The Kings have a pair of veteran forwards who are very productive who will be coming off of the bench this season. Mikki Moore had by far the best season of his NBA career with the Nets last season and he’s a pure power forward. He played in 79 games (55 starts) with the Nets last season and he averaged 26.4 minutes, 9.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Shareef Abdur-Rahim will back up at both forward spots and he’s still a good basketball players. Abdur-Rahim played in 80 games (45 starts) last season for the Kings and he averaged 25.2 minutes, 9.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. John Salmons can handle either shooting guard or small forward for the Kings. He played in 79 games (19 starts) last season for the Kings and he averaged 27.1 minutes, 8.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Francisco Garcia also backs up at shooting guard and small forward for the Kings. He played in 79 games (5 starts) last season for the Kings and he averaged 17.8 minutes, 6.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. 2nd year men Quincy Douby (guard) and Justin Williams (C/F) will both try to play better in their sophomore seasons for the Kings. Douby didn’t get much of a chance to prove himself on the basketball court last season but that might change in 2007-08. He played in 42 games (0 starts) last season for the Kings and he averaged 8.6 minutes, 2.8 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. The Kings first round pick was their center of the future Spencer Hawes out of Washington. That future will have to wait a little bit as he will miss the start of the season due to injury.

With Mike Bibby out for 6-10 weeks and Ron Artest suspended for the first 7 games of the season the Kings likely will find the start of the season to be rough sledding. The Kings need for Kevin Martin to improve even more than he did last season because they will be without two of their best offensive players to start the season. Martin played in 80 games (all starts) last season with the Kings and he averaged 35.2 minutes, 20.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Ron Artest will be the 2nd option on the offense when he returns in a couple of weeks. He played in 70 games (65 starts) last season for the Kings and he averaged 37.7 minutes, 18.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game. Veteran center Brad Miller hopes to stay healthy this season and the Kings need him because he’s still a skilled offensive player. Miller played in 63 games (56 starts) for the Kings last season and he averaged 28.3 minutes, 9.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. Kenny Thomas has won the starting job at power forward for the Kings but he could have a hard time holding off Mikki Moore and Shareef Abdur-Rahim for the starting job. Thomas played in 62 games (53 starts) for the Kings last year and he averaged 22.8 minutes, 5.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Orien Greene will start at the point for the Kings until Bibby is ready to return. Greene played in 41 games (0 starts) for the Pacers last season and he averaged 6.3 minutes, 1.5 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.

The Kings have lost starting point guard Mike Bibby for the next 6-10 weeks after he suffered torn ligaments in his left thumb in practice this week. Bibby played in all 82 games last season for the Kings with a bad thumb and he averaged 34.0 minutes, 17.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game. The Kings will attempt to fill Bibby’s role of running the offense with either Quincy Douby or John Salmons. Salmons is the better player right now but Douby has the potential to be a difference maker. Douby played in 42 games (0 starts) last season and he averaged 8.5 minutes, 2.8 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Salmons would give the Kings nice size at the point as he stands 6′6″. He played in 79 games (19 starts) last season for the Kings and he averaged 27.0 minutes, 8.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. The Kings will suffer a dropoff in play at the point until Bibby returns.