happy with Cousins and fined him and removed him from the starting lineup. Of course Cousins says the only reason why he’s being punished is because they lost. No DeMarcus. It’s because your a jackass.

Unlike Tyreke Evans, whose problems have come off the court, all Cousins’ problems will come on the court. He’ll be more of a headache to coaches and teammates during a game than being a royal pain off of it. I only say that because I personally haven’t heard of any off court problems when he was in high school or at Kentucky. I’m not saying you treat him with kid gloves or coddle him. He has to become a man, since he’s now in a grown man’s world. Give him a few years to grow up and if he doesn’t then trade him. If you don’t want to wait that long trade him now and cut your losses. I do think he has the potential to be a coach killer if he can’t demonstrate the ability to mature.