Your boy and mine, Alex Kramers of When Kingdom Come (also, follow him on Twitter – @doktakra), was at the NBA rookie photo shoot when the 2010 rookie class donned their new work uniforms and took pictures doing basketball things. He covered it for Full Court Press on Kings.com and wrote up a nice story about what DeMarcus Cousins and Hassan Whiteside are thinking about this team and their respective first year’s of the rest of their lives. Peep the link.

Here’s a snippet about Cousins:

After previously declaring he was the best player in the 2010 rookie class, the fifth-overall pick in the NBA Draft continued to stand by his bold proclamation.

“My goal is to win Rookie of the Year, and I think I established myself and earned some respect in summer league,” he said. “But Tyreke (Evans) and I spoke about some of the things we want to accomplish (as a team) this year, starting with making the Playoffs.”

Cousins has worked diligently to refine his game since he was drafted by the Kings to prevent himself from making “rookie mistakes,” and training to stand the rigors of an 82-game schedule.

Many people are questioning DMC’s conditioning this summer but it’s good to see his attitude seems very focused on the task at hand.

As far as Stretch goes, Alex wrote this about Hassan:

Whiteside, in the meantime, has been working on “getting bigger” by lifting weights and toning his lower body. He attended Tim Grgurich’s annual skills camp at UNLV with his new Kings teammate, Jason Thompson, and has also sought advice from Evans.

“We’re a young team and everyone is no more than three-or-four years older than me, so we can relate on a lot of things,” Whiteside said. “My goal is to stay hungry and humble.”

Whiteside acclimated himself to Sacramento by recently purchasing a home that he instantly furnished with a brand-new television to study and keep tabs on his upcoming NBA opponents.

This is probably evident of most rookies but it’s good to see two young guys talking about their hard work for this off-season to help this team get better during this crucial stage of the Kings’ rebuilding process.

And in case you couldn’t get enough of Cousins and his exploits at the photo shoot, here is another video:

DeMarcus Cousins at NBA Rookie Photo Shoot from Michelle Stark on Vimeo.

Dime TV captured a video of Hassan Whiteside juggling three basketballs at the same time (big ups to Aron Phillips for all of the coverage he gave us with the rookie photo shoot; follow him on Twitter):

Seems like this lady is going to be out of a job…

Southern gentlemen and one of the best bloggers around, Kyle Weidie of TruthAboutIt.net, posted these videos from the NBA and Dime TV.

First off, we have DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall playing one on one during the rookie photo shoot.

DMC destroyed Wall 1-0 (by my count from the video) and even swatted a shot. The Wizards have to be questioning their selection after such a one-sided affair.

Then they broke off into a Dougie session with Tiny Gallon as an innocent bystander:

We can probably safely call this one a draw so the final tally is DeMarcus Cousins winning 1-0-1.

There are many things about the internet and especially the basketball community that has grown from said internet that make being a basketball fan in this era a favorable experience. The interaction between Tom Ziller and Bethlehem Shoals and the product that comes from this interaction should be at the top of everyone’s enjoyment of the current NBA.

Since both have become firmly entrenched together at FanHouse over the last eight months or so, they have come up with some truly great work. Now, they have a daily collaborative piece called “The Works” and it’s something you should check out first thing to start your day.

In today’s version, Ziller explores the usage of international basketball as a hoops laboratory during the summer with respect to Omri as his initial muse:

Casspi has been a simply explosive scorer at the unfamiliar power forward position. In Saturday’s win over the very good Montenegro, Casspi scored 30 points in 33 minutes on an array of deep shots and drives. The Kings thought they were drafting a potential poor man’s Hedo Turkoglu. During Casspi’s rookie season, he looked like he’d instead be a bigger Bobby Jackson. Playing for Israel? He looks like the second coming of Peja Stojakovic. If the Kings are paying attention, they will say new and exciting ways to feature the Israeli in the Evans-led offense next season.

No matter how good Omri Casspi ends up being in the NBA, we can be sure that experiences like this for young, developing players are nothing but good. Yes, there is a chance for injury and I’m pretty sure I even said on this space not too long ago that it was probably for the best Tyreke Evans wasn’t on Team USA this summer because of injury reasons. But with guys like Omri who are trying to establish themselves in so many different facets of the basketball world, leading his country is nothing but a good, healthy, growing experience.

Omri is THE GUY in the country of Israel when it comes to basketball. And while Israeli basketball is on the rise and has been for quite some time now, they’re still not close to being one of the teams at the FIBA adult’s table for dinner. With Omri cutting his teeth in the leadership role as Noam pointed out yesterday, it can take him and the Kings down one of two paths.

1) The cultivation of Omri Casspi’s leadership skills on the court could most certainly help the Kings out over his career in Sacramento. I think we can all see that Tyreke Evans isn’t the most vocal person on the court. And while I think he’s shown enough leadership flashes to be that vocal leader and a leader by example in the future, the Kings need someone to be there in crunch time and get everybody on the same page. I think Omri – especially with what he’s shown so far in Israel’s run – can be that player.

He’s one of the best shooters and probably one of the best all-around players on the Kings roster with plenty of room for growth and progress. Casspi will be on the floor at the end of games if he earns it like the majority of us think he can and will. Having him as the vocal leader during crunch time and showing more of a pedigree for this type of role with his time this summer could be the extra boost the Kings need in an area they struggled with so mightily last season – fourth quarter execution. It doesn’t force Tyreke into a role he’s not ready for and the Kings get more production and leadership throughout the team at different points in the game no matter who is in.

Or.

2) Omri gets too big for his proverbial leadership britches from this experience and ends up demanding the ball and big shots late in the game. His teammates grow tired of a young player without having proven enough on the NBA stage and he begins to alienate other Kings on the roster. I’m not sure it would be quite the Andres Nocioni style of wanting more of an important role throughout the team but it could definitely grow to be an issue if this type of situation isn’t handled with care by the front office, coaching staff and veterans on the team.

I think it’s much more likely to be option 1 rather than option 2 because this seems like a good group of young players with more than enough leadership throughout the organization to get its guys in proper order of rank and file. Omri doesn’t seem like much of a hot head even though there were times in which he showed some pouting and confrontational actions with the team last season. But instead of just assuming he’s a malcontent, I think it’s clear he’s just a very competitive athlete with a lot of confidence and ability to back it up.

Ziller is correct when he says “International basketball is the window to the essence of a player’s potential.” When you have a guy like Omri who is so young and yet filled with so much potential, utilizing this stage for growth is so much more important than watching him fumble or vault through some random summer league schedule.

Good to see Omri gets this chance to see where he could be headed for the Kings.

Check out the Bobby Jackson Foundation

I generally try to keep my Omri Casspi ramblings to a minimum over here, because I truly believe my own censorship is the only thing standing between a Sacramento Kings blog and an Omri Casspi fanclub. However, you will have to grant me this one tonight, because Omri has just turned in a performance of the highest caliber for the Israeli international team — absolutely obliterating a very good basketball team in the form of Montenegro.

Allow me to paint the setting for you: Israel is currently competing for a spot in the 2011 Eurobasket tournament, set to be held next summer in Lithuania. 10 teams have been granted automatic entry: Lithuania, Spain, Serbia, Greece, Slovenia, France, Croatia, Russia, Turkey and Germany. The other 6 spots are granted via qualifiers: 15 teams are split into 3 groups; the first placed team in each group automatically qualifies; the two 2^nd placed squads holding the best records join them; and the worst 2^nd placed squad is left to battle for the final spot with the other squads who failed to qualify from group play.

Israel’s group consists of Montenegro, Italy, Latvia and Finland. With the two latter squads considered substantially weaker than the first three, Israel’s main competition for qualification was supposed to be Italy and Montenegro. However, despite high hopes coming in to the tournament and the presence of Andrea Bargnani and Marco Belinelli, Italy started off 1-3, including a home loss to Israel in the first game, while showing an utter lack of a cohesive team game. Montenegro played it’s part by going undefeated through their first three games, featuring a well-rounded squad led by the dominant post play of new Timberwolf Nikola Pekovic. Latvia filled in for Italy as squad number three, going 2-2 through its first four games. Israel started off great, with a road win in Italy and a home win against Latvia, before falling to weak Finland in an embarrassing road collapse.

As such, tonight’s match couldn’t be more important to Israel. With Montenegro poised to distance itself from the group, and a road game between the two squads still set to come, Israel knew it couldn’t let this one slip away, leaving them to battle Latvia for the second spot while keeping an eye out for the other two groups.

All eyes, naturally, were on Omri Casspi. After scoring 68 points through 3 exhibition matches while displaying a more diverse offensive game to go with previously unseen leadership skills and extra muscle, Casspi performance in the games that actually matter was considered a step back. He struggled on offense againt Italy, and wasn’t much better on defense, unable to stop Belinelli from getting his points. He was better against Finland, finishing as the team’s second leading scorer with 17, but lacked aggressiveness on offense, and was unable to prevent the stinging one point loss. His best game came against Latvia, leading 6 Israeli double figure scorers with 21, but if he can’t score in a 22-point blowout, when can he?

Well he can against Montenegro, apparently. Omri was on the top of his game from the start when he blocked Montenegro’s first shot attempt. He then scored the first points of the game on a breakaway dunk. Down went his first three point attempt. Then he got to the line. Then he made a layup. Another block. Another three. Two more free throws. Another dunk.

When the dust settled on the first quarter, the scoreboard showed Israel 26, Montenegro 22, with 15 of those 26 points coming from the same pair of hands.

The second quarter wasn’t as dreamy as the first. Omri seemed to take his hot streak one step too far, forcing two bad shots within 30 seconds of each other. Omri went down to the bench for his first rest of the game, returning with only 2:45 remaining in the quarter. Casspi only attempted one more shot in the half – a desperation floater to with the clock winding down – finishing the second quarter with the same amount of points he had in the first. The score tied at 40.

The drought continued through most of the third quarter as well. Casspi did manage to register 2 steals during that span, but much like his teammates, he seemed tired and couldn’t cope with the size Montenegro had down low. After his getting trigger happy seemingly led to his benching in the second quarter, Casspi didn’t force things on offense, instead deferring to teammate Lior Eliyahu, widely considered as Israel’s second best offensive weapon. Lior scored eight straight points after a horrendous first half. Eliyahu wasn’t enough to match Montenegro, though, who started the quarter on a 7-0 run and were suddenly leading 56-48.

At this point Casspi came to life. Omri continued to go strong to the rim, scoring a layup while drawing foul number three on Pekovic. On the next possession, he added three more – this time from way, way behind the arc. After teammate Yaniv Green added two of his own, Montenegro scored four straight, only to meet yet another long range bomb from Omri to end the quarter. Israel had come back from the slippery slope of no interior defense, now down just two, 61-59, to start the final quarter.

The fourth started where the third ended: Montenegro once again went to Pekovic, who drew yet another foul on Israel’s only true center, Yaniv Green. But again, Casspi was there to return the favor, continuing to take the ball hard to the rim, and drawing Pekovic’s fourth while making the layup for dessert. Pekovic went over to the bench, but Casspi continued to draw fouls, with big man Vladimir Dasic joining Pekovic on the bench after committing a charge on, who else, Omri.

At this point the game became sloppy. Neither team scored for two minutes, with Casspi and Eliyahu committing turnovers for Israel and both teams missing long jump shots. Eliyahu broke the ice by making one of two free throws. The miss, however, proved to be more important than the make: after his free throw met iron, Eliyahu flew in for the offensive rebound, drawing the ire of Montenegro coach Dusko Vujosevic. Furious that the officials didn’t call Eliyahu for a lane violation, Vujosevic walked several feet into the court, immediately getting hit with a technical. Former Seattle draft pick (53^rd overall in 2006) Yotam Halperin tied the game at the line, with the momentum shifting towards the home team.

It is at this point that we criticize Casspi for getting a little trigger happy. Omri missed two bad threes from here on out, probably a little too eager to win the game himself. Luckily, Israel secured the long offensive rebound both times out, with Eliyahu contributing two points each time. However, at 70-70, Casspi basically seals the game y taking Nikola Pekovic off the dribble once again to draw the foul. Meeting the international foul limit of five, Pekovic is out of the game. Casspi makes two from the line then two more the next time down the court after yet another drawn foul, Halperin adds two of his own, and the game is over. 77-73 Israel, 30 points for Casspi.

Was the performance perfect? Hardly. Through a quarter and a half Casspi was absent offensively. He was often too eager to do too much, taking some bad shots and to my eyes committing more turnovers than the one he was credited for. And his defense was inconsistent as always, combining athletic blocks and nifty steals with constantly getting beat down low (to be fair, he was guarding bigger players then he does when playing the perimeter for Sacramento). Not only that, his tendency to bite on pump fakes almost cost Israel the game: up 72-70, Casspi tried to block a shot attempt by Goran Jeretin, only Jeretin was just faking. The guard proceeded to draw Omri’s fourth foul, sending Jeretin to the line for a couple. After Casspi responded with two free throws of his own, he was subbed out by Israeli coach Arik Shibek so he won’t commit his fifth foul on defense. However, the lack of live-ball timeouts in the international game kept Omri on the bench for the huge offensive possession that followed, which luckily ended in Halperin drawing and making two free throws of his own.

Nonetheless, Casspi’s performance was masterful. Beyond scoring 30 points in a 40-minute, 150-point game (I lack the advanced statistics skills to translate this into a pace-based offensive rating, but I bet it’s pretty high), Casspi took an entire squad on his back, both to start the game and to end it, and willed them to victory — all while showing the basketball IQ to constantly take it to the opponents most important player and foul him out of the game. The decision to constantly let Casspi play iso-ball late in the game – a role which he never played in Sacramento or in Israel, and which is quite rare in the international game – says it all.

We shouldn’t expect Omri to come back to Sacramento and drop 20 points on a nightly basis. This was a rare performance against inferior competition to what Omri sees during the regular season, and at times it showcased Omri’s flaws as much as it did his strengths. But along with the never ending swagger and the long range Omri has shown Kings fans last year (seriously, nothing was more fun to watch tonight than Omri taking a three from NBA range while his defender hopelessly stood on the international three point line), beyond the efficient shooting (30 points on 19 shots) or the encouraging progress at the free throw line (8 of 10), Omri is now showing the ability to lead. The ability to rise to the occasion. It may be a while before Sacramento plays meaningful playoff games, but one player seems more than capable of doing it at that level.

Which means it’s Team Donte’s turn to make a move.

Kings pre-season schedule is out and that means there will officially be pre-season games. Not that there was any danger of them NOT having games. Peruse and enjoy:

The Kings’ exciting rebuilding efforts will be rewarded with a minimum of three nationally televised games this coming season. Here are the games:

Wednesday, November 3rd: Lakers at Kings on ESPN
Thanksgiving Day, November 25th: Kings at Clippers on TNT
Thursday, January 6th: Nuggets at Kings on TNT

Tyreke, DMC and the crew will get some nice exposure for a young, rebuilding team.

UPDATE: Kings will have four games on NBATV as well:

November 21st: Hornets at Kings
January 17th: Hawks at Kings
January 24th: Blazers at Kings
March 11th: Thunder at Kings

As we all know and cherish, this very forum featured a plea to the Kings from our Zacharyous friend to sign the now waived Delonte West. The logic was simple, yet infallible: the Kings have a need for another backcourt player who can shoot, defend, and handle the ball; and whaddaya know, Delonte West can shoot, defend, and handle the ball. Zach has all the good stuff listed right here, including a fantastic breakdown of West’s shooting ability (specifically in crunch time), tactfully seasoned with details of the undersized guard’s off court issues and youtube clips of the even more undersized Seth Green.

However, though I thoroughly agree with Zach that Delonte would be a great fit, I have a hard time seeing the move come to fruition. I should note that my knowledge of who may be interested in Delonte pretty much amounts to the Sam Amico tweet Zach linked to (Sam names the Celtics, Bulls and Mavs). However, even without that list, I would imagine Delonte would be very reluctant to even consider Sacramento over contending teams who, if they possess logically sound people at the helm, are certain to go after him. The only way to lure him in would be to overpay, as Zach suggests, but given the recent nature of Geoff Petrie’s moves, I doubt he chooses that route.

However, there is another shooting guard out there who is supposedly very much available. Not as available as Delonte – there is a reason the term free agent includes the word free in it – but for a team reluctant to shell out money, he may be easier to get.

Rudy Fernandez has been on the market for quite some time. Kelly Dwyer wrote why teams should try and get him back in late July (remember late July?), after months and months of “I wanna go back to Spain” rumors interweaving with “I wanna stay in the NBA but not in Portland” rumors. Friday night, your, mine, and everybody’s friend Nick Flynt (perhaps better known as DDL legend Buck Nasty) discussed the chances that the Bulls, Celtics or Knicks – widely considered to be Rudy’s hottest pursuers – fill their respective needs for Spanish shooting guards. As most things usually do, this stirred up a twitter debate between Nick and yours truly, which opened my eyes to just how good Rudy would be on the Kings.

(While researching, I saw that commentator Robert Arctor mentioned Rudy as a nice fit in his response to Zach’s Delonte piece. He is a wise wise man.)

As mentioned by both Dwyer and the NBA record book, Fernandez is just one year removed from setting a new NBA record for 3 pointers from a rookie. And while his shooting from long range fell off from 40% to 37% in his sophomore campaign, few can doubt that the man can light it up. He probably attempts too many shots from behind the arc – 63% of his career shot attempts – but if he shoots them well, why stop him? His true shooting % was a strong 58.8% in his rookie year, and though that dropped to 54% last season, one feels much more comfortable going to war with a 54% true shooting mark than with a 38% field goal shooting mark. With Tyreke and DMC drawing double teams at every turn, and a new environment giving him a fresh start, Rudy should easily return to his strong 08-09 shooting form, and perhaps even eclipse it.

The shooting alone should sound good to Kings fans for the bargain price of 1.25 million next year, but there is more. Rudy is also a very good creator. In fact, his Portland stats hardly do him any justice in this regard – Nate McMillan mainly asked Rudy to stay in the corner and shoot threes. One has to assume that without the direct order from above, he won’t shoot as many.

His stats are still quite impressive, though. Rudy posted an assist rate of 19.1 last season – a very respectable 21^st amongst shooting guards. His turnover rate wasn’t as good, at 10.8, but was still middle of the pack. Had he stayed at his 08-09 rate of 9.2, he would have ranked 32^nd amongst shooting guards. All this, remember, while being denied the chance at initiating the offense, an ability that seems to be well within his repertoire. Obviously, hoping that Rudy comes in and immediately becomes the second coming of Manu Ginobili as far as creating from the 2 is more than cautiously optimistic, but the risk is fairly low here – at worst, Rudy is a servicable starter who can bring up the ball when necessary and knock down shots. The upside though? That’s through the roof.

On the defensive end, Rudy is hardly the ace Delonte is. While Delonte is an elite perimeter defender, Rudy is below average at best. However, his defense should benefit greatly from not playing next to a star shooting guard at all times. Brandon Roy’s sheer presence meant that on most nights, Rudy guarded opposing small forwards. Despite his athleticism, those small forwards tend to be a bit too big for him.

With the Kings, though, Rudy will be a shooting guard full time. In fact, the monster manning point guard is so big, that Rudy might even be able to switch to point guards when playing against the more physical 2s the league has. I doubt this makes him an elite defender, but when he’s not getting bullied left and right, his speed and athleticism should stop him from being a downright liability.

Of course, Rudy doesn’t come risk free. He’s not as disruptive personality wise as Delonte could be, but his tenure in Portland shows us he’s not a naturally happy camper. Rudy might bicker about wanting to go back to Spain the second he comes off the plane. If he remains unhappy, in a locker room full of strong personalities who are even younger than he is (24), the situation could get out of hand.

There is also the minor detail of how to sell Portland on shipping Rudy to Sactown – the Blazers reportedly want a first round pick, but Sacramento would be foolish to give one away for Rudy and nothing more (I would assume the best bet would be to try and sell the Blazers on Fransisco Garcia or Beno Udrih, since they have the financial resources necessary to take on such deals, and the Kings could then take on some filler salary like the injured Joel Pryzbilla’s expiring contract. Of course, if you move Beno, you suddenly lack a backup point guard, unless you really trust Pooh Jeter, which I do, but the Kings probably do not at this point. So then you want to get another player, and you probably ask the Blazers to give you Jerryd Bayless, and things can get out of hand very quickly. This is why speculating where players under contract can fit is stupid. However, this is the internet, so ha.)

All that being said, if the Kings can deal for Rudy without losing a major component of their core going forward, I think you have to do it. Rudy is too talented, too good a backcourt complement for Tyreke heading into the future to not take a shot. Can’t you see a rotation of Tyreke/Rudy/Donte/Omri/Landry/JT/Cousins/maybe Whiteside/’11 and ’12 draft picks growing old together? I can. The Kings have already seen one, possibly two grade A building blocks fall into their laps. It’s highly unlikely it happens again. Take the chance. Get me some Rudy.

During the Las Vegas Summer League, I wrote about the Kings rebuilding plan on the Daily Dime. In it I mentioned how the Kings have taken advantage of opportunities in which players inexplicably fell to them in the draft. The Kings have been fortuitous and intelligent enough to take these players despite the preexisting concerns about what these players (DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans) could or couldn’t mean to a franchise.

In taking these players, the Kings have shown the confidence and desperation to throw caution to the wind and make these guys a part of their organization and plan for rebuilding. They feel they can mold these players into the foundation of a franchise.

With the news that Delonte West has been jettisoned from Cleveland and now waived for financial and cap purposes in Minnesota, the Kings now have the chance to capitalize on this type of situation once again. I’m not proposing the Kings give Delonte West a huge contract offer to eat up a ton of cap space over the next two years. But they can offer him a great platform to get his still promising career back on track.

Basketball-wise, Delonte West is exactly what the Kings need on this roster. I don’t see a legitimate starting shooting guard on this team (this is where someone who watched the Kings for less than 10 minutes last year suggests Tyreke Evans can’t play point and should be a shooting guard). The Kings went huge with Donté Greene as the shooting guard quite a few games last year and while the results weren’t terrible, Greene is out of place on the court as a shooting guard. You can start Beno at the 2 like the Kings did plenty of times last season but if they’re serious about getting better and winning this year, that strategy isn’t going to work.

So that leaves this idea of trying to add Delonte West to the roster. The two parties mutually need each other. Delonte’s reputation has taken a bit of a hit over the past few months with wild rumors flying around and his play declining after a great role-playing season in 2008-09. He’s also had a recent run-in with the law last year when he was pulled over on his motorcycle carrying enough guns and artillery to hold up in the mall when the zombies take over the Earth.

On the Kings side of it, they desperately need a guy with his game and pedigree to make a run at the playoffs this season. Granted, even with Delonte playing at his best the Kings probably won’t make the playoffs. But with West they could definitely get invaluable experience by making a playoff push and playing in some games that provided pressure past the month of December.

Delonte does everything the Kings need. First off, he’s a tenacious defender. He’s probably one of the best perimeter defenders in the entire NBA when he has his head in the game. He provides incredible ball pressure against both point and shooting guards and it’s hard to shake free of him. He funnels opponents well into help defense and challenges shots extremely well. He’s not afraid to guard guys like Kobe Bryant and he does a pretty good job on him too. According to 82games.com, the Cavs had a defensive rating of 93.7 when he was playing point guard and 91.7 when he was playing shooting guard last season. While you can chalk a lot of that up to LeBron James and the defensive-minded system of Mike Brown, guys like Delonte West also play a huge part in it. He doesn’t confuse his ability with his role on the team.

Delonte is very talented and skilled. He theoretically could be one of those awkward Ricky Davis-type star-role player tweeners who uses his considerable ability to justify hijacking shots, possessions and sometimes games. Instead, he tries to fit seamlessly into the flow of everything and plays well off of his teammates. West would be another reliable ball-handler on the court and allow the Kings to be much deeper with Beno coming off the bench. He’s also pretty adept at creating for his teammates. He has a career assist percentage of 21, which isn’t spectacular but it shows he does a great job of creating for his teammates.

West also gives the Kings something they were sorely lacking last year – crunch time shooting. Other than Omri and Donté (who both did a nice job percentage-wise shooting in the clutch), the Kings really struggled with their clutch shooting last season. Beno and Tyreke were surprisingly bad at it and nobody else really stepped up consistently. Delonte isn’t a go-to scorer in the clutch by any means but he was someone that consistently knocks down jumpers when it counts. Aside from a horrendous season of clutchness (made up the word) in 2008-09, Delonte has been pretty deadly at the end of close games.

In the 2007-08 season, Delonte West had a clutch time field goal percentage of 57.1 and an efficient field goal percentage of 71.4. He played 17% of the clutch minutes for the Cavs. In the 2008-09 season, he regressed a lot with low percentages of 25% (field goal) and 29.2% (eFG) while playing 50% of the crunch time minutes. But he bounced back dramatically last season by shooting an absurd 66.7% from the field and had an even absurder eFG of 83.3% while playing 50% of the minutes.

Not only was he deadly but also he just didn’t miss with his jumper. 78% of his shots in the clutch were jumpers and he had an eFG of 92.9% on those jumpers. Think about that for a second. Is there anything you can do with 92.9% accuracy? There’s nothing I can do with 92.9% accuracy. So when you see that he was on one of the best teams in the league with so much pressure and intensity slapping him in the face with each shot, it makes the 92% all that more impressive. 92%, yo! (Audio NSFW)

With what the Kings will run this season in the fourth quarter, you need that kind of threat in the corner to knock down big shots. While I would never make the comparison of LeBron to Tyreke, they do get similar sets run for them at the end of games. Having a guy that the defense can’t leave in the corner and a post player (Cousins) they can’t afford to let get loose around the basket when Tyreke is driving by will be a tough combination to start. Throw in an improved jumper from Evans and you’ve got a deadly situation for opposing teams at the end of games.

The problem might be trying to convince Delonte that this is the place for him. Apparently the Mavs are in contention to sign him and the Kings simply can’t compete with that situation. As good as the Maloofs are at owning the team and the amenities they can offer with connections, you could argue Mark Cuban is just as good if not better. The team is much better, the arena is better and the market is bigger.

But the Kings can offer more money — a lot more money. The Mavericks can still offer the mid-level exception but the Kings have roughly $14 million. They could offer a three-year, $21 million contract with the third year as a player option for West. That’s not a bad contract for a legit, defensive-minded starter who just turned 27 years old. I’d even up it to $24 million if it means getting him on the Kings.

Maybe you can say that’s too risky considering his history off the court but at the same time, the Kings are financially set for the next few years. They have only $28 million committed to the books next off-season and are set up better than any other team in terms of cap room heading into the next Collective Bargaining Agreement. So adding $7 million for a couple of seasons doesn’t really impact them at all. They’d still have a ton of cap room and flexibility with the roster before they have to worry about contract extensions for their young stars.

Now it’s up to the Kings again to take advantage of an opportunity falling into their laps. Delonte West isn’t the final piece to the puzzle but if you can get him to come to Sacramento and prove that his next contract should be with a championship contender then it’s a win-win for both sides.

And who knows? Maybe that next contract he signs with championship contender in a couple years is a deal to re-up with the Kings.