The Kings have fired 61-year old head coach Paul Westphal.  The Kings were off to a rough 2-5 start to the 2011-12 season.  The Kings were 51-120 (29.8%) under Westphal in his two plus years on the job.  The Kings didn’t take too well the Westphal’s old school style of coaching.  He has a 318-279 (53.3%) during the regular season in his NBA career and he is 27-22 (55.1%) in the post season.  The Kings have replaced Westphal with 47-year old Keith Smart on an interim basis.  Smart has a 45-77 record (36.9%) in his first two years as a head coach in the NBA.  The Kings hope that Smart will be able to relate to the players as little better than Westphal did.

UPDATE:  The Kings have removed the interim tag and have signed Keith Smart to a 2-year deal.

The Kings have claimed 27-year old small forward off waivers from the Nets.  Outlaw played in 82 games (55 starts) for the Nets last year and he averaged 28.8 minutes, 9.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  He has now played in 482 games (87 starts) in his NFL career and he is averaging 22.9 minutes, 9.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  Outlaw will backup John Salmons at small forward as the Kings should have an outstanding bench in 2011-12.

The Kings have signed 28-year old F/C Chuck Hayes to a 4-year, $21.3 million contract.  Hayes played in 74 games (63 starts) for the Rockets last year and he averaged 28.1 minutes, 7.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  He has now played in 424 games (233 starts) in his first six years in the NBA and he is averaging 20.1 minutes, 4.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  Hayes gives a great effort every night and he will be a solid backup and mentor to DeMarcus Cousins and J.J. Hickson.

UPDATE:  (12/19/2011) – The Kings have voided Chuck Hayes’ contract after he failed his physical due to a heart abnormality.

UPDATE:  (12/22/2011)  – The Kings have re-signed Chuck Hayes to a 4-year, $22 million dollar contract.  He has been cleared of his “heart problem” by a few doctors.

The Kings have re-signed 24-year old shooting guard Marcus Thornton to a 4-year, $33 million dollar deal.  Thornton played in 27 games (23 starts) for the Kings last year after coming over in a deal with the Hornets and he averaged 38.1 minutes, 21.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game.  He 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.  Thornton is on the verge of becoming a star in the NBA, so the Kings were smart to re-sign him.

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 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.

The Sacramento Kings have released 28-year old shooting guard Luther Head.  Head played in 36 games (14 starts) for the Kings this season and he averaged 16.3 minutes, 5.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.   Head shot 41.5% from the floor, 39.1% from the three point line and 78% from the free throw line.  The Kings wanted to go with younger players at guard the rest of the year which led to Head’s release.