The Kings got the second best center in the NBA Draft last night.  The Kings weren’t sure that he would be available with the #10 pick so they were elated to see him slide.  Hawes is a big guy at 7′0″, 230 pounds and he played a big man’s game at Washington.  He played in 31 games at Washington and he averaged 14.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.7 blocks per game.  He shot 53.2% from the floor as most of his shots were at close range and he hit 75.5% from the free throw line which is really good for a big man.  Look for Hawes to eventually push Brad Miller into either a backup job or out of town soon.

The Kings have the #10 pick in the NBA Draft tonight and they will likely take the best player available unless it’s a shooting guard as they appear to be set there with Kevin Martin.  The Kings have also let it be known that they are willing to trade Ron Artest, Mike Bibby, Kenny Thomas, Shareef Abdur-Rahim or Brad Miller for the right price.  It’s probably only likely that teams will have an interest in Bibby and Artest.  Bibby will likely be linked to the Cleveland Cavaliers but it’s not known what the Kings would take in return.  It seems more likely than ever that the Kings will try to rebuild with youth and that will likely start tonight.