“Small Market, Big Heart” is a documentary detailing the 27-year history (and counting) of the Sacramento Kings.  It’s also about the capital region’s battle to establish identity through its only major pro sports franchise.  The film is directed by Tobin Halsey and produced by Blake Ellington and Cowbell Kingdom’s own James Ham.  It premieres tonight at the Crest Theater in Downtown Sacramento.

A conversation with the filmmakers in this week’s Cowbell Kingdom podcast.

• Ham on how the story is told: “When we decided to do this, we wanted to look at it from four different approaches.  We wanted to tell the story from the media’s eye.  We wanted to tell the story through the politician’s eye.  We wanted to tell the story through the team’s eye.  And lastly, through the fan’s eye.”

• Ellington on why the film is an extension of the fan’s voice:  ”After they decided to stay, we needed to have a direction as far as what we wanted to do, having a voice going forward.  And the documentary itself, I think is going to come out at a time when the community’s voice still needs to be heard.  And this is really going to demonstrate…how important professional sports and entertainment is to this region.”

• Trying to beat the March 1st relocation deadline, the filmmakers produced this film in a condensed time frame.  It was a challenge, says Halsey.  ”When we started talking about it, we knew that it was going to be intense.  That, especially at the finish, there would be very little sleep.  We didn’t have a crew of people to work with – a large crew of people.  We had lots of people that helped, but we didn’t have a full production crew.  We had to do all this stuff on an abbreviated time frame, but you know, some of the best stuff is done like this.”

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Kings VP of Basketball Ops Geoff Petrie discusses the Kings pre-draft process following today’s workout.

Left - Klay Thompson, Right - Alec Burks

Another day, another six.  At their training facility today, the Kings matched-up Alec Burks and Klay Thompson, the two highest-rated shooting guards in the 2011 NBA Draft.  This wasn’t the first time these two have worked out against each other in a pre-draft workout, but it was the first time the Kings had two lottery-bound prospects who play the same position go head-to-head.  Burks and Thompson headlined a group that also included small forwards Ravern Johnson and Jamine Peterson, as well as big men Greg Smith and Alex Stepheson.

Video and analysis after the jump.

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Left - Kawhi Leonard, Right - Scotty Hopson

There’s been a seismic belief shift on what could happen when the Kings pick next Thursday.  A week ago, Kawhi Leonard looked like a lock to fill the Kings’ gaping hole at small forward.  That all changed when BYU’s Jimmer Fredette rolled into town and turned heads.  Today was Leonard’s chance to bring wandering eyes back his way.

Leonard must show that he is the complete package and a true upgrade over Omri Casspi, Francisco Garcia and Donté Greene.  There is no doubt the Kings like Leonard (they have sent scouts to visit him at least three times).  But with Jimmermania sweeping Sacramento, can Kawhi make the impact he needs to get back into the mix at pick number seven?

The Kings brought in an eclectic group of players of varying shapes and sizes.  Apparently, the Kings front office wanted to see Leonard perform against a variety of players.  Of the other players in town today, only Scotty Hopson is projected to be drafted.

Video and analysis after the jump.

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With the NBA Draft just one week away, we’re ramping up the podcast schedule.  How will it all play out before the Kings make their selection with the seventh overall pick?   To sort through all the draft chatter we’re hearing, we welcomed Sports Illustrated’s Sam Amick to the show.

Highlights

• On Leonard: “The personality and the life story, that’s part of why he’s moving up the board because he’s got an ego in a sense that he’s confident about himself, but he’s not a young guy that’s going to come in saying that ‘man I can’t wait to get my 12, 13 shots.’  He just wants to fit in, work hard and be a good NBA player.”
• On Kings scouting: “I was told that three different members – Geoff Petrie, Wayne Cooper & Shareef Abdur-Rahim I think it was, had all made separate trips to see Jan Vesley, which I think tells you something (about their interest).  But there’s similar stories about Kawhi.”
• And as far as Brandon Knight working out against JimmerFredette & Kemba Walker before next Thursday?  Sam doesn’t see it happening

Tune-in after the jump.

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The draft prospects have been trickling through Sacramento, mostly six at a time.  And Friday will likely be more of the same.

Although the list of candidates have yet to be released, our friend Sam Amick of SI.com confirmed earlier this week via Twitter that San Diego State small forward Kawhi Leonard will be the main attraction.

While Jimmer Fredette seems to be the scoop de jour for the Kings right now (he’s jumped up the DraftExpress.com mock to no. 7), it’s Leonard that’s fallen a few spots.  But multiple sources have told Cowbell Kingdom that the Kings minds aren’t made up just yet.  They are extremely interested in the 19-year-old swingman and have been for some time.

Breaking the mold from the previous 13 prospect profiles, we are going to take a good hard look at Leonard a few days early because his story is extremely compelling.  And if our sources are correct, Leonard might be just what the Kings are looking for come June 23rd.

There are plenty of narratives that surround NBA players.  Last season, we delved into the excruciating painful journey of Kings reserve power forward Darnell Jackson as he clung to his NBA dreams  (If you haven’t read it, please do. It will change your perspective on one of the strongest people I have ever had the privilege to meet).  Leonard has another one of those tragic stories.

Since the tale has been told, both written by Sam Amick for the New York Times, and video by CBS Sports, there’s very little for us to add.  That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t share it with you because at the end of the day, Leonard could wind up a King.  And like every other King, he would become part of the family.

Now that you know his story, it’s time to get to the profile after the jump.

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Today is day number one for draft prospects to start coming through Sacramento.  Things have been relatively quiet so far this draft season, with most teams taking part in multi-team, multi-player workouts put on by host teams around the country.  Brandon Knight is the Kings’ first visitor, coming to Sacramento to take part in a battery of tests and drills with the team’s front office brass before being thrown to the media wolves.  The freshman out of Kentucky is considered one of the top point guard prospects in this year’s NBA draft and is drawing attention all the way from spot #3 to pick #7, where the Kings sit anxiously waiting.  Knight measured well at the NBA combine, showing good height, leaping ability and quickness to go with a very nice wingspan.

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Photo: Jonathan Santiago

Some of you may know me from my work at SLAM Online and SB Nation Bay Area.  Or maybe you follow me on Twitter.  But with the events that unfolded over the past few weeks, I reached out to the crew here at Cowbell Kingdom to help cover what should be the most fascinating year of Kings basketball since the 2005-06 season.  I’d like to thank James Ham and Zach Harper for letting me jump on board.

Like Zach, I’m not a Kings fan.  If you’ve read my work at SLAM or SB Nation, you can expect to hear a mostly detached perspective on the team and efforts to build a new arena.

This post, however, is an exception.  I rarely write opinion pieces.  In fact, this may be the only time you see me explicitly voice my view here at Cowbell Kingdom.  But after watching this relocation saga develop over the last four months, I thought it’d be fine to break character just one time.

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Steven Chea/CK

Following the Kings unbelievable victory over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night, I was able to steal a few more minutes with Coach Paul Westphal while the team is on the road.  The Kings have two more games on its seven game-all-star break-interrupted road trip that has seen some pretty high high’s and low low’s.  It doesn’t get any easier for the team in purple and black as they play back-to-back games in Charlotte and Memphis before returning home to what has become a fire storm of controversy with the team’s ownership pondering relocation.  Coach Westphal and I talk victories, trades, rumors and relocation in yet another candid interview.

JH: With all that is happening with your team right now, how proud are you of the effort that they brought tonight against a very good Orlando Magic team?

Coach Westphal: It’s a very satisfying win.  I’m happy for the players because when you take everything into account, you know, the trade deadline with its uncertainty, the losing streak we have been on, the injury to Tyreke, the upheaval with DeMarcus and Donté last week, just the specter of uncertainty with the arena situation and all the rumors surrounding that, and anybody’s personal situation you know, players are wondering how their career is going, and in the midst of all of this stuff to be able to focus and play that well together and to really lay it out there like that and have success is quite a nice thing for these guys.  They had to play hard, and they had to play together, and they had to focus – I’m really happy for all of these guys.

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