Boogie time.

The Cleveland Cavaliers look to survive and advance against the Sacramento Kings despite the lengthy list of injuries while integrating new players on the fly. The Kings have been inconsistent after the dismissal of coach Mike Malone, but still have the ability to play at a very high level if you catch them on the wrong night.

Who? Cleveland Cavaliers (19-18) at Sacramento Kings (15-21)

When? 9:00 pm EST

Where? Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, California

Where on my eyeballs? Fox Sports Ohio, NBA League Pass

Why? I said so.

Enemy blog: Sactown Royalty

Music?

Someday the Cavs will have everybody playing, I think.

Keys to the game

• The impact of Timofey Mozgov will hopefully be felt in a big way tonight. Demarcus Cousins is one of the most devastating offensive big men in the league. There's very few players who posses the size, strength and skill that he has. Mozgov will need to do a good job in denying him deep post position and minimizing his impact as much as possible.
• Defensively, the Cavs will basically be forced to pray that Rudy Gay decides to be lazy and settle for jump shots. Without LeBron James, Shawn Marion or Iman Shumpert, the team is missing it's three most capable wing defenders. Gay has been very good for the Kings after being traded from the Raptors last season. He has fantastic physical tolls and when he's engaged and aggressive, he can be tough to stop. Like Cousins, if the Cavs can keep him away from the rim it will increase their chances of winning considerably.
• Darren Collison has to guard Kyrie Irving. So that will be fun.
• Sacramento is one of the few teams with a worse defensive efficiency than the Cavs. Big games from Kevin Love and J.R. Smith would help reduce the load the defense will need to shoulder in order to get the win.
• The Cavs have hung around with some good teams recently, but faded late and ultimately collapsed. They'll need to find a way to be more consistent and get more production from their role players, as they have put far too much pressure on the starters over the last eight games.

Fear The Sword's fearless prediction:

I think the Cavs break out of their offensive slump in a big way. They'll be hungry to finally get back into the win column and feast on the Kings porous defense. Cavs win 105-92.

A wounded, LeBron-less Cavaliers team came into Sleep Train Arena only to have the Kings rip right through them

Let's be clear: the ten men who dressed in Cleveland Cavaliers uniforms to play tonight are not a good team. Ever since Anderson Verejao went down with an injury, they have gone 2-8, including a loss to leaguewide joke Philadelphia 76ers. Still, with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving suiting up, the team has the potential to pack some punch. So it was pretty satisfying to watch the Sacramento Kings lay the smackdown down at home by a score of 103-84.

The Kings were led by another stat-stuffing effort by DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins notched 26 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 3 blocks. One thing to note, however, is that Boogie failed to shoot 50% from the field again, only going 11/23 from the field. Rudy Gay also had a strong afternoon guarded by J.R. Smith for most of the night, tallying 23 points on only 14 shots. Gay was able to get easy looks in post-up moves because the Cavaliers weren't terribly interested in bringing hard defensive pressure. Darren Collison also racked up 16 points and 6 assists while playing stellar defense against Kyrie Irving for most of the night. Irving got scorching hot from deep in the first quarter, burying four threes, but afterwards was quiet for most of the night. The Kings' offense hummed all night; the team shot 48% from the field and had 20 assists to only 4 turnovers.

Tyrone Corbin made sure that the rotations included a healthy mix of both starters and bench players, which helped against Cleveland's depleted roster. In what is probably a season high, Cousins played 21 first-half minutes, including the entire second quarter with a healthy amount of time surrounded by bench players. Boogie's presence really helps because he adds a defensive presence while also being a focal point the offense can run through. Carl Landry was a big beneficary tonight; with the defensive attention on Cousins, Landry got loose for 11 points on only 7 shots, scoring around the rim and hitting his fairly consistent midrange shot.

The two buzzwords in the Kingdom these days have been pace and defense, and tonight there seemed to be a healthy dose of both. Cleveland shot 42% from the field, and while Irving and Kevin Love got their points, neither was too efficient on the night. Things started out shaky as Cleveland scored 29 points in the first quarter, but got much better as the game progressed, mostly because Irving cooled off significantly. Its unclear if this is signifying a return of some good defense or if it was a bad opponent just flat out being bad. The Cavaliers looked lifeless for most of the night, letting the Kings get whatever they wanted offensively while running an uninspiring offense themselves.

Regardless, the Kings now improve to 5-8 in the Tyrone Corbin era. Since the new year, they stand at 3-2, slowly inching their way back to the .500 line. The offense is certainly looking much better overall of late, but the defense has been on and off. Next up on the slate is a Rajon Rondo-powered Dallas Mavericks team on Tuesday, which will present interesting challenges for the Kings defensively.

For the opponent's perspective, visit Fear the Sword

The Miami Heat are wrapping up their 5-game road trip this week. So let's take a look at what's ahead and get some advice playing FanDuel.

After a poor display against the Blazers, the Heat rebounded well and beat the Clippers on Sunday to even up their play on the road trip. This week, three games: all out west.

Let's take a look at their schedule, the match-ups to keep an eye on and some FanDuel advice.

Miami @ L.A. Lakers

DETAILS: Tuesday, 10:30 PM EST

After the way the Heat played on Sunday, and have consecutive games in L.A. you would think this is a very winnable game for them. Maybe they have turned the corner, made some changes. Or maybe they will play Hassan Whiteside more. Either way, the Lakers are struggling, yet so are the Heat.

The key to this game will be whether Kobe Bryant plays or not. Bryant has been hurt and resting, but will probably be ready for this one. Carlos Boozer is new for the Lakers, and knows plenty about Miami. He's usually had good games against the Heat. This should be a game that Whiteside can be effective again, and I expect Dwyane Wade to come out under the bright lights of Hollywood.

FanDuel Advice: It seems right now for the price, Hassan Whiteside is a good shot. He hasn't been slowing down and the Lakers don't provide an up front opposition to Hassan. He's a good play unless FD jacks up his price. And knowing how things go for the Heat, Swaggy P will probably drop 30.

Miami @ Golden State

DETAILS: Wednesday, 10:30 PM EST

If there was ever a game that you could chalk up as a loss before you even get to it for the Heat, it's probably this one. Not only is Golden State the best team in the league right now, but the Heat aren't. And Miami will be playing a back-to-back and on day 8 of their west coast trip. Talk about being against the fences.

The Heat played the Warriors well earlier this season in Miami but fell apart down the stretch. They'll have to worry about Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and a host of other offensive issues. The Heat will need to learn some new energy levels to keep up in Oakland. It's not impossible, but it will be a really hard game to come away with a win. Both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have to lead by example and hope that someone else has a break out game.

FanDuel Advice: This one can likely get out of hand early, so it's hard to tell the minutes the guys will play but Curry will be good and I think an underrated guy to keep an eye on will be Draymond Green. He'll have a good game. Other advice: don't play Norris Cole.

Miami @ Sacramento

DETAILS: Friday, 10:00 PM EST

The Kings may not be overly impressive with their record, but they put up a fight. DeMarcus Cousins will be the biggest problem for the Heat, and he has been having a great year. This will be the Heat's last stop on the trip, and 10 days away from home. They'll be tired, but hopefully motivated to end the trip well before going home with a few days rest.

The advantage that the Heat will need to exploit will be Chris Bosh. As long as Chris Andersen starts next to him, Bosh is having more favorable match-ups against power forwards. Here Jason Thompson and Carl Landry will be the opposition. But, if the Heat want to be successful, Luol Deng will also have to do a good job on Rudy Gay.

FanDuel Advice: DeMarcus Cousins will probably have a good game here, he's a good play. But I also like Dwyane Wade in this match-up. I think Wade will be due to end the trip with a solid night.

FanDuel

Disclosure: Remember, even though FanDuel sponsors this post, all the opinions and insights are my own. FanDuel has given me a little bit of money to start playing already.

Remember, there are lots of ways to play FanDuel. You can play for cash or for free. You can enter pools starting as low as $1. You can play winner take all, a 50/50 league that just requires you finishing in the top half, or specialized custom leagues. All you have to do is pick a team of 9 players with $60k fantasy cash and play against others.

The Best night to play this week: Friday, January 16. 26 of the 30 NBA teams will be in action that night so there's plenty of players to choose from.

Join FanDuel's pool for tonight by clicking HERE.

When the Kings' front office decided to fire Michael Malone one month ago, they put interim head coach Tyrone Corbin in an impossible situation.  Corbin had to take over a team that was already in a funk from losing 8 of 10 games without their star player, as well as dealing with the frustration and confusion that Malone's firing caused among the Kings locker room and fan base.   On top of all that, he also was given a directive to install a new up-tempo offense in the middle of a season.

Since Corbin has taken over, the Kings have gone 5-8, with even more inconsistency than before.  Just this week they blew out the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers at home but also got run out of their own building by the Denver Nuggets.

The Kings management has stuck by Corbin through this transition period, with Pete D'Alessandro  going so far as to say that he would be the coach for the rest of the season and that he's got a real shot at the job long term.  Even still, almost nothing that management can say or do can make people believe that Corbin really does have a shot to be the guy long term aside from actually giving him a multi-year deal.  It doesn't really matter if the fans are convinced or not, but even the players seem to figure that Corbin's tenure is temporary at best.

That being said, some players are referring to Corbin as "The Substitute Teacher". That's real. They aren't buying into this.

— Carmichael Dave (@CarmichaelDave) January 10, 2015

In most cases where a coach is fired, it's usually because the team is really struggling and/or the coach isn't reaching them anymore.  In this case, the Kings were struggling, but there was the extenuating circumstance of Cousins' illness.  One of the first things that Cousins said to the media after Malone's firing was that he felt at fault for being sick, because to him, the Kings wouldn't have fired Malone had he played and the Kings won more of those games (Sacramento went 2-9 with Cousins out).  While no Kings player went so far as to publicly question management, almost every player had nothing but good things to say about their former coach.  Now Corbin's in charge, and even if the players like Corbin (and I get the feeling that they do), he's not Malone.

Corbin also has to contend with high, unrealistic expectations.  Vivek told the media days after Malone's firing that he believed the team could make the playoffs with more wins under Corbin than Malone.  There are also the expectations that Malone himself set early in the season when the Kings went 9-8 through the month of November, and 9-6 with a healthy Cousins against the toughest schedule in the league.

None of this is fair to Corbin, which is too bad, because I do like some of the things that he's doing.  He has the Kings pushing the break for easy baskets more, taking more three point attempts to stretch the floor and he's also ended the five man line changes, almost always keeping at least one of Cousins, Gay or Collison on the floor at all times.

To his credit, Corbin has taken all of this in stride.  He's trying his best to get the team to buy in but it's hard to do that with no long term security when the only way he'll get that long term security is by getting this team to play at a high level and exceed expectations... which can't happen without them buying in.

The game is rigged against Corbin.  He can't win.

With the Kings flying out of the gates to start the season 5-1 and then 9-6, it seemed all but certain that this year would finally be the year in which Sacramento gave up the first round pick that they owe to the Chicago Bulls.  For those of you that don't remember, the Kings sent a future protected first round pick to Cleveland back in 2011 (along with Omri Casspi) for half a year of uninterested J.J. Hickson.  Then that pick got traded by Cleveland to Chicago for half a year of uninterested Luol Deng.  However, given Sacramento's recent struggles, the possibility that Sacramento could retain the pick this year has become more likely.

Sacramento's draft pick is protected only for the top-10 selections, meaning that if Sacramento finishes anywhere between the 1-10 spots after the draft lottery, they get to keep their draft pick.

Here's how the lottery standings look right now:

1. New York Knicks 5-35
2. Minnesota Timberwolves 5-31
3. Philadelphia 76ers 7-29
4. Los Angeles Lakers 12-26
5. Boston Celtics 12-23
6. Orlando Magic 13-27
7. Detroit Pistons 13-24
8. Utah Jazz 13-25
9. Indiana Pacers 15-24
10. Charlotte Hornets 15-24
11. Sacramento Kings 16-21
12. Denver Nuggets 17-20
13. Oklahoma City Thunder 18-19
14. New Orleans Pelicans 18-18

The realistic range that I think we can expect the Kings to fall in is somewhere between 9th and 12th.  I don't see the Kings catching either the Thunder or Pelicans in the standings (barring a huge trade and/or injuries), and I also don't see Utah (or any of the teams below Utah) catching Sacramento.

Ideally, the Kings will be able to keep the pick this year, given that they also do not have a second round pick and could still use some more young and cheap talent, especially with Cousins' extension having kicked in.  They'll probably need a couple Eastern Conference teams to start playing better, particularly Charlotte.  The Hornets have underperformed expectations so far, while Indiana is without their star Paul George all season.  Charlotte's the more likely candidate to jump the Kings in the standings.  If they do, Sacramento will also have to hope that Brooklyn and Miami don't falter either, as they both currently have the same record as the Kings but because they are in the East, are seeded in the playoffs.

If the Kings do end up 11th when all is said and done, there's still a remote chance they can keep their pick if they somehow land in the Top-3 of the lottery.  However the odds of that are not good, at about 2.9%.

There's just over half a season remaining, so there's plenty of time for standings shakeups during that time.  Personally, I feel that there's a very good chance that Sacramento will keep their pick, even if they play a little more consistently than they have been.  If they do keep the pick, that will be a nice consolation prize to yet another season that ends in early April.

The Mavericks make their first trip to Sleep Train Arena looking to get back into the win column.

What has Sacramento done lately?

Since the Mavs last saw the Kings, Sacramento fired head coach Mike Malone. Malone coached the team to a somewhat respectable 16-21 record. Tyrone Corbin replaced Malone. Since he took the reins, the Kings have a 5-8 record.

That said, Sacramento has won three of their last five games, beating the likes of the Timberwolves, Thunder, and Cavaliers. Their wins against the Thunder and Cavaliers were decisive, outscoring the two teams by 21 and 19 points, respectively.

What are the Kings' biggest strength and weakness?

Well, the Kings aren't a particularly good team. That said, they can hurt you. They are a good rebounding team grabbing 27.5 percent of available offensive rebounds and 75.6 percent of the defensive rebounds. Perhaps, though, their biggest strength is getting to the free throw line. The Kings are the best at getting to the line in the league. They get to the charity stripe on 29.3 percent of their field goal attempts. The Mavericks don't foul at a high rate this season but they'll have their hands full against the Kings.

As for weaknesses, the Kings can score but they aren't all that efficient at it. They are ranked 18^th in 2-point field goal percentage and 19^th in 3-point percentage. The team shoots under 45 percent from five to 19 feet. The only place the team has taken more shots is within five feet.

Their biggest weakness is defense, however. Sacramento allows 108.4 points per 100 possessions. Despite the sieve that it their defense, the Kings actually hold opponents to just 33 percent 3-point shooting, the fourth best mark in the league.

What's the biggest matchup to watch?

It's easy to say that Tyson Chandler and DeMarcus Cousins are the biggest matchup of the game. Yet, this game could be decided by the wings, Chandler Parsons and Rudy Gay. Gay is averaging 20.8 points per game on 44.8 percent shooting. He is also shooting his second best mark from beyond the arc at 37.6 percent. Parsons, the third leading scorer on the Mavs, is averaging 15.5 points on 44.8 percent shooting. He connects on 36.5 percent of his 3-pointers.

The onus will be for these two players to keep the other in check. If they can't it could swing the tide of the game.

Which team stat might determine the game?

Let's just admit now that the Mavericks will likely not out-rebound the Kings. Dallas just isn't a good rebounding team. Therefore, the two stats that will determine the game are free throw shooting and 3-point shooting.

As noted above, the Kings get to the line more than any other team. A lot of this has to do with Cousins, who attempts 8.5 free throws per game. Gay gets to the line 5.7 times a game and Darren Collison makes 4.8 trips to the charity stripe. Dallas has to keep from fouling during the game otherwise the pace will favor the Kings who might as well pitch a tent at the line and start a campfire.

3-point shooting is where the Mavs could pull away if they're hot. The Kings don't take many threes, nor do they make many. Dallas, conversely, takes a number of shots from behind the arc. It's a mainstay of their offense. Splash the nylon and win the game.

The Mavericks have to keep the fouls to a minimum if they hope to notch a win at Sleep Train Arena.

What has Sacramento done lately?

Since the Mavs last saw the Kings, Sacramento fired head coach Mike Malone. Malone coached the team to a somewhat respectable 16-21 record. Tyrone Corbin replaced Malone. Since he took the reins, the Kings have a 5-8 record.

That said, Sacramento has won three of their last five games, beating the likes of the Timberwolves, Thunder, and Cavaliers. Their wins against the Thunder and Cavaliers were decisive, outscoring the two teams by 21 and 19 points, respectively.

What are the Kings' biggest strength and weakness?

Well, the Kings aren't a particularly good team. That said, they can hurt you. They are a good rebounding team, grabbing 27.5 percent of available offensive rebounds and 75.6 percent of the defensive rebounds. Perhaps, though, their biggest strength is getting to the free throw line. The Kings are the best at getting to the line in the league. They get to the charity stripe on 29.3 percent of their field goal attempts. The Mavericks don't foul at a high rate this season but they'll have their hands full against the Kings.

As for weaknesses, the Kings can score but they aren't all that efficient at it. They are ranked 18th in 2-point field goal percentage and 19th in 3-point percentage. The team shoots under 45 percent from five to 19 feet. The only place the team has taken more shots is within five feet.

Their biggest weakness is defense, however. Sacramento allows 108.4 points per 100 possessions. Despite the sieve that it their defense, the Kings actually hold opponents to just 33 percent 3-point shooting, the fourth best mark in the league.

What's the biggest matchup to watch?

It's easy to say that Tyson Chandler and DeMarcus Cousins are the biggest matchup of the game. Yet, this game could be decided by the wings, Chandler Parsons and Rudy Gay. Gay is averaging 20.8 points per game on 44.8 percent shooting. He is also shooting his second best mark from beyond the arc at 37.6 percent. Parsons, the third leading scorer on the Mavs, is averaging 15.5 points on 44.8 percent shooting. He connects on 36.5 percent of his 3-pointers.

The onus will be for these two players to keep the other in check. If they can't it could swing the tide of the game.

Which team stat might determine the game?

Let's just admit now that the Mavericks will likely not out-rebound the Kings. Dallas just isn't a good rebounding team. Therefore, the two stats that will determine the game are free throw shooting and 3-point shooting.

As noted above, the Kings get to the line more than any other team. A lot of this has to do with Cousins, who attempts 8.5 free throws per game. Gay gets to the line 5.7 times a game and Darren Collison makes 4.8 trips to the charity stripe. Dallas has to keep from fouling during the game otherwise the pace will favor the Kings who might as well pitch a tent at the line and start a campfire.

3-point shooting is where the Mavs could pull away if they're hot. The Kings don't take many threes, nor do they make many. Dallas, conversely, takes a number of shots from behind the arc. It's a mainstay of their offense. Splash the nylon and win the game.

With Cody Zeller and Al Jefferson out for the Hornets' game against Toronto, the team was down to just three frontcourt players. Noah Vonleh was called back from the D-League and gave the team good minutes in what was probably their best win of the season.

When the Sacramento Kings took Nik Stauskas with the eighth pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, there were two logical choices for the Charlotte Hornets who held the ninth pick in the draft (thanks Joe Dumars!).

1. Draft for need (primarily shooting)

2. Draft for talent and potential

If you were in the "draft for need" camp, then you were likely upset Charlotte passed on Doug McDermott and if you were in the "draft for talent and potential" camp, then you were likely very happy Charlotte selected Noah Vonleh.

One of the youngest players in the draft with some of the most impressive measurables and great collegiate rebounding numbers, Vonleh represented a scout's dream. Unfortunately for Hornet fans, he was drafted onto a roster jam packed with frontcourt players.

Vonleh missed most of training camp and preseason due to injury and had very little opportunity (outside of garbage time) to get on the court through the first 37 games of the season. Evaluating a player during garbage time is difficult, so there hasn't been much real game tape from which to examine Vonleh's potential playing in the regular rotation.

Luckily for fans, Noah Vonleh finally got meaningful minutes when Cody Zeller was held out of Thursday's game against the Toronto Raptors. In just under 10 minutes of action, Vonleh showed exactly why fans can be excited about his potential, and also why he likely won't crack the rotation if the Hornets push for the playoffs.

The Good

In general, Vonleh played within himself and found ways to impact the game without being involved whatsoever in the offense. Despite being the fifth option and looking a little lost at times, Vonleh made two plays that really stood out in this game.

The first came in the second quarter after the Raptors had erased a large early lead. Trying to make up for a previous turnover and battling Lou Williams for a rebound, he came very close to picking up a loose ball foul. However the referees held their whistles as Vonleh fell to the floor and Williams turned up court. Trailing the play, Vonleh could have taken a breather, but instead he made a great hustle play that ignited a 7-2 run for the Hornets.

Keeping with the spirit of the play above, Vonleh made another nice hustle play in the final seconds of the third quarter. After a Gary Neal missed layup attempt, Vonleh out hustled Patrick Patterson (the Mike Rowe of the NBA himself) for an offensive rebound and displayed some quality big man fundamentals during the ensuing putback.

Using his length to secure the rebound was impressive enough, but it was how he finished the play that likely had coach Clifford smiling. At just 19 years old, Vonleh already has the lower body of a much more mature NBA player. He used said lower body to force Patterson away from the basket, which gave him the space necessary to make the layup without fearing a block from behind. At the end of the play you can see how frustrated Patterson is for letting the rookie get the best of him.

Room for growth

When asked in interviews about the lack of playing time for Vonleh, coach Clifford routinely says he isn't ready and offers up quotes like these for explanation:

He’s a 19-year-old who missed all of September, when the foundation was put in, and all of October and is now playing catch-up.

Without seeing practice it's impossible to know just how ready or not ready Noah Vonleh is for the speed of the NBA game. Again looking to the Toronto game, there were a few plays that jumped off the screen that seemed to back up Clifford's comments.

In the play above, Vonleh was visibly confused on whether he should be establishing post position or if he should be coming up the floor to set a second screen for Brian Roberts. He ultimately decided on coming up past the elbow to set the screen. However it wasn't timed very well and Roberts decided not to use it. In the end, Vonleh's man was allowed to just hang out in the paint and deter Roberts (or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist) from getting to the paint.

In another play, Vonleh spent almost the entire possession following the ball around looking to set a screen. In three separate cases he was either waived off by the ball handler or his screen was rejected.

There were other plays, especially in the first half, where Vonleh just seemed confused on where to be within the offense. Defensively he made a few mental lapses (like allowing Amir Johnson deep post position) that will likely be cleaned up over time.

In the end, Vonleh played in an important game against a rested Raptors team and did enough to make you think he could be called upon again if needed. However, at this point, Cody Zeller and Marvin Williams are playing so well (and so smart) there's little reason for Vonleh to get regular minutes at the power forward position. In addition, those clamoring for him to play over Jason Maxiell as the third center should also temper their expectations. Maxiell has played very well during the five games without Al Jefferson. While Vonleh is clearly the player with more potential, Maxiell has proven to be a savvy veteran with a few gallons left in the tank athletically.

Having seen Vonleh play for yourself, what do you see his role being for the remainder of the year? Answer in the poll below.

Pictures and videos from NBA.com

Sacramento hasn't won back to back games since November and tonight's opponent won't go down without a fight.  Dallas enters tonight's game with a record of 26-12 and one of the best offenses in the entire NBA. Today's action tips off at 7:00 pm on Comcast SportsNet California and on KHTK 1140.

3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. The Kings and Mavericks have played just one game this year so far, and it saw Sacramento losing a 24 point lead in Dallas and losing by 8.  The Mavericks are an incredibly dangerous team, particularly offensively where they have the second best offense in the league next to the Toronto Raptors.  They take and make a lot of three pointers, with 9 players currently shooting 34% or better from three this season.  This would not be a good night for Sacramento's defense to take off.

2. Dirk Nowitzki is on an uncharacteristic cold streak.  In December he shot just 43.5% from the field and 27.8% from three and so far in January he hasn't been much better at 44.7% and 33.3% respectively.  Still, this is one of the greatest shooters and scorers of all time, so the Kings shouldn't be expecting him to continue to struggle.

3.  Defensively, the Mavericks have some good pieces, and the addition of Rajon Rondo in particular was a big upgrade over Jameer Nelson.  With Chandler and Rondo the Mavericks have two very good defenders patrolling the perimeter and the paint, so while their team defensive rating isn't very high (just 20th per basketball-reference), they do have some lockdown players that could cause issues for Sacramento.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Tyson Chandler vs. DeMarcus Cousins

There are very few players in the NBA that can effectively and consistently guard DeMarcus Cousins in a one-on-one situation.  Tyson Chandler is one of them.  Cousins has struggled against Chandler in the past, both offensively and defensively as the quick footed Chandler is very good in the Pick and Roll.  The Kings have proven that they can't win without Cousins, so they'll have to do their best to get him the ball in good situations and he will have to do his best to try not to force the issue when Chandler cuts off some of the options that he's used to having.

PREGAME LIMERICK

The Mavericks ended up with Rajon,
causing Pete to exclaim, "come on!"
But without picks,
and guys that shoot bricks,
Danny Ainge could only stifle a yawn.

PREDICTION

Kings 113, Mavericks 81 after Dirk Nowitzki has the worst game of his career because he stayed up all night watching the new Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer over and over again.

#KANGZ

Outside of Dallas, I think I've probably rooted harder for Sacramento these past few months than any other team. I'm not kidding -- I genuinely want them to win. A lot of nice bloggers cover them; DeMarcus Cousins is a one-of-a-kind player; Sacramento sucks the least of all the California cities. You could even make the argument it's rather enjoyable!

But damn, sometimes I wonder what's going on there. The Kings have produced some of the wackiest storylines in recent memory. Mostly it's the 'we should play four-on-five' suggestion from majority owner Vivek Ranadive, but we compiled a few more ideas that were just a bit ... baffling.

Take your pick. If you're curious, I'm going to drop a vote in for Darren Collison, simply because of how poorly that starting point guard experiment worked out in his time here in Big D. Sacramento looked at all that, laughed at it and signed him anyway. And he fits so much better there!

Despite the flurry of trade activity in the past two weeks from other NBA teams, the Kings have been relatively quiet on the front, which is unusual for this front office.  However, there's still plenty of time before the February 19th trade deadline, and the Sacramento's Jason Jones reports that the Kings could be making a move soon to try to improve their bench.

Kings looking to make a deal. No blockbuster but Ramon Sessions could be on the move. Jordan Farmar a possible target, per source

— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) January 13, 2015

Ramon Sessions has had the worst year of his career to date, shooting just 35.3% and averaging just 2.5 assists in 25 games this season.  It's possible that the back injury that has kept him out of the last couple weeks had been affecting him, but even still, the Kings need help off the bench.  Rookie Nik Stauskas has struggled to find his shot in the NBA, and Ray McCallum hasn't really set the world on fire as Sacramento's backup while Sessions has been out.

Farmar signed with the Clippers this summer, replacing Darren Collison as their primary backup PG.  Farmar himself has struggled with his shot, making just 38.6% of his field goals, but he's also a much better outside shooter, where he's hit 36.1% from three.  Farmar's assist rate with the Clippers isn't anything special, but it was pretty good in previous years with the Lakers and Nets.  Contract wise, he's on almost the same deal that Sessions is except for the fact that Farmar has a player option for next season.

Personally, I'd be for this deal.  This Kings team could use Farmar's shooting and some reliability from their backup PG.  Sacramento's current backup PGs haven't provided much, and an upgrade would be welcome.  However, one wrinkle is that the Kings might not be trading with just the Clippers.

Clippers have engaged a few teams on Jordan Farmar, per sources. Belief is LA looking for an expiring deal to send to BOS for Austin Rivers.

— Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) January 12, 2015

Boston isn't likely to be as interested in Sessions, especially since he would add to their salary situation for next season.  Sacramento does have the expiring contract of Reggie Evans however, so there are ways to make this deal work that don't involve Sessions, although that's not as ideal for Sacramento.

James missed the last eight games and the Cavaliers went 1-7 without him.

Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James will return to the lineup Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns after missing eight games with left knee and lower back strains.

James last played on Dec. 28, when the Cavaliers were blown out by the Detroit Pistons, 103-80. The four-time MVP put forth his worst performance of the season in the loss, shooting just 5-of-19 and turning the ball over seven times.

Cleveland was a disaster in the eight games without James in the lineup, going 1-7 and falling to 19-19 on the season. This despite at least one of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving being available in all eight games and both playing in six of them. This brutal stretch included an embarrassing loss to the Philadelphia 76ers and was capped off with a blowout defeat at the hand of the Sacramento Kings.

The Cavaliers have been dreadful on both sides of the ball without James, with the offense and defense operating at close to league-worst levels. The defensive struggles shouldn't have come as much of a surprise given how poor Cleveland has been on that end over the course of the entire season even with James, but the dreadful offense is shocking considering the presence of Love and Irving.

While James was out, the Cavaliers attempted to upgrade the roster by acquiring J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov. It remains to be seen whether those moves will help solve the myriad problems in Cleveland, and final conclusions can't be made until James gets back into his groove and the team has time to mesh.

Sacramento's Rudy Gay injured his knee late in the first quarter of tonight's game against the Dallas Mavericks.  The Kings later said that it was a left knee strain and that he would not be returning to action.  Gay had 4 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists before leaving the game.

The Kings have a couple nights off before they have to play again, so hopefully the injury is minor and Gay won't have to miss much time, if any.  He was able to leave the court of his own volition, albeit with a slight limp.  Still, you don't want to mess around with knee injuries, so take as long as you need to get better Rudy.

The Kings play fairly well all game, but kept losing players to injuries and fouls at an alarming rate, ultimately losing in OT

That one hurt. The Sacramento Kings played well enough to win that game, but fate disagreed. In what can only be described as awful luck, the Kings lost key personnel at critical points in the game, ultimately falling to the Dallas Mavericks 108-104.

The losses began with Rudy Gay suffering some kind of knee ailment 10 minutes into the game, which he did not return from. Gay was scheduled for a precautionary MRI today. Thankfully, DeMarcus Cousins had one of *those* games where he was the first, second, and third best player on the court. Boogie was positively dominant, scoring 32 points on 21 shots, grabbing 16 rebounds, and dishing 9 assists. Cousins showed off his entire array of skills; hitting jumpers, dishing to shooters (Boogie certainly would have had a triple double if the Kings could throw a rock into the ocean, as the team went 1/17 from three point range), bullying Tyson Chandler in the post, and leading the fast break. Boogie singlehandedly powered the Kings to a double-digit lead in the fourth.

Unfortunately, Cousins did have 9 turnovers on the night. And in what can be described as one of the worst calls made this entire season when accounting for the entire situation, Chandler fouled Cousins out in an egregious flop that will certainly have him considered for an Academy Award sooner rather than later. Without him on the floor, the Kings just could not replace Boogie's offense.

The Kings also got a big boost off the bench from Carl Landry off the bench, who started the game hitting his first seven shots on his way to 14 points. Sadly, Lady Luck's evil twin struck again, as Landry hurt his wrist at some point in the third quarter. Although Carl toughed through the injury and stayed in the game, he did not score again, missing jumpers and just looking visually uncomfortable.

Besides Landry and Cousins, the Kings were a horrifying mess shooting the ball. Darren Collison did a good job pushing the ball in transition, but could not buy a bucket from outside the paint. He scored 18 points but only shot 6/20 from the field and had just as many turnovers than assists. The Kings needed some sharp shooting from Ben McLemore, and just did not get that. Although McLemore ran wild in the first half driving and dishing the ball, he missed all five of his three pointers on his way to 8 points on 8 shots. To add injury to insult, McLemore got an inadvertent scrape across the face which knocked him out of overtime as Pete Youngman tried to stop the bleeding.

After allowing the Mavericks to score 60 points in whatever way they wanted in the first half, the Kings started to clamp down defensively, which helped them build a double digit lead in the fourth quarter and kept the within striking distance despite the sputtering offense sans Boogie in overtime. The Mavericks had the ball up one with 20 seconds to go; in an inexplicable move, Ray McCallum allowed 11 seconds to tick off the clock before committing a foul. The Mavericks went up three after two free throws from Monta Ellis, and fouled Collison the next for two free throw attempts. Collison missed a free throw, and that was essentially the end of the game.

This game was really freakish in so many ways. It hurts to lose when the Kings played well enough to win, but destiny was determined to chalk this one up in the loss column. They didn't play perfectly, but pushed the ball on fast breaks, the ball movement was pretty good, and the defense got significantly better after halftime. Regardless, the Kings fall to 16-22 on the season and need to take this game as a learning experience. Getting better is a process and Kings fans are starting to see some real gains, so the team should continue to work at its weaknesses to get better.

For the opponent's perspective, visit Mavs Moneyball

The explanation by the Kings' coach why he burned precious clock is unacceptable.

The Sacramento Kings had a classic meltdown on Tuesday en route to an overtime loss to the superior Mavericks. Sacramento led by as many as nine late in the fourth quarter before freezing up on offense and letting Monta Ellis pull Dallas back into the game. Two plays in particular stand out: the Tyson Chandler flop that fouled DeMarcus Cousins out of the game in regulation and Tyrone Corbin's decision to burn 10 precious seconds at the end of overtime.

A column on the NBA.1/12: Blatt crossed the line with Kevin Love1/10: Brandan Wright trade could haunt Dallas1/8: Kemba Walker shows clutch may exist1/7: Seattle NBA fans need a new hero1/6: 5 lessons from the Dion Waiters trade1/5: Kings need a bold move to solve their crisis1/2: Kyrie needs to push for All-Star votes12/29: Does Kobe hurt the Lakers?

We've already shared the Boogie injustice with you, so here's the gist on Corbin. The Kings trailed by one point with 51 seconds left. Dallas ran down the clock until Dirk Nowitzki missed a one-legged fader. But the loose ball was tapped deep into the backcourt, where Chandler Parsons tracked it down. Twenty-five seconds left, Dallas by one. Sacramento has a foul to give, and the Kings' Ray McCallum does so with 19 seconds left. There's a four-second differential between the shot clock and game clock, and Sacramento has plenty of timeouts.

Corbin has two options. He can foul immediately on the inbounds to put a Mav on the line with 16-18 seconds left and no worse than a three-point deficit, or he can let the shot clock run down, pray that the Mavericks miss and the Kings get the rebound and call a quick timeout, giving Sacramento a final chance to win.

Instead, Corbin chose Door No. 3: He let 10 seconds run off the clock before telling McCallum to foul Ellis.

Ellis hit both, and Rick Carlisle took the opportunity to intentionally foul Darren Collison given how little time was left. The Mavericks won by four and the Kings never even got a chance to tie or go ahead in that final minute.

Now if Corbin had explained that there was a miscommunication, that he intended to let the Mavericks shoot but saw something he didn't like, that he wanted his team to try to trap or whatever, you could almost understand.

Instead, this was Corbin's rationale.

Kings coach Ty Corbin said when he saw Dallas take their time on final play, then decided to foul Monta Ellis

— Sean Cunningham (@News10Sean) January 14, 2015

So Corbin thought a veteran team coached by Rick Carlisle might rush up a shot with a 4-second shot clock differential and a one-point lead.

... what?

This is the type of thing that drove Jazz faithful batty as Corbin coached that team and it has swaths of Sacramento again bemoaning the firing of Michael Malone. The mistake was bad enough in real time. Hearing Corbin's explanation actually made it worse. That's impressive.

Judging NBA coaches is extremely difficult and grading them out is one of the mysterious arts of NBA management. But when head coaches botch incredibly simple situations like this, it all becomes a little easier. There's a basic threshold of strategic knowledge all NBA head coaches should be able to meet, and on Tuesday Corbin fell short. That matters.

Dirk Nowitzki and Rajon Rondo have a combined 16 All-Star Game appearances and they are in Boogie's corner when it comes to the possibility of him making his first trip.

Now in his 17^th NBA season, Dirk Nowitzki knows a thing or two about being an All-Star - he's been named one 12 times after all.

The Mavericks power forward, who has moved into the seventh slot on the NBA career scoring list, is on the bubble this season in terms of making the All-Star team in a stacked Western Conference. One of the players he is competing with for votes is Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins. But Nowitzki, who scored 15 points and grabbed 4 rebounds on Tuesday against the Kings in Sacramento, says Cousins deserves to make his first All-Star Game appearance this season.

"Of course, but in the West you just never know. It's so deep in every position, so there is always a few guys that deserve it and don't make it, but he definitely deserves it," Nowitzki told Sactown Royalty. "He's one of the best centers in the league. He's strong, he's tough, he can score in there. But he can also step out now and he can shoot from 16, 17 feet. I mean, it felt like he didn't miss today from that range. So yeah, he's one of the best offensive players we've got in the league."

Cousins certainly didn't miss much against the Mavericks, shooting 52 percent from the field and getting one assist away from a triple double (32 points, 16 rebounds and 9 assists to go along with 2 steals and 1 block) before fouling out in the last minute of regulation. The Mavericks went on to defeat the Kings, who were also without the services of Rudy Gay due to a left knee lateral joint capsule sprain, 108-104 in overtime. On the season, Cousins is fifth in scoring (24.2 points per game), third in rebounds (12.4 per game) and has 22 double-doubles (tied with Anthony Davis for second most).

As of Jan. 8, Cousins was 8th in All-Star votes for the frontcourt of the Western Conference with 209,742 votes, and Nowitzki was 9th with 186,017 votes. There is a possibility that four of the following frontcourt players will be reserve spots: Tim Duncan (4th, 374,814 votes), Kevin Durant (5th, 330,297 votes), LaMarcus Aldridge (6th, 315,405), Dwight Howard (7th, 211,531 votes), Nowitzki and Cousins. (Pretty safe to say Durant and Aldridge are in.)

Mavericks point guard Rajon Rondo, a four-time NBA All-Star, is a big supporter of Cousins making the All-Star team.

"I don't know what the definition of All-Star is if he doesn't make it. I mean he should be if not the first guy selected by the coaches if he doesn't get in by the fans," Rondo told Sactown Royalty. "They've [the Kings] got the best young player in the game, DeMarcus, he's a beast and he hasn't even reached his potential yet ... he's going to be dominating this game for a long time to come ... He hasn't had any attitude issues this year and he's maturing as a player. He has a lot of pressure on his shoulders, but I think he's handled it as best as possible."

The love for Cousins didn't stop with Nowitzki and Rondo. It sounds like the Mavericks coaches are in his corner too.

Just a hunch, but from what I heard in visitors locker room, Mavs coaches likely to vote for DeMarcus Cousins for All-Star team. Big fans ..

— Ailene Voisin (@ailene_voisin) January 14, 2015

As for Cousins himself, after feeling snubbed last season, he seems to be approaching it casually this time around.

"It is what it is. If I make it, I make it, if I don't, I don't," Cousins recently said. "It's out of my hands, honestly. All I can do is control what I can control. If I'm not an All-Star, I'm not an All-Star."

Voting for the All-Star Game ends on Jan. 19 and the lineups will be announced live on TNT on Jan. 22 during TNT NBA Tip-Off at 7 p.m. (ET).

Fans can vote here.

Charlie Villanueva and Richard Jefferson are the two best shooters on the league's no. 1 offense. Here's how that's possible.

Perhaps the most absurd thing about the Mavericks no. 1 offense this season is that they've done it without an elite 3-point shooter.

That's an odd thing to say about Dallas. The Mavericks were one of the earliest teams to realize how valuable getting an extra point for a made shot was -- from Feb. 27, 1999 to Dec. 14, 2012, they nailed at least one 3-pointer every single game (a streak famously continued by DeSagana Diop in 2006). Jason Terry and Jason Kidd, both known best for their time in Dallas, are the no. 3 and no. 4 all-time NBA leaders in 3-pointers made; no. 6 Vince Carter had a recent stint here. Now the team's in the midst of a new streak of making a 3-pointer in 180 straight games.

The definition being used for 'elite shooter' is just a rotation player who can take volume shots from distance and make them at a rate near 40 percent. Jose Calderon, Vince Carter and even O.J. Mayo all fit that category recently.

But this year, the Mavericks have, in a way, replaced quality with quantity. Charlie Villanueva shoots 13 3-pointers per 36 minutes and makes them at a 40 percent clip, although he's only played meaningful minutes in about half the team's games. Richard Jefferson is actually the percentage leader (43 percent) on the team, but he's meticulous about his attempts and mostly limits them to 'open' or 'wide open' opportunities¹, per NBA.com's player tracking.

Chandler Parsons has attempted the most 3-pointers and is knocking down 36.5 percent. He's incredibly streaky, however -- he shot 32.7 percent in November, 44.5 percent in December and is under 30 percent this month.

Yet even without a Peja or Calderon, and even with Dirk Nowitzki's concerning slump over the past six weeks that has him making only 34.1 percent of his shoots from deep this year, the Mavericks are no. 6 in 3-pointers made per game and no. 8 in 3-point percentage (in a pack of four teams shooting 36.1 percent). They are the best offense in the NBA and have been nearly the entire year, with a couple brief hiccups. Clearly, it's working.

The concern with this strategy is consistency. Watching the Mavericks stumble and bumble to a victory on Monday against the Kings displayed it perfectly -- the team shot 6-of-24 from deep in the 108-104 overtime win. Sacramento matched that with 1-of-18 3-point shooting and you got the feeling whichever team finally broke through and made a few from behind the line would win, yet neither team did -- Dallas ended up just outlasting the Kings in a game of attrition.

Another prime example was the loss last Wednesday to the Pistons at home. Here are some of the shots they missed.

Dirk from the top, Devin Harris from the wing, Monta Ellis from the corner. All wide open, all misses.

The Mavericks ended up shooting 6-of-22 from deep, including a combined 0-of-11 night from Dirk, Monta Ellis and Charlie Villanueva, in the 108-95 home loss. And this isn't the first time the Mavericks have lost games because their 3-point shooting turned into a centralized Ice Age. November 22's game against the Rockets stands out -- 6-of-35 3-point shooting as a team in a game that was lost by three points -- and how about the overtime win against the Knicks two days later? Dallas really, really should have lost that game with their 4-of-31 3-point shooting.

Is it because the team doesn't have a reliable 3-point ace? Well, no. 3-point shooter by committee can work if you don't have any bad shooters -- the only player shooting under 32 percent, Al-Farouq Aminu and his leprous 26 percent 3-point shooting has confined him to the bench.

Dallas has bad games, of course -- 10 times this season have they shot worse than 30 percent as a team. To summarize the chart below, it's big losses to good teams and unnecessarily close to bad ones.

But it's not just the Mavericks. The Warriors have eight games where they shot 30 percent or worse. The Raptors have nine. The Clippers have 10. The Suns have 11. The Hawks have seven.

All those teams are in the top 10 of 3-point percentage and 3-point attempts. Bad shooting games happen to every team, even one starting Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. It's frustrating to see the team lose a game because they miss shot after makeable shot, but that's just part of an offense that heavily involves the 3-point shot.

It's worth looking at the pre- and post-Rajon Rondo trade numbers, too, though. Jameer Nelson and Jae Crowder, two outgoing pieces in that trade, were important cogs in the 3-point shooting Mavericks militia hitting 37 and 34 percent respectively.

Even with a faster tempo, the Mavericks have backed off their 3-point shooting a touch and it has resulted in more shots going in. The 37.1 percent 3-point shooting is no. 7 in the league during that time frame and is the reason Dallas has jumped into the top 10 overall (their 35.3 percent was middle of the pack).

It's frustrating to watch a team shoot a lower percentage on uncontested shots than contested ones, like the Mavericks did Tuesday against Sacramento. It's upsetting to realize Dirk's only shooting 35 percent on 'wide open' 3-pointers even though he's getting 1.5 a game, per player tracking data. But every team that relies on the 3-pointer will in turn struggle with it; the Mavericks aren't alone. That's just the nature of how this sport works.

(author's note: Some stats may be slightly off since they were pulled Monday afternoon. All stats are courtesy of NBA.com and basketball-reference.com.)

The #2 offense in the NBA enters the Pepsi Center for the first meeting of the season between the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets.

The well rested Nuggets have had four days between games.  The Dallas Mavericks flew into Denver last night from Sacramento after securing an ugly overtime victory over the Kings.  Dallas had lost two in a row prior to yesterday's win.  Can the Nuggets take advantage of a vulnerable Mavericks team?

Tonight should be a showcase game for the coaching abilities of Brian Shaw.  The Nuggets' next two games are against the same opponent and they have had ample time to develop a strategy to counter the Dallas strengths and attack their weaknesses.

I am most excited to see Jusuf Nurkic defend against Tyson Chandler.  Chandler is great off the pick and roll and is an excellent rim runner.  Nurkic will have his hands full, but all I want are a couple flashes of defensive brilliance to keep my pie in the sky hopes for the talented rookie as inflated as possible.  The "Bosnian Beast" has averaged 12.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game during the Nuggets' current four-game winning streak.

The inconsistencies of this Nuggets team from a scheme and tempo standpoint have been frustrating and reflect poorly on Coach Shaw.  The team appears to be hitting a stride in the midst of transition and uncertainty regarding roster movement.  If Shaw is able to keep his team focused despite perpetual trade rumors and implement an effective game plan against the Mavs, this winning streak could reach 6 games by this weekend!

After a brief break, we're back with the latest review of Open Gym. This week, the focus was all on DeMar DeRozan.

"I want to get in the playoffs just for the city. Just to experience the ultimate fan support and give them what they've been waiting for."

During a time when DeMar DeRozan was out of action with a torn tendon in his groin, point guard Kyle Lowry stepped up and did his best to keep the Toronto Raptors afloat.

Kyle Lowry #NBABallot, right?

We haven't done one of these but we will now: Kyle Lowry, #NBABallot

— Raptors HQ (@RaptorsHQ) January 4, 2015

Robin had overtaken Batman. Perhaps Batman was never really Batman at all.

DeRozan had never experienced being on the sidelines with a major injury before. He missed just 11 games during the first five years of his career. He was as reliable as they come.

In this episode of Open Gym, we were given a closer look at how the 25-year-old has been doing since his tumble, as well as how the team pushed through the initial phase of him not being around.

Remember this?

Don't worry, I got us...

— DeMar DeRozan (@DeMar_DeRozan) June 29, 2010

That tweet was sent out around the time former Raptor Chris Bosh decided to take his talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat. DeRozan saw that as an opportunity to elevate his own game and put the team on his shoulders. It was the passing of the torch, but not in the traditional sense.

We even saw a shot of DeRozan sitting in Bosh's locker the night after he was selected with the ninth pick in the 2009 NBA draft. Little did he know that it wouldn't be long before he would be taking over his role as the face of the franchise.

One of the highlights of the show was when the relationships he formed during his early years in Toronto came to the forefront. Bosh, Sonny Weems, Jarrett Jack, Antoine Wright and Ed Davis all played a huge role in molding him into the man we see today. They all got their due.

I even got a little choked up watching DeRozan embrace former teammate Jose Calderon (one of my all-time favorite Raptors) before a game. I miss Numero Ocho, okay?

Unfortunately, we were forced to relive one of the more gut-wrenching losses of the season in a 129-122 OT defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. This was the first full game the Raptors played without their All-Star swingman.

Dwane Casey emphasized afterwards that his group needed to stick together, with certain guys needing to pick up the slack as they continued on with their three-game Western Conference road trip.

It came as no surprise to see him unenthused about being named NBA Coach of the Month for November. It's always about the end of the season, making the playoffs and looking at the big picture. He did, however, offer up praise to the team of assistants he has around him who make his life so much easier.

Continued props to those select Raptors fans who continue to show up at road games and cheer on Canada's team. A couple of you even got some airtime from the Dec. 2 Sacramento Kings game.

Episode 7 finished off with some more DeRozan, featuring footage of him on the practice court as he worked on his shooting and ball-handling.

It was clear throughout the 25 minutes that he's a very loyal individual who cares deeply for those he surrounds himself with. You can't teach good character. He represents the Raptors organization as well as anyone who has come before him.

2014-15 is still Lowry's year. DeRozan's tenure helps his cause in the Raptors being his team, though. Maybe it doesn't matter who the top dog is. We can all live with a collective effort.

Verdict

It's extremely difficult to conjure up a precise number rating for each airing of Open Gym. The content changes, but the formula stays the same. If you're a DeRozan fan, you probably enjoyed yourself this week.

It's all good stuff, though. Jeff Landicho and the crew aren't making it easy for me to nitpick their show.

With that being said......

Final Score:

Three Sonny Weems'

out of

One "Young Gunz" Highlight Package

What are your thoughts on the latest instalment of Open Gym? Leave a comment below and get involved in the conversation.

Note: Check out Bell Local Channel 1217 for the exclusive Open Gym After Show, hosted by Kat Stefankiewicz.

The Kings surprised a lot of people this past summer when they chose to draft Nik Stauskas with the 8th pick, especially over more highly touted players like Noah Vonleh or Elfrid Payton.  Stauskas' selection also came a year after the Kings took another Shooting Guard, Ben McLemore, in the lottery.  Still, Stauskas was seen as a favorite by both the front office and the coaching staff due to his shooting ability and the sense that he could help the Kings right away.

Unfortunately for Nik, his rookie season has been far from steady.  He's averaging just 3.6 points a game in 14.1 minutes and shooting just 33.1% from the field and 27.2% from three.  Not all hope is lost for Nik, as the Kings have McLemore right there as an example of just how much a player can improve in just a year.

Still, a report from Ken Berger of CBSSports indicates that the Kings have decided to put Stauskas on the market in order to try to find a big man complement for DeMarcus Cousins.  From Berger's piece:

Determined to find an upgrade to complement inside force DeMarcus Cousins, the Sacramento Kings are seeking frontcourt help in a trade and are willing to discuss first-round pick Nik Stauskas in the deal, league sources told CBSSports.com.

The Kings want to pair Cousins with a frontline player who would fit with his post-up skills -- either a stretch four or above-the-rim defender, sources said. They've fielded numerous calls about Stauskas, whose opportunities have been limited with the steadily improving play of Ben McLemore.

Berger notes that by including the expiring contracts of Derrick Williams and Reggie Evans in such a deal, the Kings could be looking at acquiring someone making between $10-11 million a year.  Berger also notes that the Kings have been trying to trade current starting Power Forward Jason Thompson, but his deal doesn't become as valuable until after this season, as only part of his final year is guaranteed.

It should be noted that the Kings had the opportunity to trade the 8th pick for the 16th and 19th picks, as well as a 2015 2nd rounder on draft day this summer and failed to do so.  Those picks ended up becoming Jusuf Nurkic and Gary Harris in a trade that the Bulls made for 11th pick Doug McDermott.

(Thank you to mike murray for the FanShot)