The Kings have fired head coach Eric Musselman after only one season on the job.  It wasn’t just his 33-49 record that got him fired, it was his DUI and the fact that he seemed to lose the team during the season.  The Kings must have been really upset with Musselman because he’s guaranteed $5 million bucks over the next two seasons!  The Kings will need a tougher coach to get through to Ron Artest and some of the other Kings players.

This grade could go higher as Justin Williams starts to make his mark.  F/C Williams played in 26 games this season and he averaged 12.8 minutes, 5.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.  G Quincy Douby was the 1st round pick last season and he had problems getting his butt off the bench.  He played in 42 games and he averaged 8.6 minutes, 2.8 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.

The Kings finished dead last in the Pacific Division with a 33-49 record, 28 games behind the LA Lakers.  The Kings were 20-21 at home and an awful 13-28 on the road.  The Kings were 18-34 against the Western Conference and only 5-11 against Pacific Division foes.  They averaged 101.3 points per game, but they allowed 103.1 per game.  The Kings limped to the finish line of the season winning only 3 of their last 10 games.

Rookie Justin Williams hasn’t gotten much playing time so far this season because of all the veterans ahead of him on the depth chart but they’ve been falling like flies.  It’s possible that Justin Williams will be thrusted into the starting lineup and get big minutes in the last couple of games in the season.  He has only played in 22 games this season (1 start) and he’s averaged 4.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.  He also has shot 61.5% from the floor so far this season which is outstanding.  Look for him to make the most of the minutes he gets on the court in the coming games.

The Kings have decided to cut down Mike Bibby’s minutes the last couple of games to see what they have in backup Ronnie Price.  Price has played in 7 games ss far in April and he’s averaged 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  His shooting has been off as he’s only hit 37.5% from the floor this month.  The Kings want to see if Price can be trusted in the future with more playing time.

The nightmare season continues for the Sacramento Kings as Brad Miller and Ron Artest shut it down for the season.  Miller aggravated a previous foot injury.  He had his worst season in a long time but it could be because he was rarely 100% all season long.  He played in 58 games this season and he averaged 9.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. 

Artest injured a hamstring and will likely shut it down as he jokingly took a stab at the team by saying he didn’t know that they were “eliminated” from playoff contention.  He played in 65 games this season and he averaged 19.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game.  Artest is a good basketball player but he’s just not worth having around as he’s a cancer on a team.  The Kings should get rid of this clown and let their young players take over his minutes.

Francisco Garcia will earn more playing time for the Kings if he keeps playing like he has the last two weeks.  In his last 6 games, Garcia is averaging 18.7 minutes, 8.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.  He’s also shooting an amazing 58.3% in those games.

The Sacramento Kings really need to rebuild starting next season.  It would be really smart of the Kings to let the kids play and see what they got in their last 7 games of the season.  The Kings are sitting at 31-44 on the season and that has been a huge disappointment.  They have only won 3 of their last 10 games and are 11-27 on the road this season.  Look for the Kings to let Ronnie Price, Quincy Douby and Francisco Garcia to play more the last week and a half so they can see what they have in them.

The Kings will be without Kenny Thomas for 4-6 weeks after aggravating a toe injury in his left foot.  Unless the Kings go deep into the playoffs (which is highly unlikely), Thomas’ season is over.  He averaged 22.8 minutes, 5.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.