What does this picture remind you of?

Some of you may immediately think of the glory years of the Kings when the Lakers were the post-season challenge everybody wanted and the Chris Webber-Vlade Divac-Peja Stojakovic-Doug Christie-Mike Bibby hydra seemed like a group of talent that was destined to hoist trophies.

But now, this image is looking more and more like the evolution of Maloof Sports and Entertainment. The broadcasting team has received a major star-studded overhaul over the past week. Jim Gray has replaced Kayte Christensen as the sideline reporter for 20 games next season. Even though Kayte has been extremely good at her job over the past, the Kings decided to not renew her contract.

This prompted an extremely awkward piece by Ailene Voisin for the Sacramento Bee in which she used yet another confusing and puzzling example of physical attributes while throwing her usual unnecessary jabs at Kayte and Tyreke Evans (out of NOWHERE). This move is being sold as a hard-hitting reporter who won’t take no for an answer. He won’t allow the usual clichés to infiltrate his broadcast. He won’t do “puff pieces.”

You know… that is until he tries to get Tyreke to speak up on camera or Beno Udrih to compare himself to Goran Dragic or Francisco Garcia to not playfully answer questions because that’s just the kind of guy he is. After all this is sideline reporting. This is going to be roughly four full minutes of air time over the course of each game of journalism you can’t get anywhere else, especially not from an attractive basketball player who connected with audiences (right, Ailene?).

Personally, I have no problem with Jim Gray. I always enjoyed what he did as much as I enjoyed any sideline reporter. For me, it rarely adds much to the game because I’m more interested in analyzing the play on the court for myself and with people who are more in-depth with the way they present these types of things. I’m not saying that Jim Gray doesn’t know his stuff but at the same time, it’s hard to really get into it when you only get 30 seconds of talk time.

I’d much rather listen to someone like Jerry Reynolds give his expert opinion. As my dad has said for years, Jerry has probably forgotten more about basketball than most people will ever know. And that’s what I care for in my basketball telecasts. I want experts that know the game inside and out.

And that’s what makes the second part of this makeover for the Kings broadcasts so exciting to me. The Kings are going to bring in Bill Walton to be a part of the rebuilding of this organization.

According to The Bee, Bill Walton will start off this season doing roughly five to 10 Kings games next season as he eases his way back into the broadcasting booth. A lot of those games will come from the four games in Los Angeles next season along with some higher profile games (think Kobe, Dwight Howard, LeBron James types of games). He’s also going to watch some games at home and provide commentary from there (Skype, anyone?).

I think this is a huge coup for the Kings and their entertainment. Even though the three-man booth in local NBA broadcasts is a rarity, putting the right people together can definitely work. Jerry Reynolds and Bill Walton are definitely the right people. Both are wonderful storytellers and analysts of the game. I know some people have this misconception that Bill Walton wasn’t good at his job but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Bill Walton is a joy to have broadcasting games. He provides a perfect balance between humor, reality, analysis and pure entertainment. He has a recognizable voice and style that will win Kings fans over as he’s gushing over the dominance of Tyreke Evans, the rare big man skills of Spencer Hawes, the toughness of Carl Landry or the joy that Donté Greene brings to a basketball game.

Whether you like Grant Napier or not, he is one of the better local announcers in the league with the way he calls a game. Trust me; I’ve looked around the NBA for this.

Now, the Kings are basically assembling an All-Star crew to talk about their future All-Star crew. It’s almost foreshadowing what the Kings will be by bringing the glitz and glamour to the organization now.

Jason Jones reports that Geoff Petrie talked to Oklahoma State guard James Anderson, Kansas center Cole Aldrich and Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe in Chicago:

“They were all very good in their own separate ways,” Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie said. “Aldrich and Anderson have been in college a little longer, and Bledsoe is very prepared, very upfront about a lot of things. I think it’s a first-time experience for them all.”

He also reports that the Kings were slated to interview John Wall and Evan Turner but after the way the Lottery shook out with the Kings securing the fifth pick, the two players didn’t show up. Pretty standard, apparently, but still rude. Good luck with that Wizards and Sixers (/envious).

Alex Kramers of When Kingdom Come fame wrote a nice piece on the NBA Draft Lottery for Kings Fan Fare. Alex covered the event for Kings.com:

A similarly ringing endorsement came from NBA Commissioner David Stern, who said Evans is “not only a terrific young man, but a great basketball player who deserves all of the accolades he’s getting.”

“What Geoff Petrie has been able to do, is retool the Kings on the run, making them younger, faster, more exciting and with a lot of promise for the future,” Stern continued. “I think it’s always easy to chase athletes and roster changes with dollars, but I enjoy the changes being made with intelligent decisions.”

You can read the entire piece here.

TrueHoop Network brother Dan Feldman of Pistons Powered has made a great chart that shows us which players will be available for the first seven selections. He’s taken all of the major mock drafts to find the odds.

This will be updated throughout the next month and five days. Concentrate on the bright blue areas for each player.

Mock drafts used

• Chad Ford of ESPN
• Tom Ziller of FanHouse
• Dave Del Grande of CBS Sports
• Jonathon Feigen of CBS Sports
• Sean Deveney of the SportingNews
• Christopher Reina of RealGM
• Jonathon Givony of HoopsHype
• Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News
• Mark Heisler of the Los Angeles Times
• DraftExpress
• NBADraft.net
• HoopsWorld
• Draftology.net
• My NBA Draft
• Court Visionaries
• NBA Draft Addicts
• NBA Draft Guru
• The Football Fan Spot

Initial reaction for a lot of Kings fans was definitely sad panda. But there needs to be some bright side here. The Kings are not in a bad position at all.

To have the fifth pick in the draft gives you great flexibility in what you want to do. The Kings have a truckload of cap space, the best rookie who looks to be a franchise star, and one of the brightest front office decision-makers in the NBA. They were the third youngest team in the NBA this year. A lot of these guys were barely in high school when the Kings had their heyday. Between Tyreke Evans, Jason Thompson, Donté Greene, Spencer Hawes, Carl Landry, Beno Udrih and Omri Casspi this team has a fantastic young core. Now you can potentially add a valuable free agent or player from a trade and the fifth pick in the draft.

That’s not a bad position to be in.

Yes, it’s disappointing to not get John Wall, Evan Turner or Derrick Favors. Those guys look like bonafide studs. But don’t the Kings already have a stud in Tyreke Evans? Don’t they already have promising young big men inside? This is not the end of the world.

The Panda will be happy again.

- Chad Ford has his first Mock Draft since the Lottery shook out and DeMarcus Cousins (Kentucky) looks to be the early pick (Insider):

Analysis: While Cousins has the talent to be a top pick, he has scared away teams a bit with his on-court antics and a motor that sometimes moves to idle. But at No. 5, he would be a great pick for the Kings, giving them toughness, rebounding and a legitimate, low-post scorer. Teaming him with Carl Landry, Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes would give Sacramento a very good front line.

- Draft Express has the Kings going with Al-Farouq Aminu from Wake Forest.

- NBADraft.net has the Kings selecting Greg Monroe from Georgetown.

Tonight is the Draft Lottery as everybody south of the eighth seed conference lines know and the Kings have the third best chance at securing a Top 3 pick.

There’s a little problem with that though. The Kings have horrible luck in acquiring a proper draft pick in the lottery. Since the lottery became a weighted process in 1990, the Kings have dropped in the lottery six times, stayed even with their position six times and made the playoffs the rest of the times. They’ve never moved up in the draft in 20 years. That’s sort of staggering to think about. They just flat-out have bad luck when it comes to playing ping pong, beer pong or with one of those toy guns that shoots ping pong balls.

The current situation for the Kings (third worst record in the league) gives them the following chances:

- 15.6% chance at moving up to number one
- 15.7% chance at moving up to number two
- 15.6% chance at staying with number three
- 22.6% chance at dropping to number four
- 26.5% chance at dropping to number five
- 4% chance at dropping to number six

The Kings have made the stomach-punching three-slot drop twice in the history of the weighted lottery. In 1993, they dropped from fourth to seventh and ended up with Bobby Hurley. In 2009, they dropped from first to fourth and ended up with some Tyreke Evans guy.

The Draft Lottery (5pm tonight on ESPN) is something that a lot of Kings fans don’t look forward to from the response I’ve received. But I want to make sure nobody has any trepidation about it. Here are five reasons the Kings will win the draft lottery:

1) Sacramento needs a new arena. David Stern and the committee who decides things dealing with arenas and fans hopes and such are going to have a heck of a time convincing the city of Sacramento, especially the Cal Expo folk, that this land swap, do-not-pass-go arena deal needs to get finalized. It’s not a bad deal by any means but it’s also not a no-brainer for all parties involved. Grabbing the first pick in the 2010 draft and essentially winning the rights to future super and marketing star John Wall would help keep the ball rolling. Stars and winning help secure arena deals in the NBA. Giving the Kings John Wall to go with Tyreke Evans would inevitably be another check in the pro column for this arena deal. David Stern knows this and will freeze the necessary ping pong balls to make this happen.

2) Tyreke Evans is representing the Kings at the lottery. All Tyreke knows how to do is win awards. Well, the number one pick in the NBA Draft is an award in and of itself (unless you’re the Clippers). Tyreke swept the rookie awards with the 2010 Rookie of the Year award AND the All-Rookie First Team selection (unanimous selection). NO OTHER ROOKIE CAN SAY THAT THIS YEAR!!! So clearly when the NBA reveals tonight that the winner of the lottery will be determined by several games of one-on-one, Tyreke Evans will once again show his dominance and walk away with the top pick.

3) John Wall means a dance partner for Donté Greene. I think that if the Kings receive the number one pick in the 2010 draft, they’d be fools not to select John Wall. Nevermind that the Kings already have a point guard in Tyreke. The beauty of a guy like Tyreke is you can slide him to the 2, insert John Wall at the point and watch as the rest of the league wets their pants in fear of having to guard those two. Outside of his play, John Wall is an accomplished dancer. I think he won first on a season of Dancing With the Stars and he even has his own dance:

Coming to the Kings would give Donté Greene a worthy dance partner.

4) Psychics need to be proven as the frauds they are. JE Skeets and Tas Melas went to a Toronto psychic to find out what the outcome of tonight’s lottery will be. Psychics are swindlers that steal your money and trick you into believing things will happen. They have no psychic abilities and are just very good at reading and manipulating people. They need to be exposed as tricksters. The Kings winning the lottery tonight will start the process of turning the psychic game on its head and giving it a swirly in the boys bathroom.

5) C’mon! It’s been 20 freaking years! How about some good karma being shared this way? The law of averages alone states that this is bordering on the absurd. The Kings have never moved up in the draft since the lottery became weighted. Before that, they “won the lottery” in 1989 and had to suffer through Pervis Ellison being their top pick. As Ziller states, they’ve stayed pretty quiet through the entire Donaghy fiasco, which should have awarded them some brownie points. The Clippers have won the lottery three times and their owner is the symbol of all that is horrible in the world. The Magic won the lottery in back-to-back years after setting up NBA residency for just three years. The Spurs won the lottery twice in ten years and received two Hall of Famers. It’s time to reward the royalty.

Bonus Reason: It will make the Draft Lottery Block Party in Midtown ridiculously awesome.

While putting together a post that will be up in a little bit, I came across this clip from the Donté Greene Show. It was recorded on UStream November 9th of 2009.

It’s basically Donté and Jason Thompson arguing about who has been to more places. I couldn’t stop laughing throughout it and then JT decided to free style. Let’s just say it’s good his profession is basketball and not coming up with lyrics on the spot. Enjoy:

“One foul, two foul, your breath is foul.”

Nice piece from The Bee by Jason Jones talking about Jason Thompson’s brother, who just tried out for the Kings:

“It was really awkward coming off the plane and the first thing I see is a little billboard with him on it,” Ryan said of his brother, Kings forward Jason Thompson. “It’s like, ‘Wow.’ ”

Ryan, a 6-foot-6 guard from Rider, was happy with his workout. It’s the first of two the Kings will host this week featuring six draft hopefuls each.

Ryan has the advantage of having his older brother, just two years removed from the draft process, for advice.

“It’s a grueling process,” Jason said via phone. “And this process prepares you for the league. The workouts are the most important thing.”

Check out the entire article here.

Joseph Santoliquito of MaxPreps has a great piece on Tyreke Evans and his career in high school:

“People forget Tyreke was 12 when he started playing high school basketball,” Reggie said. “We had people criticize us, question us: ‘What are you doing to him? Isn’t it too soon?’ Things like that. But we always believed in Tyreke. We put him right into the fire. We wanted to put him into situations where he could grow and build, and American Christian is where it started. People thought we were crazy for doing what we did. But Tyreke got out there and got exposure.”

It’s a very good article that also discusses Tyreke’s older brother Pooh Evans and his time playing in high school. Click here to read the entire piece.

If you’ve been looking to sharpen your skills, there is no other place to go other than Vaclav Peepi, the Official Victory Teacher.

(h/t – Both Teams Played Hard)

If Spencer Hawes commits “elbow murder” next season then you know who taught him.