31-year old John Salmons will be the starting small forward for the Kings in 2011-12, and they hope he adds some zip to the offense.  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.  Salmons has been a late bloomer and the Kings hope he remains productive in 2011-12.  20-year old Tyler Honeycutt was a 2nd round pick out of UCLA last June, so he might get a shot for some P.T. off the bench  in 2011-12.

The Kings would like to re-sign shooting guard Marcus Thornton, who is a restricted free agent.  If they don’t bring Thornton back, 29-year old Francisco Garcia will battle 22-year old rookie Jimmer Fredette for the starting job at shooting guard.  Garcia would probably have the edge to win the job at the start of the year.  Garcia played in 58 games (34 starts) for the Kings last year and he averaged 23.9 minutes, 9.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.  He has now played in 373 games (110 starts) in his first six years with the Kings and he is averaging 23.4 minutes, 9.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.  Jimmer Fredette was an outstanding offensive player in college, but we will see soon enough how that translates to the NBA.

22-year old Tyreke Evans will move from shooting guard to point guard for the 2011-12 season.  Evans played in 57 games (53 starts) for the Kings last year and he averaged 37.0 minutes, 17.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  He has now played in 129 games (125 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 37.1 minutes, 19.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  22-year old Jimmer Fredette will likely be the Kings’ #3 guard in 2011-12, meaning that he will play both at point guard and shooting guard.  The Kings have high hopes for Fredette giving them an offensive boost this year and beyond.  22-year old Isaiah Thomas is another rookie who will likely get P.T. this year for the Kings at the point.