The Kings have traded Mike Bibby to the Atlanta Hawks for Shelden Williams, Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Lorenzen Wright and a 2nd round pick in 2008. Bibby played in 15 games (12 starts) for the Kings this season and he averaged 31.5 minutes, 13.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Bibby has now played in 690 games (687 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 36.4 minutes, 16.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Beno Udrih will take over the starting job at point guard for the Kings and he has done a solid job this season.
The Kings made this trade to clear salary cap space for the off-season as Tyronn Lue, Anthony Johnson and Lorenzen Wright will all become free agents after this year. With that in mind, the key to the trade for the Hawks was 2nd year man Shelden Williams. Williams was the Hawks’ first round pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. Williams has played in 35 games (0 starts) this season for the Hawks and he was averaging 11.4 minutes, 2.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Williams has now played in 116 games (31 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 16.5 minutes, 4.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. He will likely be a back-up at power forward and center for the Kings the rest of the season. Anthony Johnson was the starting point guard for the Hawks this season but he will back up Beno Udrih in Sacramento. Johnson played in 41 games (40 starts) for the Hawks this season and he was averaging 26.4 minutes, 6.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Johnson has now played in 654 games (225 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 20.2 minutes, 5.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Reserve guard Tyronn Lue will likely get the bulk of his time with the Kings backing up Kevin Martin at shooting guard but he can also handle point guard duties in a pinch. Lue has played in 33 games (3 starts) this season for the Hawks and he has averaged 17.1 minutes, 6.8 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Lue has now played in 493 games (173 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 24.1 minutes, 9.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Lue has been a solid shooter in his career as he has hit 43.6% of his shots from the floor, 38.7% of his shots from the three point line and 83.4% from the free throw line. Lorenzen Wright won’t add much to the Kings as the center hasn’t done much lately. Wright has played in 12 games (1 start) this season for the Kings and he was averaging 11.8 minutes, 0.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Wright has now played in 755 games (445 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 24.4 minutes, 8.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. The Kings weren’t likely to make the playoffs this season in the Western Conference so it was a smart move to trade Bibby and open up some cap space for this summer’s free agent crop.