Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Sacramento's Guard Glut.

With the recent acquisition of point guard Aaron Brooks the Kings find themselves with an extremely overcrowded back court. At the point is Brooks, last year standout Isiah Thomas, and the underwhelming Jimmer Fredette. Consensus is that it's Thomas's job to lose, but it's well known how much Kings GM Geoff Petrie has coveted Brooks over the years so it certainly wouldn't be unexpected for him to have the starting job come November. The obvious odd man out is Jimmer, who performed disappointingly last season and didn't really blow people away during the NBA Summer League despite a 30 point game against the Rockets. Jimmer seems to have major problems running the team's offense and features a worse than advertised stroke behind the arc.

At shooting guard it seems a moral certainty that Tyreke Evans will start. He's by far the best the Kings have available at the position. His defense is above average and his ability to get to the rim is unquestioned, unfortunately his jump shot is terrible and a lack of athleticism (no doubt helped by a year long bout with plantar fasciitis) means  he can struggle finishing at the rim. Marcus Thorton is likely Tyreke's primary backup. This leaves John Salmons and Francisco Garcia. Both are listed as shooting guards but Salmons started at small forward most of last year and Garcia has had a history of playing positions one through three. However, the addition of James Johnson is going to likely limit either players opportunity to play at the three this upcoming year, which means both are likely to see their minutes drop significantly.

The King's over exuberance in collecting under performing guards means some sort of trade is likely in order, although just who might be available for whatever paltry offer Sacramento can present is anyone's guess.

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