ADDITIONS: John Salmons, SG Loren Woods, C Quincy Douby, SG Louis Amundson, PF LOSSES: Bonzi Wells, SG Jamal Sampson, PF Sergey Monya, F PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP: C – Brad Miller PF – Kenny Thomas SF – Ron Artest SG – Kevin Martin PG – Mike Bibby WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN 2006 Not much happened in the off-season for the Sacramento Kings. They did lose Bonzi Wells and his demands of $10 million per year and replaced him by slotting Kevin Martin into the starting shooting guard slot, while signing former Sixer John Salmons to help in coming off the bench. Bonzi seemed to have come alive during the playoffs last year by scoring 23.2 points with 12 rebounds per game against the San Antonio Spurs. That’s not typical of what you’d get from Bonzi Wells, but a young Kevin Martin and an unproven John Salmons won’t necessarily make up for the loss of Wells at the two-guard position. Maybe the biggest off-season move came when the Kings let head coach Rick Adelman go and signed 41-year-old Eric Musselman to a contract during the summer. Musselman, one of the youngest coaches in the league, most recently coached the Golden State Warriors in 2002 and 2003. He is known for his strong defensive mind and, in 2003, Musselman was a runner up for the NBA Coach of the Year award. I suspect that Musselman will do his best job trying to keep Ron Artest out of trouble. If he does so, this may end up to be the biggest off-season move for the Kings. The Kings used the 2006 NBA Draft to snag one of the best perimeter shooters from the college ranks in Quincy Douby, out of Rutgers. However, don’t look for him to get much playing time. With his small frame, it’s hard to imagine Douby matching up successfully with most shooting guards in the NBA. With a quiet draft and a few minor signings during the summer, look for the real fantasy value in 2006-07 to come from the usual suspects: Artest, Bibby, and Miller. KEY BENCH POSITIONS / POSITION BATTLES Kenny Thomas had a nice 2005-06 season beating out former All-Star Shareef Abdur-Rahim for the starting PF position. I suspect that not much will change in 2006-07 because Abdur-Rahim, who has been labeled as a “soft” player in the past, has never been one to rise to the occasion. Shareef had not sniffed the playoffs until last season, where he played in six games with the Kings and averaged only 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Were Shareef Abdur-Rahim able to gain his All-Star form, you could see a nice position battle here at the power forward position. However, it is currently Kenny Thomas’ spot to lose. You may see a position battle at the two-guard spot between Kevin Martin and John Salmons. Salmons was brought in after a career year in Philly averaging 7.5 points per game in only 25 minutes. Kevin Martin had slightly better stats, logging 26.6 minutes per game and scoring at a 10.8 per game clip. Martin also showed some improvement in 2005-06 by putting up 13.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 1.3 three-pointers per game in 41 starts for the Kings. Other than Kevin Martin having a slightly better shooting touch than John Salmons, I figure the position will be won by the player who shows more hustle on the defensive end of the ball. --

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