58-year old Paul Westphal will bring a new playing style to the Kings and it will be interesting to see how well he can motivate the troops. Westphal hasn’t coached since the 2000-01 season with the Supersonics so he might be a little rusty. Only time will tell. He has a career record as a NBA coach of 267-159 (62.7%) and he is 27-22 (55.1%) in the post season. If Westphal can had to his playoff record he will win the NBA Coach of the Decade Award.

21-year old Spencer Hawes really played well last season for the Kings especially after Brad Miller was traded to the Bulls. Overall, Hawes played in 77 games for the Kings last season and he averaged 29.3 minutes, 11.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. The Kings will likely increase Hawes’ workload around 8-10 minutes a game this season as he has no real back up. Donte’ Greene will likely back up Hawes this season at center.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CENTERS IN 2009-2010: B

The Kings are likely 5 deep at power forward going into this season. 23-year old Jason Thompson will be the starter for the Kings. He played in all 82 games for the Kings last season and he averaged 28.1 minutes, 11.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Look for him numbers to improve this season as he will likely play a few more minutes per game. 21-year old Donte Greene will likely be #2 in line for minutes at both power forward and center. He played in 55 games for the Kings last season and he averaged 13.2 minutes, 3.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Look for his numbers to possibly double this season for the Kings. 25-year old Sean May will be #3 in line for minutes here. He palyed in 24 games for the Bobcats last season and he averaged 12.5 minutes, 3.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. If he can stay healthy he can help the Kings big time as he was a former high first round pick. 22-year old Jon Brockman was the 8th pick of the 2nd round of the NBA Draft out of Washington. Brockman is a undersized banger who has a nose for the basketball. 32-year old Kenny Thomas is still around but that is because of his bad contract. He played in only 8 games for the Kings last season averaging 7.8 minutes, 0.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POWER FORWARDS IN 2009-2010: C

It appears that 32-year old Desmond Mason has won the starting job at small forward for the Kings. He played in 39 games for the Thunder last season and he averaged 27.3 minutes, 7.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Since the Kings are likely to run the ball more than in the past this move makes sense as Mason is a great finisher on fast breaks despite his mediocre shooting touch. 29-year old Andres Nocioni will back up Mason this season. He played in 76 games for the Bulls & Kings last season and he averaged 26.2 minutes, 11.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. The Kings wouldn’t miss a beat if Nocioni had to step into the starting lineup. 21-year old rookie Omri Casspi will be #3 in line when the season starts for minutes but he could move up the depth chart at some point in the year. 27-year old Franciso Garcia was in line to be the starter at small forward this season before seriously injuring himself which will cause him to miss the first few months of the season. He played in 65 games for the Kings last season and he averaged 30.4 minutes, 12.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SMALL FORWARDS IN 2009-2010: D+

26-year old Kevin Martin is the best player on the Kings, period. He played in 51 games for the Kings last season and he averaged 38.2 minutes, 24.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Martin could even score more if he wanted to. He is a outstanding shooter hitting 41.5% of his shots from three point range. 20-year old rookie Tyreke Evans will back up Martin as a rookie. He was the 4th pick in the NBA Draft out of Memphis. He should also get some minutes at small forward as the Kings need to get him on the court as much as possible.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SHOOTING GUARDS IN 2009-2010: A-