134. John Wallace

133. Yakhouba Diawara

132. Blue Edwards

131. Gary Grant

130. Clinton Wheeler

The Sacramento Kings are exploring a contract extension with DeMarcus Cousins, and the team will meet with Cousins' agent, Dan Fegan, in the near future to discuss a new deal, according to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. The 22-year-old big man has been busy at the Team USA basketball mini-camp, and Fegan is working on an extension for John Wall with the Washington Wizards, but it appears that an extension for Cousins is next in line. Cousins is reportedly looking for a maximum extension, and the Kings can offer up to a five-year deal worth approximately $80 million -- that would take effect in 2014-15 -- by making him the team's Designated Player.

The deadline for signing Cousins to an early extension is October 31, and if the two sides cannot come to an agreement then the big man will become a restricted free agent on July 1, after the 2013-14 NBA season. The franchise has not been shy about expressing interest in signing the big man to a long-term deal. Kings general manager Pete D'Alessandro and head coach Michael Malone made a special trip to Alabama to visit Cousins earlier this summer, and at that time the GM said he was looking forward to Cousins "being a major part of [the] team."

The big question is whether Cousins is worth max money. His talent level is high, but his attitude and effort have been called into question during his first three NBA seasons. Despite the disciplinary issues, Cousins has still posted 16.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game over 220 games. He's missed more games due to suspensions than to injury or illness. It's a gamble the Kings are in a position to take, and if Cousins figures things out he is easily one of the best big men in the NBA. It will be very interesting to see how the contract talks evolve in the upcoming weeks.

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Sacramento just survived a near relocation. And now, four words are popping up here and there, threatening to re-sweat those palms all over again: "DeMarcus Cousins max contract."

Cousins is eligible for an early extension this summer. The hypothetical new contract would go into effect for the 2014-15 season. He has previously talked about nabbing a max deal. His agent (Dan Fegan, one of the toughest in the business) has previously talked about a max deal. The on-court numbers suggest he's in line to get a max deal.

Using the same method that told us John Wall (another Fegan client, by the way) is worth the max on Thursday, we find that Cousins "earned" about $14.5 million in 2012-13. That figure is suspiciously close to the max for an early extension candidate. And like Wall, he's 22, and likely sees his most productive years ahead.

Contract extension talks begin

Sactown Royalty reacts to the news

Unlike Wall, Cousins has a reputation as a sour teammate. A really sour teammate. As a recent Sacramento Bee column noted, he's missed more games due to suspension by the league or team (eight) than he has due to injury or illness (three). He clashed with Paul Westphal. (The last incident in their war led to Westphal getting fired, though everyone in Sacramento seems to still blame then-GM Geoff Petrie more than anyone.) He clashed with Keith Smart. He clashed with assistant coaches. He clashed with the trainer. He clashed with at least one teammate physically. He clashed with the other team's broadcaster. He clashed with O.J. Mayo's jewels. His elbow has clashed with a couple of heads. The NBA discipline office has an incredibly short leash with him. The Kings' former front office had tightened its leash.

But the new front office and ownership group can't stop raving about Cousins. From Day 1, owner Vivek Ranadivé and GM Pete D'Alessandro have called Cousins the cornerstone of the team. Tyreke Evans was so quietly addressed that he almost felt like a human sacrifice at the altar of Boogie. (Tyreke ended up in New Orleans in a sign-and-trade.) New coach Michael Malone, known as a firebolt screamer, has raved about Cousins while admitting they may clash because, gosh darnit, they both just want to win so badly.

The Kings have made it clear: all aboard the S.S. Boogie. No life jackets needed. A max extension would just be, well, an extension of that philosophy. Surely, those of us who watched Cousins get ejected in the finale of his rookie season, pick up a tech in the final seconds of last season's emotional closer and sullenly ignore media questions after one incident or another -- we're a little nervous. But when you look at it dispassionately, there's not a whole lot of risk here.

Worst-case scenario: the cycle continues. Cousins puts up fantastic production numbers (17 points, 10 rebounds), middling efficiency numbers, is a defensive minus, clashes with the coach, fails to mesh with his guards. So ... you trade him! Every freaking time there's been an incident over the last three years, HoopsHype immediately lights up with rumors from 10 different teams who want to trade for Cousins. You know why? Because of those production numbers, because of his size and agility (still a crazy combination) and because of the list of reformed hotheads the league has seen over the decades. Rasheed Wallace. Chris Webber. Charles Barkley. You can be a jerk to refs (Sheed), your coach (Webber) or everyone (Chuck) and still get numbers, earn your keep and win lots of games. Everyone knows that. That's why they line up every time he blows up.

The Kings' new direction

Paul Flannery talks to Michael Malone about the Kings' fresh start

So extending Cousins with a fat contract isn't too much of a risk with regard to his attitude, because the next team will always believe he can be fixed. With his numbers, he's worth the trouble, even at eight figures. The real risk for Sacramento is hamstringing itself with regard to team-building. The pitch I expect the Kings' front office is making to Cousins is that if he takes less money or drops more into incentive clauses, they can afford to keep a long list of restricted free agents due for raises in 2014 (including both Isaiah Thomas and Greivis Vasquez) and add more talent around him. Cousins has openly desired a shot-blocking center to play next to him; he misses Samuel Dalembert's presence. If Cousins takes $12 million a year instead of $15 million, that money can help get a shot-blocker. Give him a metaphorical stake in the team like that, and chances are that whether Boogie grows up or not, the Kings can build a better team. And we all know wins are more conducive to happiness.

This whole exercise is difficult for the Kings, but it's also an opportunity to lock up a fine young player while preserving some space for more.

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In June, the Orlando Magic used the second overall pick of the Draft to select Victor Oladipo, widely considered to be one of the hardest-working and most-NBA-ready rookie prospects. As the offseason before Oladipo's first professional campaign wears on, he continues to gain notice as a potential Rookie-of-the-Year candidate and franchise building-block.

Orlando Pinstriped Post already highlighted the fact that Hickory High projected Oladipo to be the league's most productive rookie, in terms of Regularized Adjusted Plus-Minus, or RAPM, in 2013/14. But other accolades and praise have appeared since.

David Thorpe, an ESPN Insider analyst, pegs Oladipo as one of five possible Rookie of the Year winners. Playing point guard in the Orlando Pro Summer League, Thorpe says, "should challenge Oladipo to continue to work on his handle and to see and read the game better." He sums up by saying the Indiana product will "have a chance at being one of the league's top rookie producers."

Thorpe's other candidates for top rookie honors are Boston Celtics big man Kelly Olynyk, Charlotte Bobcats power forward Cody Zeller, Philadelphia 76ers point guard Michael Carter-Williams, and Sacramento Kings shooting guard Ben McLemore.

Elsewhere at ESPN, three of five panelists picked Oladipo as the favorite to win Rookie of the Year. James Herbert of Hardwood Paroxysm writes that Oladipo is "the only rookie who might make an impact on both ends immediately." Brett Koremenos of HoopSpeak goes even further, saying that Oladipo will be the best rookie from the 2013 class in five years due to his "athleticism, work ethic and skill set," which will enable him to develop into one of the league's best overall players over that span.

At SB Nation, Mike Prada ranks Oladipo as the fourth-best rookie from any of the NBA's Summer Leagues, behind only Zeller, Olynyk, and Atlanta Hawks point guard Dennis Schröder. "The only reason he's down at 4 is that he struggled with turnovers and simple things like entry passes to the elbows in HORNS sets," writes Prada. "That's to be expected, though, given the unfamiliarity with the [point guard] position."

Indeed, there's certainly reason for optimism in Orlando, despite the overwhelming likelihood that the Magic are headed to another losing season.

We invite you to follow Orlando Pinstriped Post on Twitter and like Orlando Pinstriped Post on Facebook.

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Tonight starting at 7:00 pm EDT on Showtime Extreme and continuing at 9:00 pm EDT on Showtime, and also airing on BoxNation in the United Kingdom, Golden Boy and Showtime present Knockout Kings II, a scattergun sort of card where a bunch of bullets will be fired and hopefully some damage will be done.

In the night's main event, Andre Berto (28-2, 22 KO) looks to get back in the win column as he faces Jesus Soto Karass (27-8-3, 17 KO) in a 12-round welterweight bout. Berto hasn't fought since a loss to Robert Guerrero late last year, while Soto Karass followed a spirited defeat against Marcos Maidana last September with a minor upset of Selcuk Aydin in January.

Soto Karass is a sizable underdog here, but he always brings a good fight, and if Berto gets goofy as he sometimes will, an upset is not totally out of the question.

Also featured on the show will be rising lightweight prospect Omar Figueroa (21-0-1, 17 KO) of Weslaco, Texas, who will take on Japan's Nihito Arakawa (24-2-1, 16 KO) in a 12-round fight. The first fight of the Showtime broadcast will see Keith Thurman (20-0, 18 KO) face Diego Chaves (22-0, 18 KO) in another 12-round welterweight bout.

Showtime Extreme has two fights scheduled. Anthony Dirrell (25-0, 21 KO) will look to stay unbeaten against Anthony Hanshaw (23-3-2, 14 KO), while Joseph Rodriguez (3-0, 2 KO) will face Jesse Anguiano (1-2-1, 0 KO) in a four-round super featherweight opener. If there is time for a swing bout, we'll see Armando Cardenas (1-0, 1 KO) take on Stephen Salazar, making his pro debut.

David Lighty walked out of the tunnel of Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas wearing ice wrapped around his knees and a smile on his face. Having torn an ACL in high school and broken a foot in college, few realize the importance of keeping his body in pristine shape like he does.

The smile Lighty displays comes from the satisfaction of knowing he made a great final impression on the Kings' summer league staff, after scoring 16 points on 8/9 shooting during their final summer league game on Friday. Down the stretch, the 6'6" swingman had the unenviable task of defending both point guard Dennis Schroeder and power forward Mike Scott, demonstrating the type of versatility he is capable of bringing to a team defensively.

"Whatever the coach asks me to do, I'll do," Lighty told me when we spoke after the game.

Statements and sentiments like that come naturally to Lighty. This is a guy who truly understands his role on a basketball team, and doesn't ever need a play run for him to be successful. You see, if there are two words that exemplify what Lighty is, they're the two words he uses most in conversation: teammate and winner.

After my interview, I went through and counted how often he used those words in the five minute span. He used the words "team" or "teammate" 14 times, and the words "win" or "winner" 9 times, showing just what his priorities are. He takes pride in being Ohio State's all-time wins leader more than he does in his quite impressive overall statistical performance there.

"Everybody likes a winner," Lighty said. "At the end of the day, if you have zero points, but have five rebounds, five assists, and five steals and you win, I'm happy. Scoring is definitely a big part of the game, and people love that part, but winning is even better."

Lighty did all of those things and more during his time at Ohio State. As a member of their vaunted 2007 recruiting class - one that also featured Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., and Daequan Cook -- Lighty was overshadowed early on in favor of bigger names. But that shouldn't diminish the type of impact he had as soon as he stepped on campus. As a jack-of-all-trades defensive player, Lighty became the glue to a team that went to the national title game in 2007 and won the NIT championship in 2008. Then just as the Buckeyes had opened up a hard opening stretch unbeaten in 2009 to become ranked for the first time in nearly two years, Lighty suffered the aforementioned broken foot that held him out the rest of the season.

He took his time off to develop a more versatile offensive game, and when he returned in 2010 as a redshirt junior, he took a large step forward as a scorer. Lighty became a 40% three-point shooter on over 230 shots during his final two seasons, and had developed his handle enough that he was capable of creating on-the-ball for both he and his teammates. His defensive level never wavered, and Lighty became arguably the second-most important piece on a team that featured National Player of the Year, Evan Turner. Over the last fifteen years, Lighty is in the top ten statistically in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocks, which exhibits just how influential he was on the outcome of every game.

"My time at Ohio State was lovely," Lighty said. "It grew me into the player I am today. Learning how to play with stars was great - I played with seven NBA players - and just being about the team and winning. Coach Matta and his staff were all about that."

After graduating Ohio State with a degree in consumer affairs, Lighty then went undrafted in the 2011 NBA Draft. Furthermore, he couldn't have picked a worse year to go undrafted. The lockout continued to rage on for about 6 months after the draft, meaning he couldn't speak to teams until things were settled. Plus, summer league was canceled that year, so he never got another chance to make an impression on the floor. He made the difficult decision of leaving the United States and going over to Italy to play for Cantu of the Italian Serie A.

"I didn't know if I wanted to stay and wait out the lockout or go overseas, but I ended up signing in Italy and had a great first year as a professional," Lighty said. "I just tried to pick up as many things as I could, and learn things from different guys."

This past season was arguably the most successful of Lighty's career, as he left Italy and went over to France. While playing for Nanterre this year, Lighty averaged 12.5 points, four rebounds, three assists, and one steal per game en route to becoming their most important player. Nanterre made the playoffs as the 8 seed, knocking off top-seeded Gravelines (featuring newly-signed NBA point guard and French League MVP Dwight Buycks) and then fourth-seeded Chalon in a combined four games. In the championship, they faced off against second-seeded Strasbourg. After losing by 24 in the first game, Nanterre went on a three-game run culminating in a championship on June 8^th. Lighty himself was named MVP of the final, after scoring 21 points in the clinching game.

"The team I was with was just like a family," Lighty said. "No one was selfish and everyone was about winning. In the end, we ended up winning a French championship. In the final, I just tried to be as aggressive as possible. The team we were up against had experience and size down low, so I just tried to attack the bigs and get at them early. Once I did that, the whole thing changed around for us and we got a lot of confidence."

If the NBA is in the cards, the next step will be receiving a training camp invite, which is what he was working to secure by playing in Summer League this season. He started his month-long journey this summer at a Bucks' workout for players ineligible for the 2013 draft, and then moved on to the Brooklyn Nets in the Orlando Summer League. While in Orlando, Lighty averaged nearly eight points with 2 assists and rebounds per game. He left a day early to work with Sacramento's Summer League team and former Ohio State assistant Chris Jent.

For the latest Cavs news

In Las Vegas, he performed admirably prior to his breakout final game; however, his style of play is not conducive to the selfish and sloppy Summer League. He works best within a team concept where he is able to spot up and knock down open shots. Ben McLemore taking 16 shots a game over the five days didn't leave many shots for the rest of the team, and team defensive concepts are non-existent in Las Vegas. If Lighty wants to make a roster, he's going to have to display his ability to pick up a system role in training camp.

★★★

So what's next for Lighty? He'll probably take a couple of weeks to relax, continue working on his game, and hope a training camp invite rolls in. Lighty badly wants to succeed in the NBA, but he's also seemingly happy and appreciative of where his life has taken him to this point. He would contentedly return to France if that ends up being the final option. In that vein, there may not have been a more polite and grateful player at Summer League this year. After the final game, I watched as Lighty walked up to every member of the Kings organization and thanked them simply for the opportunity of getting the Summer League tryout.

And that Ohio State past that we talked about earlier? He makes sure he always remembers his roots by wearing the same "Ohio State 23" backpack that I saw him wearing around campus when I was an undergrad at the same time.

While at OSU, Lighty played with seven future NBA players. With a continued hard work and a few lucky breaks, Lighty might be able to become number eight.

This article originally appeared on Fear The Sword.

Nikola Pekovic and Brandon Jennings are unquestionably the two best free agents remaining on the market. However, both are restricted free agents, so it makes sense that the Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks aren't in any rush on making deals with the two.

The next best available player is Mo Williams, a double-figures scorer who started on a near playoff team last year and hasn't gotten a ton of attention in free agency until now. Various reports came out Saturday that several contenders are interested in the 10-year veteran. One of those teams is also interested in another reserve guard, Delonte West. Here's a look at Saturday's free agency news and rumors.

Heat, Grizzlies among suitors for Williams

The Williams rumors came fast and furious Saturday. First, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald wrote that the Miami Heat are after Williams. Later in the day, ESPN's Marc Stein reported the Memphis Grizzlies also have their eye on the 10-year veteran. Then Hoopsworld's Alex Kennedy confirmed Jackson's report and added another title contender to Williams' list.

I heard Heat and Spurs were in mix if Mo Williams decides to go with contender. No surprise if Grizz are in mix too, as @ESPNSteinLine said.

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 28, 2013

Williams would make sense in all three locations. In Memphis, he'd fill a much-needed shooting void in the backcourt. San Antonio has been in need of a veteran backup point guard since George Hill was traded. And let's face it, the more shooters, the better for that team. The Heat might be the most interesting team for Williams. Like the Spurs, they love spacing the floor. Additionally, Williams' best seasons of his career came the two years he played with LeBron James in Cleveland.

Grizzlies, Knicks show interest in Delonte West

While the Grizzlies monitor the Mo Williams situation, they're also looking elsewhere as they continue to look for backcourt depth. According to Chris Haynes of Comcast SportsNet Northwest, both the Grizzlies and the New York Knicks have had "preliminary" discussions with the eight-year veteran. West played eight games for the Texas Legends last season and was last seen in the NBA playing 44 games for the Dallas Mavericks during the 2011-12 season.

Seth Rosenthal of Posting and Toasting writes that he wouldn't hate the move, but he's also not in love with it.

As for West...sure, why not? He hasn't played NBA ball in a year, but he can defend, he can create a bit, and he can hit the occasional three. Any concerns about a player being too weird or difficult have long since been abandoned with this Knicks roster. West wouldn't be my top pick of the remaining free agent guards, but the Knicks can't afford to be choosers.

Oden decision coming Monday?

Greg Oden's current unemployment could be coming to an end soon. Steve Aschburner reports Oden's decision between six suitors could come as soon as Monday. The Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans have all watched Oden work out in recent weeks, and his agent Bill Duffy says some conversations with teams have been pretty general while others have discussed specific terms. The 2007 No. 1 draft pick hasn't played since December of 2009.

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The first wave of NBA free agency has died down, but the offseason is still going strong. Many names known throughout the league have changed teams, including Dwight Howard (Los Angeles Lakers to Houston Rockets), Andre Iguodala (Denver Nuggets to Golden State Warriors), and Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics to Brooklyn Nets). Others chose to stay with their teams, like Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers), Manu Ginobili (San Antonio Spurs), and David West (Indiana Pacers). That said, this is a far cry from the relative quiet of the 2012 offseason, where the biggest name free agent, Deron Williams, chose to stay with the Nets, and the biggest trade of the season (involving Howard going to the Lakers from the Orlando Magic) turned out to disappoint all the teams involved, except the Magic.

Nevertheless, the 2013-14 season will be enjoyable for fans of far more teams than any in recent memory.

The West has 6 really good teams

I'll leave my colleague Aaronstampler with the job of team rankings (seriously, checkouthis excellentwork) so I'll boil it down: The San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors, and Houston Rockets should all win at least 48-50 games and have a point differential no lower than 3.0. The Spurs have the fewest question marks among these teams (health is the biggest worry), so even setting my homer bias aside, I have them with a great chance of winning the West.

The Thunder still have Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka on the rise, but filling in the role of the recently-departed Kevin Martin (to the Minnesota Timberwolves) will be a challenge. Personally, I'm going against conventional wisdom (which seems to favor traditional 2-guard Jeremy Lamb) and I think Reggie Jackson will be their sixth man heading into the season.

The Clippers revamped their rotation, adding J.J. Redick to replace Chauncey Billups and trading Caron Butler for Jared Dudley. Although they lost a shot of athleticism by including Eric Bledsoe in the trade, they got a serviceable backup in Darren Collison (who played behind Paul as a rookie) and retained Matt Barnes.

The Grizzlies took advantage of teams trying to be cheap, trading Darrell Arthur for Kosta Koufos and bringing back Mike Miller after he was waived by the Miami Heat, although floor spacing is still their biggest concern.

The Warriors added defense, play making, and a rim attacker by signing Iguodala, who should thrive by playing with Golden State's shooters Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Losing Jarrett Jack (to Cleveland Cavaliers) and Carl Landry (back to the Sacramento Kings) weakens their bench, but they will certainly have a great top 6.

The Rockets made a splash by landing Howard to play alongside James Harden, and while it remains to be seen which big man will start (will it be defensive non-spacer in Omer Asik, or Terrence Jones for athleticism and shooting?) this team looks to be as dangerous as any in Houston since the Yao Ming/Tracy McGrady Rockets.

The East might actually be more than just Miami

The Eastern Conference has been long been known as the Leastern, and not without reason: the East is top-heavy beyond comprehension, several teams have management that could most accurately be described as incompetent (as evidenced by GM's Bryan Colangelo, Otis Smith, and whoever's James Dolan's current patsy), and the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats were the Worst NBA Team Ever.

Well, it's still top-heavy, but the difference is that there are now four teams that can legitimately be expected to make a run to the Finals. The Nets, as mentioned, traded some role players for Pierce and Garnett, added Andrei Kirilenko with the mini-MLE (a move that had to have infuriated PATFO, given that they were willing to spend money on a sign-and-trade), and rounded out the roster with competent players like Shaun Livingston and Alan Anderson. Managing minutes and touches will be Jason Kidd's biggest job, not Xs and Os.

The Bulls improve just by Derrick Rose returning (assuming he doesn't take another year off) but there's also the continued improvement of Jimmy Butler, and a value signing in Mike Dunleavy to replace Marco Belinelli (who will be suiting up in San Antonio). I personally think Tom Thibodeau is the next Gregg Popovich in Xs and Os mastery -- though he's nicer to the media, and tougher on his players, rest-wise.

The Indiana Pacers decided to keep their starting five intact, and focused on improving their bench, with Tyler Hansbrough, Sam Young, D.J. Augustin being replaced by Luis Scola, Chris Copeland, and C.J. Watson. Danny Granger's return could also help them retain their Central Division crown.

The defending champions will have a tough time repeating

Quick: Name the last time a team made three Finals in a row. The 2008-10 Los Angeles Lakers did it before the 2011-13 Miami Heat, and the Lakers' quest for a second threepeat was stymied by Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks, in a sweep no less. No team has won a threepeat since the 2000-02 Lakers, and they had a dominant all-time great in Shaquille O'Neal, a budding star in Kobe Bryant, and clutch play from various role players, not to mention one of the two guys who can make a case for Greatest Coach Ever in Phil Jackson.

No team has reached four Finals in a row since the Boston Celtics, who were led by some funny-looking white dude named Larry Bird to appearances from 1984 to '87. They only went 2/4 in that span, winning against the Showtime Lakers in 1984 and the Twin Towers Rockets in 1986, while losing against the same Lakers in 1985 and 1987. In other words, should LeBron James and company win in 2014, they'll have done something no team post ABA-NBA merger has been able to do: reach four Finals in a row AND three-peat. With the Eastern Conference having three teams potentially make the leap to elite status, the West becoming a free-for-all, and the Heat choosing to mostly stand pat (Ray Allen opted in, they re-signed Chris Andersen, and amnestied Mike Miller), their path to repeating their 66 win season and championship seems a good deal tougher.

There is also the luck factor involved. While the Heat went a cool 8-1 in the first two rounds, the Indiana Pacers, a team that failed to crack the 50 win mark, took them to the distance, and could very well have advanced had it not been for a play or two. In the Finals against the Spurs, the Heat multiple San Antonio missed free throws as well as repeated offensive rebounds and do-or-die three pointers to take Game 6 in overtime. Any of these events go the other way and the predictably controversial sports media would be filling another summer asking "Should LeBron leave?", "Is Wade done?" and "Was the Big 3 experiment a failure?"

For the cellar dwellers, the race to the bottom has a reward at the end

They say the 2014 draft is gonna be good as 2003. They say Andrew Wiggins might be the next LeBron James. They say Jabari Parker could join Wiggins to be the next Magic/Bird. Personally, I say that we let the 2013-14 college season pan out first (remember when Shabazz was gonna be 1st overall?) Nevertheless, many teams are already set to tank through 2013-14 to focus on maximizing those lottery balls.

There are teams though, that aren't likely to bottom out but should end up in the lottery all the same, because the West is stacked and the East has a few teams which project to play well. The Pelicans, Trail Blazers, and Lakers (who have their own pick for the first time in YEARS) definitely aren't tanking, but their rosters have too many question marks. Although the Jazz, Kings and Suns are definitely rebuilding (Phoenix's choice to deal Scola for the flashy yet questionable Gerald Green speaks volumes) and seem to be the only teams in the West that definitely have an eye on the 2014 Draft. The East is a bit harder to read, but the Philadelphia 76ers are definitely leading the Eastern Tank Battalion, starting by trading recent All-Star Jrue Holiday to the Pelicans for Nerlens Noel, and looking at draft pick Michael Carter-Williams, a player renowned for having an abysmal FG% in Summer League, as Holiday's replacement.

Needless to say, unless you're a fan of a team like the Milwaukee Bucks (who continued their love affair with shoot-first guards by signing Gary Neal), the 2013-14 season should either be fun, interesting, or both.

Marcus Camby has selected his next destination, and it will be one that's rather familiar. Camby has agreed to sign a one-year deal with the Houston Rockets for the veteran's minimum of $1.4 million.

This will be Camby's second stint with the Rockets. The 39-year-old veteran played in 19 games for Houston in the 2011-12 season after being traded from the Portland Trail Blazers.

The New York Knicks acquired Camby in a sign-and-trade deal last offseason, but he was limited to just 24 games in 2012-13 due to foot problems. He was dealt to the Toronto Raptors this offseason in the Andrea Bargnani trade before being bought out by Toronto.

The Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat were also interested in Camby's services. Camby lives and trains in the Houston area, which played a role in his decision to join the Rockets.

Over at The Dream Shake, Patrick Harrel says the signing doesn't mean anything for Omer Asik's future, and he believes Camby can help mentor Houston's young bigs:

Essentially, Camby will become what Dikembe Mutombo was to the Rockets in the mid-2000s. His offensive game has dwindled year by year, but he can still help with size inside to block shots and grab rebounds. More importantly, he will give a group of young big men another veteran influence to help mentor them and learn how to play the game the right way.

Hawks claim Ayon

The Atlanta Hawks added yet another big man to their roster, claiming Gustavo Ayon off waivers. The Milwaukee Bucks waived Ayon on Friday despite recently picking up his $1.5 million team option for next season.

Ayon averaged 3.7 points and 3.6 rebounds between the Bucks and Orlando Magic last season. He came over to the Bucks in the J.J. Redick deal at the trade deadline.

The Hawks have added quite a bit to their frontcourt this offseason, and it will be interesting to see how the minutes are doled out. Kris Willis at Peachtree Hoops had some thoughts on what could happen:

This move could further signal that first-round pick Lucas Nogueira won't be joining the club this season. Atlanta's frontcourt is quickly getting crowded with the additions of Paul Millsap, Elton Brand, Pero Antic and now Ayon this summer in addition to the drafting of Nogueira and second-round pick Mike Muscala.

Nogueira is just 21 years old and could stand to use a little more seasoning in Europe, but Atlanta's plans for the youngster are currently unclear.

Pelicans, Heat favorites for Oden?

Greg Oden has a long list of suitors, with the Hawks, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings all chasing after the big man. ESPN's Marc Stein reported earlier Sunday that every team but the Mavs had representatives scouting Oden earlier in the week.

Stein said Oden looked good in his workouts, which explains why there's so much interest. Oden is expected to make his decision this week, and Yahoo! Sports' Marc Spears reports the center is "most intrigued" by the Heat and Pelicans.

The Heat could offer Oden the taxpayer mid-level exception of up to $3.18 million, while the Pelicans still have their room exception of $2.65 million available.

Sanders wants Jennings back

The Brandon Jennings saga in Milwaukee still has not reached a resolution, with the point guard and the Bucks still discussing the possibility of a new deal. Meanwhile, Larry Sanders seems firmly entrenched as a centerpiece of the Bucks moving forward, and he told Shams Charania of RealGM that he hopes Jennings will be as well:

"I know he's going through his own little cycle right now, his own world," Sanders said. "If he comes back and we're able to keep him, I'd love to have him. But if not, I know he's going to have to do the best thing for his career."

Sanders says he has wanted to call Jennings to let him know he wants the point guard back, but Jennings has left the impression that he wants his privacy as he mulls his future.

More from SB Nation:

• Kenny Anderson reveals being sexually abused

• The Dwight Howard Effect

• Luis Scola traded to Pacers | Ziller: Pacers may be East’s best

• What cap space and exceptions do teams have left?

• The top 61 rookies at NBA Summer League

Talking so much about DeMarcus Cousins's efficiency (or lack thereof) lately has me thinking about the Kings' offense as a whole. While Cousins is not particularly efficient, he takes a huge chunk of shots. Is that smart? Do other Kings stand a better chance of turning shots into points?

Let's find out. Usage is the percentage of the team's possessions a player uses while on the court. The higher the rate, the more possessions used. True Shooting percentage is a shooting metric that accounts for the added value of three-pointers and incorporates free throws. Here's the 2012-13 season, taking out a few guys who played few minutes.

Cousins indeed far outstripped his teammates in shot frequency. And he was not among the most efficient Kings. And those less efficient than him largely fell out of the rotation or were traded. But the other options weren't huge beacons of efficiency, either. (Particularly notable to me is that Jason Thompson isn't much more efficient than Cousins despite a much, much lower usage rate.)

Remember, this offense finished No. 12 in the NBA. Without a single player you could call high-efficiency. More or less, the entire rotation with the exceptions of Cousins, John Salmons and James Johnson (who ended up 10th in minutes played despite being an early-season starter) was right around league-average efficiency. Some (like JT) were lower than average, some (Isaiah Thomas) were higher. But it's a pretty tight grouping for most of the players.

Of course, Aaron Brooks and Tyreke Evans (No. 2 and 3 in efficiency) are gone, replacing by a low-efficiency scorer (Greivis Vasquez) and a rookie (Ben McLemore). Those two guys are likely to play major minutes. That's going to affect the offense a great deal. The hope is that Vasquez's playmaking will boost the efficiency of the other players, especially Cousins, and that McLemore will become the type of scorer who can open up the floor and eventually be high-efficiency.

In the meantime, it look like Cousins will take a huge chunk of the shots, and the Kings will rely on Isaiah, Marcus Thornton and Patrick Patterson to be efficient. I hesitate to mention Jimmer Fredette if only because we have no idea what role he'll fill, if any.

More from SB Nation:

• Kenny Anderson reveals being sexually abused

• The Dwight Howard Effect

• Luis Scola traded to Pacers | Ziller: Pacers may be East’s best

• What cap space and exceptions do teams have left?

• The top 61 rookies at NBA Summer League

There's been a lot of discussion about DeMarcus Cousins lately. And while I'm sure there are a few folks who are growing tired of the endless discussion of Cousins, I love it. I love that he's our lightning rod. And while I still have reservations, I've joined the rapidly growing hoard of people who have convinced themselves that a max extension for Cousins makes a lot of sense.

With the discussion of Cousins' worth, there's also been a lot of discussion about who to pair with Cousins in the front court. If Cousins is your franchise player, you'd better work to surround him with the right talent. James Ham of Cowbell Kingdom got a great quote during the Team USA camp in Las Vegas:

"I love playing with Jason Thompson, don’t get me wrong, but I believe I would play better if I had a shot-blocking big. I’m not the greatest shot blocker and I can move to the four and play my natural position."

First off, kudos to Cousins for having the presence of mind to diffuse controversy before it happened and mention Jason Thompson. But with that controversy gone, that one quote raises two other questions. Is Cousins' natural position actually power forward? And should the Kings acquire a shot blocker to pair with Cousins?

The first question isn't really that big a deal. It's less about what you call the role than what you ask the player to do. But I think Cousins is a center. I'm sure he prefers playing against smaller guys, but I think he's more of a center. Regardless, the second question is a little more interesting.

While I've written that the Kings don't necessarily need another big on the roster, I've come around to the idea that they could use a shot blocking presence in the middle. I don't think it's the end-all, be-all solution to the team's defensive woes, but it's not a bad idea. And I think Cousins could do well when paired with a shot blocker, despite his rookie-year where he didn't exactly look amazing next to Dalembert.

But the conversation has evolved since then, with the general consensus being that Cousins needs a shot blocker, but one who can also stretch the floor on offense. Ideally, anyway. Despite Cousins' love for his elbow jumper, he's hardly efficient. The Kings could use an efficient big man to spread the floor. The Kings have Patrick Patterson, but he'd hardly be confused for being a shot blocker.

The combination of a shot blocker and a mid range shooter seemed like a rare combo. So rare, in fact, that I struggled to think of any off the top of my head. A few guys who might fit the mold, but none that I was certain about. So let's go to the numbers.

I turned to NBA.com/Stats, and began by locating the top 50 players in blocks per 48 minutes. If a guy couldn't crack the top 50, I wasn't prepared to dub him a shot blocker. I then used NBA.com/Stats' shot location information to find shooting percentages for 8-16 feet.

From the original selection of 50 shot blockers, I narrowed the list down to the top 20 mid-range shooters. Bear in mind, you could choose to prioritize mid-range shooters first, and then sort by blocks and you'd get very different results. I believe the shot blocking is the prioritized characteristic we're looking for, but you may disagree. But here are the results:

While I often fail to remember how good Serge Ibaka is offensively, he immediately leaps out as the ideal front court partner for Cousins. He isn't quite the defender that his reputation makes him out to be, but he is excellent at swooping in for the weakside block, and is by far the best mid-range shooter of the sample. And yes, he doesn't take nearly as many mid-range shots as Kevin Durant (who, by the way, is in the top 50 players in the league at blocks per minute, unreal) or Kevin Garnett, but the efficiency is still impressive.

Omer Asik jumps out as being high on the list and as being a player who Houston might be willing to trade, but he's also the primary reason I updated the chart to include attempts and makes. He rarely shoots outside 8 feet. When he does, it isn't bad, but he would hardly be a guy who would stretch a defense.

Obviously there are players we'd love to pair with Cousins who may not be easily available. Ibaka would be wonderful, but I doubt the Thunder are eager to send him our way (unless, perhaps, they were getting Cousins back, but that would render this argument moot. And even then, I'm not convinced they do that trade). Similarly, Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Brook Lopez are unlikely to be traded to Sacramento for much short of Cousins, and even then it might be unlikely. So who on this list might be acquirable?

Spencer Hawes would be available for a song, but I don't think any of us are jumping at that idea. Al Jefferson was probably available as a free agent, but despite his numbers on this list I don't think he'd fit next to Cousins.

Ed Davis might be a possibility. Memphis acquired him at the deadline last season, and then failed to play him regular minutes. That might change with Lionel Hollins out of the picture, but if not he could be a nice trade target. Cousins would still be playing center, but would have a player with a more complimentary skill set.

Tyler Zeller could be a nice fit (and Cody Zeller would have been as well, in my opinion), but I imagine the Cavaliers will find other ways to clear their logjam in the front court.

Which brings us to number 20 on our list. Oh. Erm. Yeah. About that. Well, this is awkward.

As we can see, the skill set we're looking for isn't necessarily abundant in the NBA, and the combination of shooting and shot blocking generally results in a very desirable and successful big man. Until the Kings can acquire a player with both skills, we'll likely see attempt to acquire the various skill sets from multiple players. The Kings have Patterson for a stretch 4, but currently lack a shot blocker.

It will be interesting to see how the Kings address the need for a shot-blocker. In the meantime I imagine Pete is waiting for OKC to call and express their unconditional desire to acquire Chuck Hayes.

More from Sactown Royalty:

• The efficient Kings and the Kings shooting the ball are not always the same
• Tyreke Evans Crosses Over the Mayor of Seattle
• DeMarcus Cousins is actually quite good
• DeMarcus Cousins contract negotiations with Kings set to begin
• Thursday Mail Sac: Expansion, your 2013-14 Sacramento Kings, & pick your situation

One of the debates that regularly arises among fans is: Who should be shouldering the burden on offense? Stars usually carry the load in terms of usage percentage while maintaining a high efficiency; that's what separates the Tony Parkers from the Monta Ellises, even if their raw numbers are somewhat comparable. When it comes to role players, most teams want theirs to keep their usage low but their efficiency high. There are not a lot of high usage role players out there besides from the instant offense, sixth man type. We all know that and the Spurs generally adhere to those principles.

But after reading Tom Ziller'sgraphic look at the Kings' offense, I decided to do a similar chart with the Spurs' players to figure out if the right guys were using the possessions, and to separate the efficient from the trigger-happy. I tracked usage percentage (the percentage of team plays used by a player when he is on the floor) instead of Ziller's choice of usage rate (calculates shooting percentage adjusting for the value of free throws and 3-point field goals) as the measure of efficiency. I added the newcomers, just for fun. Here is how it turned out.

Nothing too surprising. You want your stars to be as high and to the right as possible. Parker was fantastic and Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili were good as well. The "Small Three" of Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter are medium usage, high efficiency players. The rest is a bit more interesting.

The strangest case is Mills. Mills puts up very good efficiency numbers on a relatively high usage. The caveat here is that he played a lot of garbage minutes, but Mills seemed to be better than Neal at Neal's designated job as gunner off the bench. Then you have visual representation of just how terrible Jack was last season. It's strange that he didn't eventually bounce back because, even though he was never a particularly efficient player, for his career Jackson was significantly better than what he showed last season. Still, those numbers are likely giving teams pause in terms of signing Jack.

This type of graph is great to detect similarities. Look how the cluster of players in the middle are neither particularly efficient nor able to handle a bigger load. Neal is a high usage player (highest usage percentage other than the Big Three) but is not particularly efficient (or at least he wasn't last season). Blair never reached the efficiency he achieved in his rookie season despite seeing a drop in usage, making him the least efficient of the Spurs' bigs. The back-up point guards are very pedestrian, and the new guys had similar numbers to the players they're replacing. Projecting how they will do with the Spurs is hard since we don't know what role they will play, but with marginal improvements they should be at least as good as the guys that left.

This graph shows usage without accounting for the circumstances of the field goals. Mills is more efficient than Neal but he probably gets more assisted looks than Neal, who was trusted to create for himself a bit. So let's look at players who created and converted their own shots. For that, I'll use true shooting percentage and percentage of unassisted field goals. Here are the numbers from the regular season:

Breaking this chart down; the further to the right a player is, the more he scored on shots he created. The higher up players are, the more efficient they were in terms of true shooting percentage.

First of all: holy crap, Tony Parker! Tony created over 70% of his field goals and still managed to have a very good true shooting percentage. What a season that guy had.

After Tony we see Manu Ginobili and Stephen Jackson as the Spurs that created more of their makes. Ginobili was significantly better than Jackson, whose uncharacteristically terrible season seems to look bad no matter the chart.

De Colo, Joseph, Neal and Belinelli are clustered close together as guys that create a good amount of their own shots but don't score all that efficiently. In the middle and to the left we have Blair and Pendergraph, who neither create their own shots a lot nor convert at a high rate.

You can see Duncan didn't create as many of his own shots as in the past. Timmy had that mid-range jumper working and used it to score at a good rate on assisted buckets. Right above him we have Kawhi Leonard, who shows really encouraging signs by being efficient despite creating a fair amount of his shots. Part of that is his transition opportunities, but I'm really looking forward to what Leonard can do next year when isolated at the elbow and mid-post, hopefully after 1-3 pick and rolls.

To the upper left corner we have the high efficiency guys that depend on someone to create shots for them. Of course Diaw and Bonner are close to each other but I was a little surprised at just how many of Green's field goals were assisted. He's nearly as efficient as Bonner, and is only used a little bit more. Finally, Splitter created more of his shots than those guys but it'd be great if he could improve there so that the Spurs can get Duncan as much rest as possible. If he can get anywhere near Duncan's number that would be fantastic, even if his efficiency drops a bit.

Final thoughts

It looks like the Spurs have the right players using most of their possessions and it's understandable that they didn't bring back Neal and Jackson, as they used a lot of possessions but were not scoring efficiently. The hope is Belinelli can replace Neal by improving his efficiency while getting Leonard to up his usage while maintaining his great true shooting percentage. Parker was fantastic and Ginobili's numbers are a bit better than I remembered. That may change when I check on his assist to turnover stats in an upcoming post, but Manu looks good on these charts.

As for the bigs, Timmy is not the offensive force he once was and Splitter wasn't able to create his own shot often enough last season. It would be great if his post game became a bit more reliable, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Diaw and Bonner seem to replicate a lot of what each other can do, but at least both were very efficient. Pedergraph doesn't look like too big an upgrade on Blair, but considering a lot of his looks were from mid-range, his efficiency was alright and he could benefit from the San Antonio guards' play-making to improve his true shooting percentage.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com/Stats

124. Mark Blount

123. Marty Conlon

122. Derek Anderson

121. Brent Barry

120. Rodney Buford

The path towards a new arena in Sacramento became a little clearer today.

Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee reports that the Kings have hired Turner Construction to build the new arena at the Downtown Plaza. The New York-based Turner is one of the biggest construction companies in the United States and has some local history as well; They recently built Terminal B at Sacramento International Airport and are currently constructing Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, the future home of the San Francisco 49ers.

Turner has vast experience in building/renovating major league sports and entertainment centers, including Yankee's Stadium, Madison Square Garden, LincolnFinancial Field, U.S. Cellular Field, CenturyLink Field and more. Turner has also worked on the Burj Khalifa and Taipei 101 towers, the two tallest buildings in the world.

The Bee reports that some of the personnel currently working on Levi's Stadium will transfer over to the Sacramento arena when that project is complete.

Dale Koger, vice president of Turner's sports division, said key personnel working on Levi's Stadium will transfer to the Sacramento arena project when the football stadium is complete. Levi's Stadium is scheduled to be finished next August and city officials in Sacramento are planning to break ground on the new Kings arena around the same time.

The Bee also mentions that the Kings are in the process of hiring an architectural firm to design the new arena.

119. Tyrone Corbin

118. Pat Cummings

117. Kendall Gill

116. Sylvester Gray

115. Juwan Howard

NewYorkKingsFan hijacks the post!!!: "Okay, I am back with some more questions for you guys!

Since it is the offseason, and therefore, very slow in news and all, this is pure speculation. However, as fans, it might be worth thinking about due to our love of the game.

If you were the Commissioner of the NBA, what rule changes would you make to help improve the game from the point of view of the fans, as well as make things easier for the refs to call the game correctly?

What would you do about expansion teams and the possibility of basketball in Southeast Asia, etc.? (Okay, that is probably way out of your realm of expertise, so feel free to dodge that one!)

What changes would you make that could affect those players who seemingly dishonor their contracts, such as J.J. Hickson, who basically sulked and played crappy in order to get off the team, or Andrew Bynum, who wasted a whole year of the Sixer's season and they lost two players in the trade, too....?????

I'm not talking what would actually happen in real life, you know, with lawyers and such, but in an ideal world where fair is fair and the game is honored and all that.

Anyway, I just wanted to keep things fun. Thanks!"

OK, if I could change/add one rule, it would be to eliminate the 6 foul out rule. I would amend the rule that after the 6^th foul, the player can stay in the game, but any subsequent fouls committed by him would be two shots and the ball for the opponent. It would add an element of strategy for the coaches, and it would keep the best players in the games. Alternate idea: Award each player an additional foul for each overtime period.

I do not have the geographic creativity to envision NBA expansion beyond Canada, Mexico, and perhaps South America.

It will never happen, but I'd like to see a portion of the contracts non-guaranteed. Never-going-to-happen.

From SacKingsSinceDay1: "I'm from the bay and I am planning on coming back down to Sacramento some time in these next few weeks. Huge kings fan and wanted to buy a Kings NBA Ben McLemore jersey, I can't get it online but I can get it from a store. I was wondering if any of you from Sactown Royalty know if stores in Sac are selling the Mclemore jersey anywhere yet, and which specific stores if they are? Can anyone help me out?"

I'm blind guessing that it would be at the team store at Sleep Train Arena? I'm not the savviest of shoppers, so hopefully the answer awaits in the thread.

-

Pick & Droll #1 comes from the vivacious Christina_J (I don't know if she is or not...I just wanted to use the word "vivacious"): "I somehow just now had the idea to ask the fine members of StR for advice that I need quickly. I volunteer as a counselor at a camp for kids who are burn survivors each year, and at the end of the week we have a dance at which the staff is highly encouraged to dress up in costume. The theme this year is sports and other than really basic ideas, I can't come up with anything to wear for my costume. The camp is for kids as young as 7 so it has to be appropriate for all ages. Any fun/unique ideas would be very much appreciated!"

First off, good for you! Second, I've got nothing. But I'm sure that there will be a lot of ideas in the thread, and if you're lucky, there will be one that you can actually use.

Pick & Droll #2: One of the things that I'm going to do throughout the summer is link older posts that our newer members may not have seen, and perhaps our veteran members won't mind the trip down memory lane.

I'm going to start with this one from February 8, 2008. It was really the first time that Tom let me take the bats out of the belfry for a spin on Sactown Royalty, and I have always been very appreciative that he continues to allow my...eccentricities...to exist on the pages of StR. I hope that it gives you a laugh or two.

-

Send your questions and topics to asksactownroyalty@gmail.com. Quick note: I've seen comments in threads here and there that say "someone should post a poll that asks..." or "why doesn't anyone discuss..." If you're not going to write your own Fanpost on the topic, send it to asksactownroyalty@gmail.com and perhaps we can incorporate it into the Mail Sac. Or we'll tell you to drop dead. Either way, we promise feedback! Now go jack the thread, you little ragamuffins.

The bloggers of SB Nation's NBA division got together over the past few days to collaborate on a set of offseason power rankings. The idea was to give us a sense of how the broader basketball world sees our team heading into a season in which a number of teams are being accused of tanking. About 20 team bloggers took part, and here's the result.

The Kings came in at No. 24. There seemed to be a bit of a break between what I'll dub the mediocre teams and the bad teams, with Sacramento leading the latter group. That set also includes the Jazz, Celtics, Bobcats, Magic and Suns. The Sixers are in a league all their own. (Lord, the Sixers are going to be so bad. I almost feel sorry for Spencer Hawes. Almost.)

Is that about right? Are the Kings going to compete with those teams for ping pong balls, or do they belong in the mediocre set with Bucks, Pistons, Raptors, Mavericks, Cavaliers and -- mwahahaha -- Lakers?

More from Sactown Royalty:

• 15 minutes of DeMarcus Cousins highlights
• Report: Turner Construction Hired to Build Downtown Sacramento Arena
• Tuesday Mail Sac: Cousins, Cousins, Cousins, season tickets & road trips
• Finding the ideal front court partner for DeMarcus Cousins
• The efficient Kings and the Kings shooting the ball are not always the same

Because I'm a crazy person (if only I had a straight jacket for every post I started like this) I had to look at the confidence ranges / consensus ranges for each team in the NBA. Us SB Nation bloggers filled out a handy dandy Google drive spreadsheet and maybe there was some peeking within the groups. While only 22 of us filled it out, there were some teams we were sold on, and some teams where we couldn't disagree more about. For the actual SB Nation write up on the results click here.

Most of us figured that the 76ers are going to be a bottom 5 team next year, and all of us ranked the Miami Heat as the #1 team. After that, well, the only other team in the entire NBA that us bloggers were in agreement about (prediction range of 5 or less) was the Memphis Grizzlies.

Click on this to make it big! (N.B. Not the Wham! album)

The rankings for our Utah Jazz seem to be as diverse in opinion as we Jazz fans ourselves have. We don't know what we're going to get. Sure, there's less uncertainty with us (we're a third tier team right now, 21 and lower) when you compare to the Atlanta Hawks or Cleveland Cavaliers -- who could go to the playoffs or be tanking -- but there's still uncertainty there.

What range do you see our team finishing around?

This summer has been a fresh start for the Sacramento Kings. There's new ownership, new front office, new coaches and new players. For once, fans can think about the future without worrying about whether or not the team will actually be here.

But in all this talk about the future, one current player stands out to me as someone that seems to have been left by the wayside in most Kings fans' minds: Marcus Thornton.

Last season was not a particularly great one for Thornton. Keith Smart moved him to the bench after a year and a half of starting and also fell victim to Smart's inconsistent rotations and ill-defined roles (as did most of the team). However, Thornton let his displeasure show and that combined with his contract (second highest to just John Salmons) and lack of defensive effort caused him to lose some favor with many fans. A lot of conversation among the fans has involved how to trade Thornton in a salary dump so as to clear some space for someone else, especially since the Kings drafted Ben McLemore.

Marcus Thornton should not be discounted so easily.

For starters, Thornton's salary isn't exactly an albatross. This year he becomes the highest paid King at $8.05 million and then his contract ends in 2014-15 at $8.575 million. Only O.J. Mayo and Caron Butler make less money than Thornton as the highest paid players on their team.

Thornton is also entering the prime of his career, as he will be just 27 years old when his contract ends.

One knock on Thornton is that he's too one-dimensional, focusing only on scoring. That's true enough, but Thornton also manages to be very good at what he does. In both of the last two years, Thornton ranks in the Top 10 Guards for Per 36 Minute scoring while shooting at least 42.9% from the field and playing at least 1500 minutes a season.

Marcus Thornton 2012-13 Comparison

Marcus Thornton 2011-12 Comparison

The only players on those lists making less than Thornton are Kyrie Irving (rookie contract) and Jamal Crawford (33 year old journeyman who already had his big contract).

Thornton's been able to do so much damage despite playing much of the time without an elite passing guard. MySynergySports ranked Thornton as the 39th most effective offensive player in the NBA last season as he scored 1.02 Points Per Possession. He's most effective when spotting up, and this will be the first year in Sacramento that he will be playing with a pass-first Point Guard in Greivis Vasquez, which should increase his efficiency.

Unlike the other two players Sacramento could play at Shooting Guard (Ben McLemore and Jimmer Fredette), Thornton has no issues with creating his own shot. He's able to take the ball to the basket, pull up for jumpers, or come off screens and catch and shoot. One thing he doesn't do often enough is get to the line with just 3.3 FTA per 36 minutes.

Just like with the franchise, this season can be a fresh start for Thornton. Ben McLemore is probably not ready to be the starter just yet, and while he's the future, having Marcus Thornton on hand gives the Kings the opportunity to bring him along slowly while also allowing Thornton the room to do what he does best. Thornton is still an asset to this team, and with Tyreke gone, he'll have every chance to prove it.

More from Sactown Royalty:

• 15 minutes of DeMarcus Cousins highlights
• Report: Turner Construction Hired to Build Downtown Sacramento Arena
• Tuesday Mail Sac: Cousins, Cousins, Cousins, season tickets & road trips
• Finding the ideal front court partner for DeMarcus Cousins
• The efficient Kings and the Kings shooting the ball are not always the same

It is way too early to predict how the NBA is going to shake out next year, but that won't stop us from trying. As you saw earlier this morning, the SBN NBA blogs compiled their best guess at ranking all 30 teams for an aggregate power ranking list.

For full disclosure I thought I'd post my rankings (compared to the rest of the list). Why? Well, so you can point and laugh and generally make fun of me - that's why. Some additional thoughts below the list:

It is very possible that I'm underrating the Pacers. I just kind of feel like you can put teams 2 through 8 into a hat and rank them that way and have just as good a chance of getting it right and the Pacers just happened to be the low team in my hat.

The Celtics have a pretty wide range. Someone put them as low as 28. As you can see, I was the most optimistic of their chances (I was the only 22 vote). So don't tell me that I'm not optimistic enough about the team! Ok, you can tell me that if you want. Bill Simmons is trying to talk himself into predicting 45 wins. Maybe everything will fall right and we'll win the Championship this year. I haven't the foggiest. But I think I'll go with an optimistically pessimistic starting point and be pleasantly surprised and/or understandably disappointed. Or something like that. I think I just confused myself. Let's move on.

I keep coming back to my theory of splitting the league into 3 categories of 10. The contenders are up top, then there's the middle ground, then there's the lottery bound teams. There will of course be movement between the various groupings this year, but for the most part I think it will be shuffling the deck within those categories.

Looking back at this, I think I should have ranked the Pistons higher. Not necessarily because of the Jennings trade (which happened after these rankings) so much as the emergence of Drummond and Monroe to pair with Jennings and Smith. That's not a title contender, but they could be a solid 5 or 6 seed.

I probably ranked the Mavs too high and the Hawks too low, but they both changed so much that I'm not sure I could name you either team's starting five off the top of my head.

So enough about me, what do YOU think about me? Or rather, what are your thoughts on any of the rankings.

More from CelticsBlog:

• Open Topic: If you could ask Danny Ainge one question...
• Save Shav - keep Shavlik Randolph (ditch Jordan Crawford)
• NBA Trade: Pistons acquire Brandon Jennings (no longer in the market for Rondo)
• Forgiving Ray Allen
• The Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers are also rebuilding