George Karl held his first practice as the head coach of the Sacramento Kings Wednesday. He told reporters he wants to play small ball more with Rudy Gay sliding into the power forward spot.

George Karl led his first (two-hour) practice as head coach of the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday and shared some of the changes he is looking to focus on.

He wants his players to play at a higher speed than they have in the past, wants more out of the bench, hopes to push Ben McLemore to be more aggressive, get Nik Stauskas more minutes and is considering lineup changes. One of those changes is using Rudy Gay more at the power forward spot, Karl told reporters.

"I think I'll play him more at four than he's played the first 52 games. I think you are going to see me play small with him being my four man. The last game against Chicago they played that way for a while and I thought it was pretty good," said Karl, who is impressed with Gay's size and athletic abilities.

In that Feb. 10 game against the Bulls, Gay scored 24 points, had 7 rebounds and 5 assists, but the Kings lost 104-86.

"For me, getting 48 minutes of flow and rhythm might mean I've got to change the lineup a little bit and play people in a different way," Karl continued.

He followed that up by saying he wants the bench to have more of a positive impact on the game.

Gay spent most of his time playing power forward with Team USA last summer and has been used as a part-time stretch four by previous coaches on occasion. Former Kings head coach Michael Maloneexpressed hesitancy about relying on Gay at the power forward spot too much going into this season.

Gay said spending more time at power forward wouldn't be a problem.

"I've done it before, he [Karl] hasn't talked about me doing it exclusively, but I don't see how that's a bad thing for us," Gay said. "He never told me not to be me. He wants Rudy Gay to play the four, he doesn't want Rudy Gay to be a four. Just go out there and be myself and try to help."

Gay said he knows the system Karl uses because he has played against him a lot over his career.

"Offensively, we have to put pressure on people … We pressured each other out here on the court just playing five on five against each other and incorporating how he wants us to play. It's a good offense for me - I think it's great, we just have to buy into it," Gay said.

When asked is there is a sense of excitement amongst the team about Karl coming in as the new coach, Gay responded with this.

"It's hard to excite me now to be honest with you, It's really hard to excite me. But I think it's a little bit more security I believe, knowing that he's going to be here for a while and the kind of reputation he has," Gay said.

The Quincy Miller-era is over.

Free agent Quincy Miller has reached agreement to sign 10-day deal with the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, agent Jared Karnes tells RealGM.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 19, 2015

Miller played with the Kings on two 10-day contracts and left the team during the All-Star break with the expectation that they would discuss a possible rest of season deal afterwards.  However, the Kings do not appear to be interested in signing Miller for the rest of the year and he's headed to Detroit on another 10-day contract.

The addition of George Karl probably played a role in the decision, as Karl did not play Miller much at all when Miller was a rookie with the Denver Nuggets.  In fact Miller played just 26 minutes as a rookie under Karl.

With Miller gone, that opens up a roster space for Sacramento to possibly try out other players on 10-day contracts.

I got a chance to chat with Klay about his new endorsement deal with BodyArmor Sports Drink.

BodyArmor Sports Drink goes after superstar players from all sports leagues -- Kobe Bryant is the third-largest shareholder, and Andrew Luck, Rob Gronkowski, James Harden and Mike Trout have all signed deals with the company. So it's a testimony to Klay Thompson's meteoric rise into the upper echelon of NBA players that he announced today he has signed an endorsement deal with BodyArmor.

"They have some great athletes signed up and that really drew me," Thompson said in an exclusive interview with Golden State of Mind today. "I'm really excited about the partnership and to work with BodyArmor."

BodyArmor is becoming well-known locally, with San Francisco Giants superstar Buster Posey signing a deal with the company in 2013, and is sold in stores all across the Bay Area.

The company released a statement today, saying: "As part of the partnership, Thompson will appear in local in-store advertising campaigns, be featured in social media activation, appear at local events and help to generate awareness for the brand throughout the state."

Thompson told Golden State of Mind, "It's a new company and it was really a mutual partnership. I tried it last year and really liked it. BodyArmor has no artificial ingredients in it and that's really important for me because I perform every day."

BodyArmor touts itself as the "new premium sports drink" and partnering with Thompson, a rising star on and off the basketball court, will only serve to expand its audience and sales in California.

After signing a $69 million, four-year extension in October, Thompson has exploded onto the scene as one of the most invaluable players in the league, completely justifying his mammoth contract extension. He is averaging career-highs in nearly every category this year, including shooting 44% from three-point range and averaging over 22 points per game. Klay has won the Player of the Week award twice, and against the Kings set an all-time scoring record with 37 points in a quarter. Thompson's emergence this season helped him make the All-Star Team for the first time; he started the All-Star Game.

After signing a shoe deal with Chinese shoe company Anta -- which made him one of the faces of the company -- he now joins the BodyArmor Superteam as one of its main advertisers.

Thompson said to me, "To get all of these deals, I never thought I would be a franchise guy, so it's very cool and very humbling. I'm very excited to be working with them."

More to come tomorrow, as I take a full-on look at Klay Thompson's rise to NBA stardom.

Follow me on Twitter @samsorkin23

The Kings were uncharacteristically quiet at the trade deadline, completing only one trade before the buzzer sounded, sending Ramon Sessions to Washington for Andre Miller.  That trade brought the Kings both cap flexibility and (hopefully) some more reliability at backup PG.  Sacramento used the Trade Exception they received from the Jason Terry deal to complete the trade.

Sacramento was looking to make a bigger splash, as always, but nothing materialized.  They pulled out of the Goran Dragic sweepstakes when it became clear that Dragic was set against staying in Sacramento long term, and they also were hesitant to pull the trigger on Afflalo.  Both Dragic and Afflalo ended up being traded in deals that were probably too rich for Sacramento's taste anyway, never mind the fact that Sacramento's assets weren't as appealing anyway.

It was a bit surprising that the Kings couldn't find a way to add even a little bit of shooting to the team.  Miller, for all his strengths, has never been a shooter.  Shooting has perhaps been Sacramento's biggest weakness, and it's a definite need going forward.

As for Jason Thompson, he once again survived the trade deadline, although that's hardly surprising.  Thompson is a difficult player to move as his contract is just a little too big for most team's liking and he doesn't excel in any one area that might entice a team to gamble on him.  Thompson's contract becomes much more tradeable this summer or next season anyway, as 2015-16 is the final fully guaranteed year left on his contract.  Only $2.65 million of his contract for 2016-17 is guaranteed, which will be much more appealing to potential suitors looking for a big man or to shed another contract.

Nik Stauskas was the asset Sacramento was apparently willing to deal for the right player, but nothing materialized.  He almost certainly would have gone to Phoenix if the Kings had made a play for Dragic, but the risk of losing Stauskas for nothing only 8 months after taking him in the lottery prevented that deal.  Stauskas will now have a chance to see if he can finish the year off strong and become a part of this team going forward.  If not, I expect that we'll continue to see his name in trade rumors given Sacramento's weak asset base.

Isaiah Thomas was also traded, which gives us a nice comparison for what his value might have looked like had the Kings re-signed him only to trade him.  Phoenix ended up getting a 2016 1st round pick and Marcus Thornton's expiring contract.  Those aren't the most appealing assets, but it is more than what Sacramento got for Thomas, and those future picks are a valuable tool for making other trades, as we saw from today's deadline.

The Kings now have 30 games left, in what is essentially an extended training camp.  While today was relatively quiet, I expect it to be much the opposite this summer as Karl becomes more established and the Kings free up some more space.

Miller is expected to be the plug to fill the hole left by the departure of half the team's SFs.

The Detroit Pistons are left with a hole at SF with Jonas Jerebko, Kyle Singler and Luigi Datome all being traded at the deadline, but Stan Van Gundy and the Pistons intend to sign D-League standout Quincy Miller to a ten-day contract.

The 6-foot-10 Miller had a six-game cup of coffee with the Sacramento Kings earlier in the season after he was noticed at the D-League Showcase, where he averaged 16.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks while shooting .506/.352/.892 for the Reno Bighorns this season.

Pistons.com's Keith Langlois had earlier reported that the Pistons would not extend a contract to Miller unless there were injuries to Detroit's front-line, as Stan Van Gundy was intent on keeping the then sole open roster spot for upcoming trades. Lo and behold, the Pistons now find themselves with three open positions on the roster after the deadline, so SVG has decided to take a chance on the 23-year-old Baylor bigman.

The Pistons consider Miller to be a tweener stretch-4, according to Langlois in the same piece, but with Tolliver's emergence and the void at the three, it would be safe to assume Quincy will soak up most of the minutes at SF behind Caron Butler and Tayshaun Prince, playing some minutes at power forward.

What do you think, DBB? Are you happy with the moves the Pistons have made?

With Quincy Miller headed to Detroit, the Kings might soon be calling up another Reno Bighorn.

ESPN sources say Sacramento Kings planning to call up guard David Stockton from Reno Bighorns of @nbadleague to sign 10-day contract

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) February 20, 2015

Stockton, of course, is the son of legendary Jazz PG John Stockton and has been playing with Reno this season in the hopes of a call-up after going undrafted this summer.  Stockton is currently averaging 16.6 points per game and a team-high 8.2 assists.  Stockton's call-up will give the Kings a little more depth at PG while Darren Collison rehabs his hip injury and Andre Miller gets up to speed.  Stockton also might be able to provide a little shooting as he's currently hitting 36.4% of this three point attempts in Reno, although he did just make 30.6% of his long-range attempts in four years at Gonzaga.

(H/T to Luther Rackley who broke this news in the FanPosts last night)

UPDATE 10:30 AM:

The Kings have made it official. From the press release:

SACRAMENTO, CA - The Sacramento Kings announced today that the team has signed David Stockton to a 10-day contract, according to Kings General Manager Pete D'Alessandro.

Stockton, a 5-11, 165-pound guard, is averaging 16.6 points (.460 FG%, .364 3pt%, .806 FT%), 3.6 rebounds, 7.9 assists, 2.4 steals and 27.5 minutes per game in 31 contests for the Reno Bighorns, Sacramento's NBA D-League affiliate. Among D-League leaders, he ranks fourth in assists and second in steals per game. Undrafted, Stockton was selected by the Maine Red Claws in the third round of the 2014 NBA Development League Draft on November 1, 2014. He was later traded to the Reno Bighorns on draft night.

Like his father, Hall of Fame guard John Stockton, he played collegiately at Gonzaga (2010-11 - 2013-14).

Stockton will wear jersey number 9 and will be available for the Kings' contest tonight at Sleep Train Arena versus the Boston Celtics.

The roster now stands at 15 players.

According to ESPN's Trade Machine, the Wizards shouldn't have been able to trade Andre Miller for Ramon Sessions, so how did it happen?

During Thursday's coverage of the NBA trade deadline, there was a confusing moment on SportsCenter, when Tom Penn ran the Ramon Sessions-Andre Miller trade through ESPN's Trade Machine:

"This trade failed" #Wizards#Kingspic.twitter.com/TLVPQi6hJm

— Jake Russell (@_JakeRussell) February 19, 2015

Awwwwwwwwwkward.

But it's been 24 hours, and despite the ESPN Trade Machine's insistence, the trade appears is going through, even though the Machine is correct: Miller can't be traded for Sessions straight-up. So how did the Wizards and Kings make this deal work?

Well, it's similar to last year's Warriors-Lakers trade, where the Warriors were able to package MarShon Brooks and Kent Bazemore in a trade to get Steve Blake, even though Brooks had been involved in a trade just a month before. Mark Deeks broke down how the Warriors were able to maneuver around the NBA rules to get the deal done in that situation:

On the surface, this is prohibited by the inclusion of Brooks. A fairly well-known rule states that players acquired by trade cannot be traded again for two months after their initial acquisition unless traded on their own, which Brooks seemingly isn't here. Having been acquired in the aforementioned Crawford trade on January 15, it appears Brooks cannot be traded again alongside Bazemore in this way.

This rule, however, is often misunderstood. Specifically, it actually states that players cannot be traded within two months of acquisition if their salary is being aggregated with that of another. It is a common misconception that players privy to this rule cannot be dealt in multi-player trades. In actuality they can, as long as the trade is structured as separate, parallel trades in which the relevant player's salary is not aggregated. Because of the Warriors's use of a TPE to absorb Blake, Brooks's salary is not being used in this way, and thus he is able to be sent out in the trade despite the presence of Bazemore.

The same thing is at work here. As weird as it sounds, even though this was a one-for-one player deal, it was actually two separate trades, according to CSN Washington and Truth About It. They were able to pull it off because both teams had trade exceptions that allowed them to move players without receiving a player in return. So here's how the two parallel trades actually worked:

• Sacramento used the trade exception the Kings received when they traded Jason Terry to Houston last summer to acquire Andre Miller.
• Washington used the trade exception they received when they signed-and-traded Trevor Ariza to Houston last summer to acquire Ramon Sessions.

Asking hard questions.

Isaiah Thomas is an obvious talent upgrade on our team and as Kevin points out in great detail, he fills a few big needs on our team.  So for those reasons alone, this trade seems like a win.

However, there's a small voice inside my head questioning if this is all going to work out well.  I'll explain the best I can.

Isaiah Thomas is now on his 3rd team in less than a year and both his former teams feel they are better off without him.

In Sacramento there were rumblings about him taking too many shots and it almost seemed like the team (or maybe it was just Cousins) was relieved to see him go.

The Suns were one of the most exciting feel-good-chemistry teams of the year last year.  After adding Thomas in the offseason, one of their stars (Dragic) went from promising to re-sign with Phoenix to full mutiny mode, burning his bridges leading up to the deadline.  One of his prime complaints was his role on the team due to the crowded backcourt.

Should we be worried about our new pint sized point producer?  Is there any worry that Thomas might stunt the growth of our wonderkind future face of the franchise Marcus Smart?

First of all, as you might expect, Danny Ainge isn't worried.  He's very confident that Thomas will fit in well and everything will be hunky-dory.

Deadline involves Danny Ainge after all | Boston Herald

While it's also clear that the Celtics need depth in their backcourt, there is the obvious question of how Thomas' presence will affect rookie Marcus Smart. Thomas came off the bench in Phoenix, and it's possible he'll continue in that role.

"I think he complements Marcus," Ainge said. "I think that they can complement each other. It doesn't really change Marcus. Marcus can learn a lot from him. He can take pressure off Marcus. We've already seen that Marcus can guard multiple possessions."

But what else is Ainge going to say?  If he's worried about anything he's going to keep that to himself.

So I thought I'd do some digging and check with the fans of the teams that Thomas has played for.  I reached out to Dave King of Bright Side of the Sun and Akis Yerocostas of Sactown Royalty and they were kind enough to forward me on a conversation that they had this summer about Isaiah Thomas.  Here's a portion of that conversation that I think is relevant to this discussion:

With all of his accomplishments, the Kings were more than ready to get rid of him this offseason. They even signed Darren Collison to replace him before he left. How did that devolve so badly?

Honestly, this is what is perplexing Kings fans the most. Thomas was a fan favorite, both for his on-court ability and his off-court persona. It's possible that the new management is trying to make this their team and clean house, but to cut ties with one of the only good assets they had makes little sense to me. The truth of the matter is that it came down to vision and money; The Kings did not see Isaiah Thomas as a starting point guard and as such didn't want to pay him starting point guard money. In their eyes they could get a quality guy in Darren Collison for less money to replace much of the value they lost in Thomas. That remains to be seen but all the evidence suggests that Thomas is a much better player than Collison.

Is $7 million a year too much for Thomas, or is it too little?

I think it's a perfect price for Thomas. Here's a guy who averaged 21.3 points and 6.8 assists as a starter last year in just his 3rd year in the league. That salary is also decreasing over time meaning it gets even better as his deal goes on. Should his production remain similar, he's fantastic value to contract and a great overall asset for the Suns.

The Suns reportedly want Thomas in that 3rd guard role off the bench, which sounds like a good role to me. What is Thomas' best NBA role?

Thomas's best role is that of a scorer. That's why so many consider him to be a 6th man type. He is good enough to be a starter in my opinion, but the Suns already have two amazing guards in Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe (assuming they bring back Bledsoe). If you need points, putting in Isaiah Thomas will help you out. If you need energy, Isaiah Thomas will help you out.

***

As a final note, I just want to say that Phoenix Suns fans are getting one of the easiest guys in the NBA to root for. Thomas is a guy that works his butt off, never gives up, never says never, and will never quit. We will miss him in Sacramento and I think it's very possible that the Kings will regret their decision to not bring him back.

Dave King also was kind enough to share his current thoughts on Thomas:

Isaiah is a great guy and he got along well with all the players. However he's got a huge chip on his shoulder that he exposes when he feels threatened for playing time. He wants to win games but can't see how that happens any better than him running the show. Give him 35 minutes a night and he will be thrilled. But anyone else at PG might feel pushed aside.

So the bottom line is that Thomas isn't a bad dude by any means.  He just scores high on Bill Simmons' "irrational confidence" indicator.  That can be a really good thing if monitored and managed effectively, which will be a challenge to Brad Stevens.

I am still a little worried about Marcus Smart and his development.  I think that Stevens can utilize a 2 point guard system and there's obviously some strengths and weaknesses that allow each player to balance out the other.  I just hope that Smart gets the right amount of space and opportunity to grow and develop as his own player.  First he had to be Rondo's understudy, then he showed some real promise as the lead guy, and now he's going to share the stage with Thomas (who might not be good at sharing the stage).

Of course there's also the matter of Avery Bradley, the incumbent SG starter and defensive specialist.  One of these three is going to be coming off the bench and Stevens may have to experiment with who works best in what role.

Maybe this will end up being a minor concern but in my mind it is a concern to keep an eye on.  I'm sure, however, that Brad Stevens is already working on a master plan to work everything out.  It should be very interesting to see how he handles all of this for the rest of the year and beyond.

In an unique development, Sim Bhullar will appear on an episode of "The Late Late Show" later this month.

Given his 7'5", 360 pound frame, Sim Bhullar looks like the polarizing type of figure, who could, ideally, lead one David Letterman's quirky "Top Ten" list segments.

As fate would have it, one wouldn't be so far off when pondering the big man's late night talk show future.

Instead, Bhullar will appear as a guest on "The Late Late Show." Since the departure of longtime host Craig Ferguson, the program has welcomed a slew of guest-hosts to fill in until the arrival of James Corden (his first show will be March 23rd). This undoubtedly opens up an unique window of opportunity for the different hosts to bring in a variety of colorful guests from different walks of life and fields of the pop-culture industry.

Needless to say, Bhullar is seemingly going where no D-Leager has ever gone before: a late night talk show on national television. His episode will be guest-hosted by Kunal Nayyar, star of "The Big Bang Theory." Originally filmed back in January, the 22 year old's appearance will air on the evening of February 26th, RidiculousUpside.com has learned.

In 21 games for the Bighorns this season, Bhullar has averaged 8.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks, all the while shooting 72% from the field. He is the first player of indian descent to appear in an NBA/D-League game.

Basketball is back!  Ramon Sessions is gone, George Karl is in and Kings fans are excited about basketball again.  The new era of Kings basketball kicks off tonight against the visiting Boston Celtics.  Here's hoping that Sacramento can kick off these final 30 games with a win.Today's action tips off at 7:00 pm on Comcast SportsNet California and on KHTK 1140.

3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. So begins the first game of the George Karl era.  The Kings have had two practices with their new coach, so we probably won't see a huge amount of change but it probably will be more drastic than the switch from Malone to Corbin.  Most importantly, I just want to see the team play hard for 48 minutes in front of what is sure to be a packed house.  Winning at home is an important George Karl tenet, especially against a shorthanded team like the Celtics.

2. Boston is suffering from a rash of injuries and also players not being available due to trade.  Isaiah Thomas and Jonas Jerebko were traded to the Celtics yesterday but likely won't be available for action although that could change according to Bill Herenda.  Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk are both out with various ailments, which means Boston has a severe size disadvantage as well.  Sacramento needs to take advantage of that and get to the rim as much as possible.  Karl has historically loved attacking the basket and getting to the line, so I expect we'll see the Kings do more of that as the season goes on, starting tonight.

3.  The Point Guard situation for Sacramento could be pretty interesting.  Darren Collison remains doubtful to play with his hip flexor, and Andre Miller isn't likely to be available to play either, depending on when he gets to Sacramento.  That leaves just two PGs on the roster for Sacramento: Ray McCallum and the newly signed Dave Stockton.  We also have heard from practice reports the past few days that Karl has had Nik Stauskas playing a bit of PG in his scrimmages, so perhaps we'll see Nik with the ball in his hands more.  That was one of his strengths at Michigan.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

DeMarcus Cousins vs. the double team

With Boston having some valuable big men out and Tyler Zeller being one of the few they do have, the Celtics are likely going to send help at DeMarcus Cousins each and every time he gets the ball near the basket.  Coach Karl has expressly said that he wants to experiment with different looks for Cousins so as to limit the amount of doubles he sees, but I could see Boston being very aggressive on that front given that they don't have a single individual player that can go toe-to-toe with Cousins.

PREGAME LIMERICK

It's a new era of Kings basketball,
Coach Karl is here and ready to heal all.
I'm excited once more,
for these guys to hit the floor,
and enthrall rather than appall.

PREDICTION

Kings 128, Celtics 94 as David Stockton finds his Karl Malone in DeMarcus Cousins and the two become an almost unstoppable pair that dominates the league for years to come.

Trade deadline, George Karl, and other lunacy.

The Sactown Royalty Show is back! This week I'm joined by our old friend Robby Biegler. Robby is of course one of the strangest and most entertaining guests we ever have on the show, and this episode is no different. We discuss a variety of topics, including the trade deadline, George Karl, movies, and other strange things that came from Robby's brain.

This episode was a lot of fun to record, and I'm sure you'll enjoy listening to it. Check it out.

Like the show? Subscribe to us on iTunes or on Stitcher! Leave us ratings, leave comments, let us know how we're doing. Ratings and comments on iTunes really help us out with promoting the show. And of course, continue the discussion in the comments below.

And a big thanks to Audible.com for supporting us. To get your free 30-day trial and a free audiobook, sign up here. Using that particular link gets you the special offer, and let's them know you heard about them through our show.

As always, thanks for listening.

It looks like George Karl won't be the only one making his debut tonight.  The newly acquired Andre Miller will also be in uniform and looks like he might play according to Coach Karl himself.  However, he won't start, as that duty will be given to interim backup PG Ray McCallum.  Darren Collison remains out of action with a hip flexor injury.

Coach Karl is also implementing another change to the starting lineup that doesn't have anything to do with injuries;  He's making the move to start Carl Landry at PF rather than Jason Thompson, who moves to the bench.  Karl reportedly said that this was not a demotion but rather a re-shuffling.

"Landry will start at 4 not demotion 4JT rotate on my whim not sure y we have starters y don't we have finishers" Karl #Kings v #Celts#NBA

— Bill Herenda (@billherenda) February 21, 2015

Carl Landry will start at the power forward spot. Jason Thompson to the bench. Not a demotion according to Karl. Reshuffling.

— James Ham (@James_Ham) February 21, 2015

This is just the first of what I'm sure will be a bevy of changes implemented by the new Kings head coach as he looks to rebuild this team into a winner.  We'll see how that pans out, starting tonight with Boston.

The George Karl era kicks off with a bang in Sacramento

It wasn't basketball perfection, but damn was it fun. The Sacramento Kings had new life breathed into their formerly rotting corpses, roaring onto the court with a frenetic energy that hasn't been seen in these parts for a long time. The Boston Celtics were shorthanded and scrapped hard for the entire 48 minutes, but the Kings rode the feel-good vibes on their way to a 109-101 win.

George Karl insisted that he wanted to emphasize an aggressive style of play, one that highlights ball movement and parlaying defense into offense, and the Kings did their best to deliver. The Kings dished out 26 assists tonight, a number that they have rarely touched this season, shooting 48% from the field and 38% from three. They attacked the rim over and over again, running on any opportunity they could find, scoring 54 total points in the paint. DeMarcus Cousins was a monster in the post, scoring 31 points, grabbing 15 rebounds, dishing 3 assists, and collecting Jae Crowder's NBA soul. Rudy Gay was right there with him, tallying 28 points of his own on 18 shots. Gay was getting to his spots with ease in Karl's offense, playing both the SF and PF positions at times.

It was far from perfect. The Kings have had turnover issues all season, and tonight installing a new offense combined with a Boston team aggressively looking to attack the ball led to 24 turnovers on the night, 9 coming from Cousins alone. The Celtics were shorthanded on the night, but still were able to hang around on the back of Avery Bradley's strong 28 point effort, getting open and draining midrange jumper after midrange jumper to keep the game interesting.

But down the stretch, the Kings found a way to clamp down defensively while executing their offense as necessary, ending the game on a 16-9 run. A big component of this effort was the play of newly acquired Andre Miller, whose veteran savvy was a welcome sight for a team that previously struggled with its basketball IQ. Miller directed the offense beautifully, controlling the pace, scoring opportunistically, and set up Boogie and Rudy repeatedly to help them get into a rhythm. I'm really looking forward to having Miller mentor the Kings' younger guards Ray McCallum and Ben McLemore, who both struggled tonight. Omri Casspi, Derrick Williams and Jason Thompson all came off the bench and sparked a run when the Kings were struggling in the first quarter, which is amazing because we hadn't seen that kind of impact from the reserves all season.

All-in-all, it was a great way to launch this new era of Kings basketball. You can already see the attitude that Karl is emphasizing taking form on the court, and its something that should make Kings fans giddy. Hang on Kings fans, its gonna be a wild ride.

For the opponent's perspective, visit Celtics Blog

First game back in action after the All-Star Break and it was a close one.

In their first game since the All-Star break, and more importantly the trade deadline, the Boston Celtics lost to the Sacramento Kings in the Sleep Train Arena, despite an inspired performance from Avery Bradley.

The Celtics jumped out to an early lead, largely on the back of Tyler Zeller, who went 6 of 7 on field goal attempts to start the game.  However, the Kings came back with a 17-0 run against the C's ineffectual second unit, finishing the first quarter up by one point, 28-27. After leading at the half, 56-51,

Tyler Zeller and Avery Bradley were incredibly effective during the first half, scoring 17 points on 7-9 from the floor and 15 points on 6-10, respectively.  Unfortunately, they were the only bright spots for the Green early, as much of the rest of the team struggled to connect from the floor.  Despite  the Kings inability to hang on to the ball (15 turnovers in the first half), they were able to shoot very effectively, hitting for better than 50% from distance and overall in the first half.

The second half opened with some great defense from the Celtics backcourt.  Unfortunately, this was ruined by the inability to make a jumpshot by anyone in green not named Avery Bradley.  As the quarter went on, the defense subsided somewhat, but the shooting did not improve to compensate.

With the Kings holding an 8-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, Boston looked to right the ship.  Their scoring picked up, and they gradually narrowed the gap.  However, the play of Boogie Cousins held strong, as the Kings held on to win, 109-101.

Jared Sullinger's defense was sorely missed, as Demarcus Cousins was able to get whatever he wanted down low.  The mercurial young center tallied 31 points and 15 rebounds on 12 of 18 shooting from the floor, going to work against Zeller on the offensive end of the floor and leading his team to its first victory under new head coach George Karl.

The story of night for the Celtics was Avery Bradley, who finished with 28 points on 12-22.  The young guard seemed to be making up for the absences of Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk, firing away from the floor, and connecting consistently. Unfortunately, the team as a whole shot an uninspired 40% from the floor, and was unable to close the gap late in the game.

Rookie Marcus Smart showed newfound aggression in his first game back from the break, getting to the line 9 times in the night.  Unfortunately, he did not have one of his better shooting nights, requiring 15 shots to score his 16 points.

There will be a transition period.

There's always an eagerness to see the new guys in their new uniforms and I know Celtics fans are eager to see Isaiah Thomas and the other new guys from the trade deadline.  In particular with Jared Sullinger out, leaving the team short-handed.

With that said, it is unclear if Thomas or the other guys will play on Sunday.

Isaiah Thomas, Jonas Jerebko, Luigi Datome should join Boston Celtics on Saturday | masslive.com

"There's a chance that he could play on Sunday (in L.A), but that would be one walkthrough in," Stevens said prior to meeting the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena. "So we'll figure that out." The coach added: "At least what he's scheduled to do right now is see our doctors in the morning (Saturday), get (a physical) taken care of, and then fly out (Saturday in the) late evening."

Also, there have been rumblings that Luigi Datome would be bought out.  Apparently that's not the case and the team will take an extended look at him (as well as other new guy Jonas Jerebko).

Source: Celtics have no buyouts planned. Thomas will take physical in Boston tomorrow, 2 Detroit guys the same in LA.

— Mark Murphy (@Murf56) February 21, 2015

In other news, it sounds like the Celtics really want to find more playing time for James Young.

Q&A: Danny Ainge on trades, Celtics roster, and the future - Sports - The Boston Globe

Do you see James Young getting more playing time after Prince’s departure? I think that’s a goal within our organization, regardless of who’s on our roster. There were no trades that we needed to do [to give Young more playing time]. I think James was earning minutes in camp right before he hurt his hamstring. He was earning minutes right as he had his shoulder injury, and he was earning them right before he had the flu. He’s been on the bubble. We’ve liked what he’s done in the D-League and what he’s done in practice.

Good to hear.

After rattling off three straight wins against Texas based teams, the Los Angeles Clippers will meet up with an in-state foe on Saturday night. The Sacramento Kings and their malevolent superstar center, DeMarcus Cousins, will look to sink the ship.

2014/2015 NBA Regular Season
	vs
36-19		19-34
February 21st, 2015, 7:00 PM
STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, California)
Prime Ticket, Comcast-Sacramento, KFWB 980 AM, KWKW 1330 AM
Win-Loss Breakdown (2014-2015)
13-11	East	6-13
23-8	West	13-21
7-2	Division	4-7
22-7	Home	12-17
14-12	Road	7-17
15-15	.500+	9-24
21-4	.500-	10-10
1-0	OT	3-2
5-5	L10	3-7
Probable Starters
Chris Paul	PG	Ray McCallum
J.J. Redick	SG	Ben McLemore
Matt Barnes	SF	Rudy Gay
Spencer Hawes	PF	Carl Landry
DeAndre Jordan	C	DeMarcus Cousins
Advanced Stats
96.50 (13th of 30)	Pace	97.20 (9th of 30)
110.6 (1st of 30)	ORtg	101.6 (19th of 30)
104.5 (19th of 30)	DRtg	106.0 (26th of 30)
Injuries/Other
Blake Griffin (Out) Elbow		Darren Collison (Out) Hip
Austin Rivers (Questionable) Ankle		Reggie Evans (Questionable) Knee
		Eric Moreland (Out) Shoulder

For More: Visit Sactown Royalty

Prediction
10597

The Kings will benefit from having Andre Miller as a coach on the floor.

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If you look at per minute stats, Andre Miller has been nearly identical to Ramon Sessions this season. But Kings fans knew that Thursday's swap was about more than raw stats, and Miller's first game in a Kings uniform showed the difference. Miler didn't finish with an eye-popping stat line against the Celtics, finishing with eight points, four assists, and four rebounds, but it was the presence on the floor that stood out.

It's easy to see why one of Miller's nicknames is The Professor. He's known and respected throughout the league as being a smart and savvy player. For a team that has long lacked anyone with a high basketball IQ, the veteran savvy of Miller is a welcome addition for the Kings.

Miller is a month shy of turning 39 years old. You don't play in the NBA at age 39 unless you've got some tricks up your sleeve. Miller survives on intelligence. And he shares that wisdom. Against the Celtics, Miller could be seen barking instructions to teammates during any delay. He's essentially a coach on the floor.

The Kings didn't acquire Miller to lead the bench unit in stats. His impact on the floor is going to be dramatic, even if it isn't always apparent on his stat sheet.

Sacramento is riding high after their first win of the George Karl era but the going gets rough starting tonight as the Kings head to Los Angeles to play the Clippers.  While Blake Griffin is not available, the Clippers are still a formidable team. 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 haven't won more than one game in a row since November when Mike Malone was coach and before DeMarcus Cousins fell ill with viral meningitis.  That's a long time to have gone without back to back wins.  The upcoming schedule isn't very favorable for Sacramento, so given that Blake Griffin is out, this might be their best chance in a while.

2. Turnovers were the biggest issue in George Karl's debut.  The Kings gave up 24 while forcing just 11 themselves.  That game probably should have been a blowout if Sacramento had been able to take care of the ball.  Growing pains are expected when learning a new system, but even still, Sacramento can't be as sloppy when facing a veteran Clippers team that will not allow Sacramento to make up big deficits.

3. I thought Sacramento's bench came alive for the very first time this season in Friday's game against the Celtics and I'm eager to see if they can continue to provide good minutes under Karl.  Every bench player had a positive +/- and we also saw the return of an aggressive Omri Casspi.  Casspi finished just 2-9 from the field but was a game-high +21 and had 12 rebounds (including 5 offensive) and a team-high 6 assists.  That's the kind of contribution that wasn't surprising from Omri earlier this year but was missing under Corbin as his minutes dipped.  Andre Miller was also fantastic, running the offense well in his 23 minute stint.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

DeMarcus Cousins vs. DeAndre Jordan

The last time these two teams played, DeMarcus Cousins was not available.  Before that though, Cousins diced up the Clippers in a dominant performance for 34 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks.  No team gets Cousins more fired up than playing the Clippers, and even though DeAndre Jordan has improved a lot as a defender, he hasn't done well historically against Cousins.  Cousins on the other hand will have to do a better job defensively than he did against Tyler Zeller on Friday.

PREGAME LIMERICK

Blake Griffin is injured and out,
sitting in his KIA with a pout.
Kings should come in,
get the upset win,
and end our winning streak drought.

PREDICTION

Kings 109, Clippers 101 as a new quirk of George Karl's system is that the score has to be the same every night.

As expected, Miller signed a deal on Saturday.

Here's the press release from the team:

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Detroit Pistons General Manager Jeff Bower announced today that the club has signed forward Quincy Miller to a 10-day contract. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The 6-foot-9, 210-pound forward joins the Pistons after spending parts of the 2014-15 season with the Sacramento Kings and the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Developmental League. In six games with the Kings, he averaged 2.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals in 10.2 minutes. He had his best game with Sacramento at Golden State (1/23), recording season-highs in points (13) and rebounds (6).

The North Chicago, IL native averaged 25.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.6 blocks, 1.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 28.9 minutes in 15 games with the Reno Bighorns this season. Miller was named to the D-League All-Star Prospects team where he scored 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 24 minutes.

The three-year pro holds career averages of 4.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 13.5 minutes in 65 career games (16 starts) with Sacramento and Denver. He has also spent time with the Iowa Energy of the D-League.

Now your thoughts.

The Sacramento Kings shared behind-the-scenes footage of Karl stepping on the floor for his first game as head coach.