The Kings have decided to replace Carl Landry as the starting power forward with Jason Thompson.  Landry has played in 15 games (14 starts) for the Kings so far this season and he is averaging 29.3 minutes, 13.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  I pretty sure this move was made with defense and rebounding in mind as neither of those are Landry’s strengths.  Jason Thompson has played in 14 games (2 starts) for the Kings so far this year and he is averaging 15.7 minutes, 5.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  I like this move for the Kings as Thompson is just a tougher player around the basket, plus, Landry has played his best basketball off the bench to this point in his NBA career.

24-year old power forward Jason Thompson is the forgotten man on the Kings this year. He has played in 9 games (1 start) for the Kings this season and he is averaging 15.2 minutes, 5.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Thompson is too darn good to be wasting away on the Kings’ bench playing only 15 minutes a night. If the Kings don’t start playing him more than maybe they should deal him as he likely still has a lot of value to a team that can give him 30 minutes a night.

PF/C Sean May didn’t do much to help the Kings this season. He played in 36 games (4 starts) for the Kings this season and he has averaged 9.1 minutes, 3.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. May took minutes and P.T. away from guys like Spencer Hawes and Donte’ Greene which made little to no sense. I will be shocked if he is with the team in 2010-11.

29-year old shooting guard/small forward got off to a very late start to the 2010 season due to injury. Garcia is trying to make up for lost time but he has players ahead of him on the depth chart. So he has to make the most of the minutes he is getting this year. Garcia has played in 18 games (3 starts) for the Kings this season and he is averaging 23.9 minutes, 8.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

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.

23-year old back-up point guard Sergio Rodriguez has not played in 4 of the Kings’ last five games as he has had his playing time cut due to the return of Kevin Martin. Rodriguez has played in 32 games (0 starts) for the Kings this season and he is averaging 13.3 minutes, 5.9 points, 1.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Rumors are swirling that the Kings are looking to trade Martin. If that happens then “Spanish Chocolate” will get back to playing his normal minutes.