The Kings have gotten solid production out of their new players so far. Carl Landry has stepped right into the starting lineup at power forward for the Kings. He has played in 2 games (both starts) for the Kings so far and he is averaging 37.0 minutes, 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Dominic McGuire played in 19 minutes off the bench for the Kings in his debut for them and he didn’t score, but, he grabbed 5 rebounds, dished out 1 assist and he blocked a shot. Joey Dorsey has played in 1 game off the bench for the Kings and he worked 2 scoreless minutes grabbing 1 rebound. Larry Hughes has a fractured finger that he’s having issues with and he hasn’t played for the Kings yet.

The Kings aren’t going to the playoffs this season so why not let 26-year old forward Joey Dorsey get a few minutes the rest of the year so they can evaluate him as a player? Dorsey has played in 7 games (0 starts) this season for the Rockets and he was averaging 7.7 minutes, 1.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. He has now played in 10 games (0 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 6.0 minutes, 1.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.

There has been some talk about the Kings possibly buying out Larry Hughes’ contract but since it expires at the end of the year maybe they should just let him play it out. Hughes has played in 31 games (14 starts) for the Knicks this season and he averaged 26.5 minutes, 9.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He only shot 36.6% from the floor for the Knicks this season so if the Kings are going to keep him they need to have him work on his shot selection. Hughes has now played in 704 games (507 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 31.2 minutes, 14.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

UPDATE: The Kings didn’t listen to me as they have released Larry Hughes.

I don’t know who 32-year old forward Kenny Thomas pissed off but he is in the Dog House for the second year in a row. He has played in 26 games (2 starts) for the Kings this season and he is averaging 12.0 minutes, 1.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Thomas is shooting 48.6% from the floor and he can still rebound. With that in mind I wonder if the Kings will try to make a team take him along with Kevin Martin if they decide to trade him at the deadline.

It seems as if the Sacramento Kings have hit a wall in the month of January, winning only 1 of 11 games so far this month and losing their last 7 games.  They have gone 1-12 since December 23rd and things just keep getting worse.  They have been playing terrible defense and have been giving up 106 points-per-game since December 23rd.  It looks like most of the Kings’ players have given up on the season and they are only half-way through the 2009-’10 season.  Pretty much every Kings’ player needs to step up their play and bring a strong effort every night.  One of the few players you can’t put much blame on for the Kings’ failures is rookie Tyreke Evans.  Evans has been the Kings’ best player all season long and has been having some very strong games despite the Kings recent losing ways.  He is averaging 20.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.5 steals while shooting 46% from the field.  He is the favorite to win this year’s Rookie of the Year Award, but he is getting very little help on offense and their team defense has been terrible so the Kings will continue to struggle.