The Sacramento Kings have acquired 23-year old power forward J.J. Hickson from the Cavaliers for 23-year old small forward Omri Casspi and a future conditional first round pick.  Hickson is a up and coming player who will team up inside with DeMarcus Cousins to give the Kings an intimidation factor in the paint.  Hickson played in 80 games (66 starts) for the Cavs last year and he averaged 28.2 minutes, 13.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  Hickson averaged a double-double after the All-Star break last year for the Cavs.  Hickson has now played in 223 games (139 starts) in his first three years in the NBA and he is averaging 20.9 minutes, 9.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  He has a huge upside.

Omri Casspi has wanted out of Sacramento for a while now, so adding him to this deal was a no-brainer for the Kings.  Casspi played in 71 games (27 starts) for the Kings last year and he averaged 24.0 minutes, 8.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  Casspi played in 148 games (58 starts) in his two years with the Kings and he averaged 24.5 minutes, 9.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  With John Salmons now the starting small forward, dealing Casspi won’t hurt the Kings one bit.

I can’t tell you how much I love this deal for the Kings who are suddenly looking more and more like a playoff team.

The Kings took 22-year old, 5’9″, 185 pound guard Isaiah Thomas with the 60th overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft.  Thomas played in 35 games for the Washington Huskies last year and he averaged 31.9 minutes, 16.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  Thomas played in 105 games in three years in college and he averaged 30.4 minutes, 16.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  This was a solid pick for the Kings who hope that he can be half the player that the other Isiah Thomas was.

The Kings took 20-year old, 6’8″, 200 pound small forward Tyler Honeycutt with the #35 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.  Honeycutt played in 33 games for UCLA last year and he is averaging 35.0 minutes, 12.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.1 blocked shots per game.  Honeycutt played in 59 games in his two years in college and he averaged 31.7 minutes, 10.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.7 blocked shots per game.  This was an excellent value pick for the Kings as Honeycutt should be able to help them right away.

The Kings picked 22-year old, 6’2″, 190 pound SG/PG Jimmer Fredette with the 10th overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft.  Fredette played in 37 games for BYU last year and he averaged 35.8 minutes, 28.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  He played in 139 games in his four years in college and he averaged 29.6 minutes, 18.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  Fredette might step right into the starting lineup for the Kings.  At worst, he will be the first guard off the bench in 2011-12.

The Sacramento Kings have acquired 31-year old SG/SF John Salmons and the #10 overall pick (from the Bucks).  In return the Kings dealt 28-year old point guard Beno Udrih to the Bucks and the #7 overall pick to the Bobcats.  John Salmons played in 73 games (70 starts) for the Bucks last year and he averaged 35.0 minutes, 14.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  He has now played in 674 games (317 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 26.9 minutes, 10.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.  If the Kings bring back restricted free agent Marcus Thornton, Salmons will start at small forward.  If Thornton goes free, Salmons could start at shooting guard in 2010-11. 

28-year old point guard Beno Udrih played in 79 games (64 starts) last year with the Kings and he averaged 34.6 minutes, 13.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  Udrih played in 296 games (228 starts) in his four years with the Kings and he averaged 32.3 minutes, 12.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game. 

The Bobcats got SG/SF Corey Maggette from the Bucks as part of this deal.  The Bucks also got SG/SF Stephen Jackson, PG Shaun Livingston and the #19 overall pick from the Bobcats in this deal.

I’m not so sure why the Kings made this deal.  They essentially moved down three spots to deal Beno Udrih for John Salmons.

The Kings will go into the NBA Draft with the #7, #35 and #60 picks.  With the 7th pick, the Kings will likely be deciding between PF Jan Vesely and SF Chris Singleton.  I think they will go with Vesley with the idea of using DeMarcus Cousins at center.  The Kings will also likely be looking for a small forward and a center with the 35th and 60th overall picks.  The Kings can’t afford to miss in the draft with this year being so important to the future of the team in Sacramento.

The Kings have five free agents heading into this summer and they likely want to keep at least two of them.  SG Marcus Thornton is a restricted free agent and he’s likely going to get a decent offer from some team.  I think the Kings will match any offer that Thornton gets as they consider him a key part of the team’s future.  The Kings have a team option on restricted free agent point guard Pooh Jeter and I think they will pick it up as he played well for them as a rookie last year.  Forward Darnell Jackson is also a restricted free agent but I see the Kings letting him walk.  SG/SF Marquis Daniels never played a game for the Kings after they acquired him in a trade deadline deal with the Celtics last year.  I see him trying to hook on with a playoff type team as a bench player in 2011-12.  Center Samuel Dalembert is one of the best centers on the free agent market so I don’t see him returning to the Kings in 2011-12.

The Kings have waived 24-year old SG/SF Jermaine Taylor.  Taylor played in 26 games (8 starts) for the Kings last year and he averaged 15.6 minutes, 7.1 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.  He has now played in 65 games (12 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 12.1 minutes, 5.4 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  The Kings shouldn’t miss Taylor too much if at all in the future.

23-year old shooting guard Marcus Thornton was outstanding for the Kings after coming over from the Hornets in a deal for Carl Landry at the trade deadline.  Thornton played in 27 games (23 starts) for the Kings last year and he averaged 38.1 minutes, 21.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game.  He played in 73 games (23 starts) overall for the Hornets and Kings last year and he averaged 24.3 minutes, 12.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.  Thornton has now played in 146 games (40 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 25.0 minutes, 13.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.  This deal is looking like a steal so far for the Kings as Thornton is likely going to have a big role with them going forward.

Center Sam Lacey played 10 years with the Kansas City Kings and 2 years with the Cincinnati Royals and that puts him all over the Sacramento Kings’ record books.  He played in 888 games in his 12 years with the franchise now known as the Sacramento Kings and he averaged 33.8 minutes, 11.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  Lacey is the Kings’ all-time leader in games played (888), rebounds (9,353), steals (950) and blocked shots (1,098).  He is also #2 in assists (3,563) and he’s #5 in scoring (9,895 points) in Kings’ history.