We have received official notice that Brandon Knight will be the first draft prospect through town on Thursday morning.  The freshman point guard out of Kentucky is expected to be long gone before the Kings draft at number 7, but these things always seem to work themselves out.  Knight measured nicely at 6′-3.25″ with shoes and a healthy 6′-6.75″ wing span at the draft combine.  Perhaps Knight’s most eye-catching numbers came out of the sprint in which he recorded an impressive third place finish overall at 3.07 seconds, or the max vert where he reached 37.5″.

The Kings have drafted John Calipari players each of the last two season, first Tyreke Evans and then DeMarcus Cousins.  It wouldn’t surprise me if Geoff Petrie is hoping to do so again this year as Knight ranks as either the second or third best point guard prospect, a possible position of need for the Kings.

Cowbell Kingdom will be onsite for Thursday’s festivities, but early word is that any video taken will not be available for internet use.  Sorry, you will have to count on my advanced scouting and talent evaluation skills.

According to KCRA Channel 3, the Sacramento-based NBC affiliate, the numbers are in on what it’s going to take to get a new sports and entertainment facility built in Sacramento:

The cost of a new sports and entertainment complex to replace the old Arco Arena will cost $370 million, several sources confirmed for KCRA3.

The Taylor/ICON group will reveal their plan to the public in a open meeting on Thursday from 1-3pm.  According to the KCRA report, the plan will lay out a financing package that will include a rental car and hotel tax as well as increased usage fees for both tickets and parking.  There is a huge amount of momentum currently in Sacramento to get an arena built with both the NBA and public officials pulling together with the community.  The financing package is still going to be crucial to this deal, which will require both public and private funds.

The Maloof’s have publicly stated in recent weeks that they no longer want to own the arena, and instead just be tenants.  This might be the break that Sacramento was looking for.  The Sacramento Bee published an article on Sunday by columnist Barbara Shelly, who lived through a similar ordeal in Kansas City before the Sprint Center was built.  Without an owner, Kansas City was able to work out a lucrative long term deal with AEG to run a new arena, which helped pay for some of the construction costs.  Between AEG, a new long term sponsorship deal with Sprint for the naming rights, as well as a rental car and hotel tax, Kansas City got their arena without even having an anchor tenant like the Sacramento Kings.  Not only did Kansas City get their stadium, it’s thriving, providing the city with an economic boom to the surrounding area as well as a surprising level of positive cash flow to the city itself.

Clearly it is time for an open mind here in Sacramento.  For years, negativity has surrounded this issue, but with unemployment at nearly 12% in the region and local businesses picking up shop and moving away, this is the time for an immense work project that will not only improve the image of Sacramento, but provide countless jobs both short term and long term.  With the Maloof’s looking to get out of the way and let someone else run the arena, this is an open door for the general public to get on board with a community project for the greater Sacramento area.

In a not so shocking turn of events, the Sacramento Kings have once again come up empty handed on lottery night and will draft 7th in the 2011 NBA draft.  This has become a common occurrence here in Sacramento.  Every year the fans get amped up for the lottery, because, you know, the Kings have been lottery participants in all but ten of a possible 26 seasons here in Sacramento.  Sure, the Kings won the lottery once, way back in 1989, you remember, the Pervis Ellison draft.  For the third season in a row, the Kings came into the lottery with high hopes of a top pick, finishing with the worst record in 2009, the third worst record in 2010 and the fifth worst record in 2011.  Sure enough, every season, they fall in the lottery, watching teams with better records slide above them in the draft order.  First to fourth, third to fifth and now fifth to seventh…in a two man draft.

The Kings are no strangers to pick number seven.  Jason Williams (1998), Bobby Hurley (1993), Walt Williams (1992) and Lionel Simmons (1990) all came to the Kings via the seventh pick in the draft.  Of the group, Jason Williams made the biggest impact before being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for Mike Bibby in 2001.  We all know the Bobby Hurley story.  19 games into his rookie season, Hurley was t-boned leaving Arco Arena after a game, almost losing his life in the accident.  Although he returned to the NBA, he only played a total of 269 games over a five year career, never returning to the form that made him one of the all-time great NCAA players.  Walt Williams brought excitement early in his career but made his mark late as a three point specialist, playing for six different teams over a 12 year career.  Lionel Simmons had four very productive seasons for the Kings early in his career but injuries curtailed his his career, forcing him to retire at the age of 28 in 1997.

Whether the Kings use their pick or deal it away for veteran leadership is yet to be decided but the Kings front office has to be slightly deflated by the events of this evening, much like their fanbase.  I guess it could have been worse, the Kings could be drafting number eight.

With all of the relocation talk, it has become more and more difficult to focus on the game of basketball.  I think that statement goes for most Kings fans right now, but strangely enough, not the players.  At the beginning of their current five game road trip, the Kings were 16-51, losers of two in a row at home and coming off arguably, their worst effort of the season.  Four games later, the Kings came into Sunday morning’s contest against the 76ers 19-52, winners of two in a row, three out of four and already guaranteed of coming home with a winning road trip.

Wins and losses are academic at this point with the Kings long since being eliminated from the play-off picture, but there is still time for this young group of players to learn more about the game of basketball and more about each other.

Apparently, that is exactly what these guys are doing.  While many Kings fans were still asleep or sitting in a church pew somewhere, the Sacramento Kings were busy winning their third game in a row and finishing off an impressive 4-1 road trip.  The Philadelphia 76ers, yes, the same team that walked into Power Balance Pavilion a little over a week ago and embarrassed the home team, got a taste of their own medicine as the Kings beat the home team 114-111 in OT.

Tyreke Evans looked extremely rusty in his second game of action after returning from injury, but he had one of very few questionable performances for the Kings.  Marcus Thornton continued his impressive run since joining the Kings, dropping 32 points, 28 of those in the second half.  Samuel Dalembert, who played his first eight seasons in the NBA with the 76ers before an off-season trade with the Kings, returned to a chorus of boo’s.  Sammy D responded with 13 points and 19 rebounds, hitting two huge free throws to ice the game down the stretch.  Philadelphia native Jason Thompson tossed in 15 points and 11 rebounds in just 26 minutes of play as the Kings had seven players score in double figures.

The Kings return home with a surprising 20 wins, and with 10 games remaining, the Kings still have a chance of matching last season’s win total of 25.  In what might be the surprise stat of the season, the Kings are now 11-25 on the road and 9-27 at home, opening the door for the team to have a better road record than home record for the first time in the Sacramento era.

Next up for the Kings is Tuesday night’s battle with the Phoenix Suns back home in Sacramento.  With only five home games remaining, the players return to a quagmire of uncertainty in Sacramento as rumors of the franchise relocating to Anaheim have become louder.  It will be interesting to see how Coach Paul Westphal focuses his troops as they will face questions by concerned fans on a daily basis now that they are back from the road.

Photo by Steven Chea

According AOL Fanhouse’s Sam Amick via twitter, Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins will play in the Rookie/Sophomore game during all-star weekend.

samickAOL Sam Amick

Rookie team at All-Star weekend: E. Bledsoe, D. Cousins, D. Favors, L. Fields, B. Griffin, W. Johnson, G. Monroe, G. Neal, John Wall.

samickAOL Sam Amick

Sophomore team: T. Evans, Blair, Curry, DeRozan, Gibson, Holiday, Ibaka, Jennings and Wesley Matthews.

This is good news for Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins but disappointing news for small forward Omri Casspi who didn’t make the cut after playing in the game as a rookie last season.

I will get reaction from all players involved later today, following the Kings-Celtics match-up.

If the Sacramento Kings’ 21-year-old rookie power forward Hassan Whiteside has anything to say about it, he will be back and ready to go tomorrow when the team takes on the Utah Jazz on the road. Whiteside went down in the first week of camp with a strained left patella tendon. Since then, he has spent most of his time rehabbing and trying to maintain his new weight of 250-pounds. Until yesterday, Whiteside was held out of all basketball activities. Today, he returned and played 5 on 5 full court where he made a handful of nifty plays.  Here are some quotes from Hassan after practice today:

• On what the first two days back from injury have been like: “It’s been going really good, I’m just trying to catch up on the plays and just getting my wind back and getting used to playing basketball.”
• On his first full contact practice: “It was weird because I forgot how to box out and all that and I messed up on a couple of plays but I’m just getting adjusted to it.”
• On how his legs are feeling: “They’re feeling good, they’re just tired.”
• On whether he feels like he is being aggressive: “Yeah, I feel like I’m being aggressive, just being stronger now, coming in and playing hard.
• On how the knee specifically is feeling: “It’s sore, really sore.”

If either Whiteside or Dalembert can get healthy, the Kings front line takes on a whole new defensive look. Hopefully neither player has a set back that causes them to miss even more time.

On a side note, the Q & A with Whiteside was done in a group setting today. Most of the questions posed to Hassan Whiteside came from the Kings’ Andrew Nicholson, who led the initial round of questioning.

Camp notes and a continuation of The Purple Panjandrum’s interview series will be up shortly.

Here in Sacramento, we have a very strong bond with our Kings. Not so surprisingly, two of our players, Samuel Dalembert and Francisco Garcia, have been nominated for the 2011 Jeffersons Awards for Public Service. More information can be found on this award by clicking here which routes you to the Kings official media release. Here is an excerpt to get you started:

The Jefferson Awards for Public Service are based upon one simple principle: One person can make a difference. Since 1973, these awards have recognized individuals with a remarkable commitment to service in their communities. Partnering with All Stars Helping Kids, the Jefferson Awards seek to recognize professional athletes with two awards this year, “Outstanding Athlete in Service” and “Outstanding Athlete as a Newcomer in Service.”

Dalembert, a native of Port-au-Prince Haiti has made the post earthquake recovery effort his first priority outside of Basketball. He has provided financial support as well as made four trips to his homeland since the January tragedy. I have personally spoken with Dalembert on more than one occasion about his role in the recovery effort. For him, it is real and it is personal.

Francisco Garcia has done much of his work here in Sacramento with his “La Casa de Garcia” foundation as well as in the Dominican Republic. Born in the city of Santa Domingo, DR, Garcia also led the Kings effort to collect aide following the earthquake in Haiti.

Both players have done amazing things to help others both domestically and abroad. As Kings fans, we have always stood behind our players in good times and bad. Please take a moment to vote for our two guys as a way to say thank for all their hard work, not as basketball players but as people. Vote now, vote often. Vote Here.

In a not so shocking turn of events, the NBA, via e-mail to the Sacramento Bee, gave Kings fans a nice kick to the teeth at a time when excitement for a new season is at its highest. The day after training camp opens, the NBA has this to say:

According to an official Kings press release, the franchise will offer variable pricing plans for games this season.

“We realize that all games are not created equal,” said Matina Kolokotronis, Kings president of business operations. “Similar to the successful model used by the hotel and airline industries, we are aligning our pricing to better match the demand set by the market. This new structure also allows us to price many games at a lower price than last season, making Kings games even more accessible for fans.”

The Kings have spent the summer rolling out a series of impressive ticket packages aimed at enticing the common fan back to Arco Arena. Last week’s launch of their “Here We Rise” campaign came with the announcement of 400 upper level season ticket seats being offered for the reduced rate of $10 per seat per game.

Thanks to the Bee’s Jason Jones for getting this quote:

“We’ve talked to our season-ticket holders at length, both in person and through a lot of surveys, and the NBA,” said Kings vice president of marketing and communications Mitch Germann. “A lot of NBA teams are going to do (variable pricing), too. I know in Major League Baseball some teams have been doing it for a while.”

In what is becoming a major embarrassment for the community of Sacramento, The Bee is reporting that the midtown mural depicting Kings small forward Omri Casspi, has again, been scarred with a swastika. This is the second time in a week that vandals have defaced the mural.

Local authorities are looking for help to find the perpetrator and the Anti-Defamation League has raised their previous reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction from $1000 to $2000.

Maybe it is time for the city of Sacramento to invest in a security camera or face further embarrassment. Casspi was out and about in midtown last night after arriving Monday in preparation for training camp.

**Update: The Maloofs and the Anti-Defamation League have released a joint statement in regards to the vandalism of the midtown mural of Omri Casspi. Here is a snippet:

“The ADL is confident the Sacramento Police Department is taking the proper steps in allocating additional resources to catch those responsible, and we are proud to have the Sacramento Kings and the Maloof family standing with us as we say together, ‘In Sacramento, there is no place for hate.”

The entire statement can be found here. Clearly, this is not the type of press that anyone involved is looking for. Let us all hope for swift resolution to this case.