After reading through many of the various posts and comments on this site about the draft, I've seen virtually no love for San Diego State's Kawhi Leonard.  It seems odd to me that a player who is ranked the #2 player in the draft at a position we need (SF) hasn't been at least mentioned as a possibility for us to select.  For those of you keeping track of Chad Ford's Big Board, he's currently ranked as the #5 player in the draft ahead of the much adored Kemba Walker.

A talent like Leonard must at least be considered.  He lead the surprising Aztecs to one of the best records in college basketball and to the Sweet 16.  He's an explosive athlete who can quietly get his points off offensive rebounds and can defend the 2, 3, and 4.  I had the pleasure of catching a few SDSU games this year and came away really impressed with him.  According to Ford's most recent article (sorry about the Insider thing), he's putting major time in at the gym, being the first one in and last one to leave.

The most compelling reason for me to want to take this kid is that I think he's the best fit on this team.  He's got a quiet demeanor and a willingness to take a back seat, which is perfect for playing along side Tyreke and DeMarcus.  Also, and more importantly, we do not need another guard.  We have Tyreke, Beno, and (presumably) Marcus Thornton.  Cisco can also play the 2 in big line ups.  Kemba and Knight would need to be sent to the D-League just to get minutes with the current roster.

All things considered, I like the idea of drafting another Small Forward over another guard, especially one with Kawhi's work ethic.  I think he'll make an excellent NBA player and perfect compliment to our roster.

I remember in the comments section of a post a couple weeks ago that chenp22 linked to a video of Crandall reporting something about a privately funded arena plan ready for approval.  He said that the Maloofs and the NBA already have the plan in their possession.  I know that Crandall has a history of not being the best journalist, but was there ever a follow up story to that?  I haven't heard anything about it since.

I almost hate to admit it, but I was just inspired by an Ailene Voisin article.  For those of you who haven't seen it, she wrote a pretty good article (I mean genuinely good, not just good by her standards) about the man who was responsible for bringing the Kings to Sacramento in the first place, Gregg Lukenbill.  I was only 5 years old when he sold the team, but the from the way he's portrayed in the article he sounds like the type of guy I'd like to see running things again.  It was particularly intriguing reading about how he personally went up to stop the roof from leaking during that game in 1989.  Sounds like the type of guy I can get behind.

After reading about his unconventional way of doing things, I started thinking that maybe it's time we started to get a little unconventional ourselves about this arena issue.  You'll have to forgive me if anyone has brought up some of these ideas in the past, as I have not been keeping up with reading the fan posts and comments as much as I'd like and I've been studying my ass of for school so I'm way too tired to do research.

My big idea, if you want to call it that, is to expand on Lukenbill's idea in the article mentioned above.  He said that it would probably take the 5 largest counties in the area to help finance a new arena.  But why stop there?  We should be making pitches to other counties and cities in the area.  I'm from Redding, CA and I know many people up there are, in fact, die hard Kings fans.  I was thinking that we should at least try to get areas like Redding and Chico in on helping to shoulder the burden on building a new arena.  Just like those of us in Sacramento, it's the only professional sports team in the area and it would be a huge disappointment for them to lose the Kings as well.

While it would help if we could somehow get the support from Shasta and Butte counties, why stop there?  Why not ask surrounding cities such as Stockton, Davis, and maybe even out of state cities like Reno?  I understand these are all not probable to work, as each of these cities have their reasons for being reluctant to help, but what do we have to lose?  It's make or break time, Kings fans.  We can't leave any stone unturned.  At this point in time, I'm not adverse to sitting in front of my local Savemart with a coffee can labeled "Help keep our Kings in Sacramento."

A few weeks back, it was mentioned to write letters to all the NBA owners asking them not to approve a move to Mickey Mouse Land.  The same thing applies here.  Write letters to all the city and county representatives in the region, anywhere from south of the Oregon border to Reno to Stockton asking for any support they can give.  Let's unify the whole Northern part of the state under one common goal: Keeping the Kings.

Just remember that this will all start and end with us, though.  If we can't get this started, no one else has the passion to make something like this happen.  Take a few minutes out of your day to send the different city/county councils emails and letters asking for their help.  If you know anyone of the city/county leaders personally, talk it over with them.  Anything helps.

Keep the movement alive and don't lose faith.  When his advisors warned him not to attempt to cross the Alps in the Winter time, Napoleon replied to them "For Napoleon's army, there shall be no Alps."  Then, mounted on a mule, he proceeded to personally lead his army across the treacherous mountain range and caught the enemy completely off guard.  In our case, the Alps represent the financial issues of funding a new arena.  With that in mind, "For the Here We Stay Movement, there shall be no financial issues."

Okay, so we've reached the 17/32 mark of the season and the Kings have some pretty glaring needs at the moment.  I wanted to get everyone's take on which player they would like the Kings to take most in this upcoming draft.  Let's just pretend for a second that the ping pong balls finally bounced our way (long shot, i know given our history) and we get the pick of the litter.  The top prospects in this year's draft according to ESPN's Chad Ford are Perry Jones (6'11" PF), Kyrie Irving (6'2" PG), Harrison Barnes (6'7" SF), Enes Kanter (6'10" C), and Terrance Jones (6' 8" SF).

Jones is an intriguing prospect to pair with DeMarcus.  He doesn't have the low post game that many would expect from a player of his size, but many scouts still love his potential to be a Lamar Odom type of power forward.

Irving is a pure point guard, but not an elite athlete.  He's got amazing floor leadership skills and can really run a team.  He's also coming out of Duke, so he'll be well coached and disciplined by Coach K.

Barnes has been compared to big time players like Kobe Bryant.  He's not having a very solid year as of yet, but he's got potential to be that 3rd star of the future we need along with Tyreke and DeMarcus.

Kanter has been ruled ineligible to play, but scouts still love the way he played back in Europe.  He's a bit undersized to play center, but scouts rant about his blue collar approach the game.  I get the feeling of a foreign and taller John Brockman with an impressive offensive game from reading his scouting reports.

Jones is producing very well for Coach Kal at Kentucky, and so far we've gotten a couple of pretty good products out of that school the past couple years.  He's averaging over 20 points and 10 rebounds a game.

At this point in time, I would go with Irving.  His leadership skills and ability to set up his teammates is something we have been sorely lacking from that position.  While he isn't the freak athlete that John Wall is, he more than makes up for it in his ability to make his teammates better.  Imagine having a pure point guard to set up Tyreke and Cousins for years to come on this team.

Barnes is my number 2 guy.  I like his potential and I think this funk that he's in is just an adjustment period while he gets used to being away from home and trying to deal with all the pressure put on him coming out of high school.  I like the concept of having an elite player on the wing next to Tyreke with Omri backing him up.

So, let's hear it.  Who would you go with and why?

Looking at the rumors on ESPN, it sounds like more than just Carmelo Anthony could be on their way out.  Chauncey Billups and J.R. Smith are also on the trading block and could be potential great additions to the Kings.

John Hollinger brought up the idea that if the Nuggets do trade Anthony, they will also trade Billups.  Is there a more perfect fit (minus that large contract of his) for this team for what we need?  An all star point guard who can knock down outside shots, play awesome defense, and help mentor our young team.  Not to mention the small detail of having already won a championship.

I'm not nearly as high up on Smith, especially after the latest incident where he allegedly choked some dude for being too physical with him during drills.  If (I know it's a big if) he can get his act together, he's a pretty good little wing to have on the team.  He would also give us a 2 to pair with Tyreke.  He's definately a high risk player who could have high rewards too.  He also has an expiring contract, so we won't be stuck with him if he does turn out to be a dud.

So, here we go.  In my opinion, there is no downside to having Billups on the team (even though I'm sure someone here can make a pretty good argument as to why he would be a detriment, I just couldn't think of it).  I would offer Beno, JT/Landry, and a top 10 protected draft pick for Billups and Chris Andersen.  This would seriously help the Nuggets with finances and gives them either a young, cheap big in JT who's still developing or a really good low post scorer in Landry with an expiring contract.  We could also potentially throw in the Bucks' 2nd round draft pick or Darnell Jackson to sweeten the deal, if need be.

As far as for Smith, I'm still not sure if I'd take him.  I might offer a future 2nd round pick or try to land him in a three way deal.

Let's hear what you all have to say about this.

According to various rumors on ESPN and other sources, the Nuggets are looking to trade Carmelo Anthony.  My question to everyone is what would you be willing to give up to get 'Melo?  I want to hear some ideas floating around in those devious little heads of yours.

Personally, I think we'd have to include Donte Greene/Omri Casspi and Carl Landry at least in any deal.  Probably a first round draft pick to go along with it.  I wouldn't do it if it meant giving up Tyreke Evans or DeMarcus Cousins.  I'm way to geeked up on those two right now to trade for anyone.

What do you think?

A quick note: I know I'm tempting the Basketball Gods here, but this post is assuming the Kings take a big in the draft tomorrow and don't take Wesley Johnson.  For the record, I feel Johnson would be ideal for what I'm after in this post, but I'd much prefer DeMarcus Cousins.

So, I've been scouring over Sports Illustrated's Free Agent List for this summer and outside of first 12 or so, I'm very underwhelmed as far as anything that would fit on the current Kings Roster.  Ideally, I'm looking for a two guard who can do two things well: Defend and Shoot.  Anything else they bring to the table would be a bonus.  My main reason for this is that I want someone to compliment Tyreke and allow him to defend the point guards where he'd have a distict size advantage.  Also, while I do want Tyreke's defense to evolve to awesomeness, I'd prefer someone else was chasing around the Kobe's and the Wade's all night long with Tyreke switching with him from time to time to give him a break for a play or two.  Unfortunately, none of the "other" 2's in this year's free agency class have both those attributes.  At best, we could get a guy with one of those attributes such as JJ Redick (an effin Dukie who could only shoot) or Ronnie Brewer (great energy on defense, not so great on offense).  Randy Foye looks interesting at first glance, but after doing some research, he's undersized at 6'4" and often gets posted up by bigger 2's.  He's not all that great of a shooter, either.

With that being said, there are a number of intriguing SF's, but I question their abilities to play the 2 the way I'd want them to.  However, if we were absolutely intent on finding someone out of this group, there are a number of players I would at least like to look at.

I'm a little interested in Josh Childress.  I didn't think much of him when he was on the Hawks, but I think playing overseas in Greece really helped him to mature.  He's a decent shooter and good defender.  However, he is a restricted free agent with a $4.8 million qualifying offer which could prove to be too spendy.  Geoff Petrie has historically shyed away from trying to sign restricted free agents, anyway, so I think it is unlikely we'd be able to get him.  Plus, I absolutely despise that afro he sports.  Ben Wallace he is not.

Mike Miller has a beautiful stroke and could definately stretch the defense, but like Redick (the damn Dukie) he'd be a liability on defense, even tho being 6'8" could definately help.

Travis Outlaw is too much of a traditional 3 and not quite the defender I'm hoping for.  He'd eat into Donte and Omri's minutes too much, and that is one thing I don't want to have happen.

Then there's Josh Howard, who at best would be considered a "swing for the fences and pray he regains his old form" signing.  A torn ACL is nothing to gawk at and he may never be the same player again.  He was already a little suspect on defense as it was pre-injury, not being fast enough to keep up with the quick 2's.  That being said, he could be signed on the cheap after a disaster year like he just had.  If he regains any sense of respectibility, he could be a real bargain and another piece of the puzzle (maybe a step or two up from Sean May).  At the very least, he could help fill a roster spot to reach the league minimum.

If he opts out of his contract, which is likely given that he's only making $1.6 million, former King Matt Barnes could be in the mix.  He's got a tough mentality and he might enjoy coming home to play.  He's a decent shooter and in a game against that God forsaken purple and gold team I saw this season, he was able to at least frustrate Kobe Bryant.  He has a reputation of playing for pretty cheap as well, leading me to believe he wouldn't cut too far into our cap space.  After playing for the Magic, however, my gut says he wants to go to a contender and not a rebuilding team.  He might still be a little sour after we dealt him to the Sixers in the Webber trade as well.

After all is said and done, I think the best we could do for this summer as far as a free agent 2 goes would be Matt Barnes, if he'd come to us.  I like his mentality and willingness to get a little dirty.  Plus, it's always fun to cheer for a homegrown product.