Mar 13, 2013; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings point guard Tyreke Evans (13) looks on during the fourth quarter of the game against the Chicago Bulls at Power Balance Pavilion. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Chicago Bulls 121-79. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

For the first time in many months, it is safe for Kings fans to put the basketball aspects of a basketball team into the forefront of our basketball discussions.

With a new potential ownership group on their way (baring any last minute surprises or Maloofings), Sacramento is certain to have a crazy busy offseason.

Here are four reflections for the week—all about basketball, and none discussing relocation, arenas, binding agreements, lawsuits, or any of that messy mess. Let’s talk about basketball, darn it!

1. Kings might have limited space if they resign Tyreke Evans

While astounding to consider after many seasons of hanging around at the salary floor, the new Kings ownership group might have to deal with the NBA salary cap. According to Hoopshype, Sacramento’s total guaranteed salary for 2013-14 is at $41.59 million (with the obvious assumption that the team will pick up Isaiah Thomas’ option). That $41.59 million mark is before they even consider giving the qualifying offers/any offers to Tyreke Evans, Toney Douglas, Cole Aldrich and James Johnson.

None of the free agents will be as critical a decision as Evans. A reasonable range for a new contract for Evans should be around $9-10 million per year over four years—that is around the territory that other young guards like DeMar DeRozan ($38.5 million over four years) and Jrue Holiday ($41 million over four) got last season.

A $10 million contract figure for Evans would put the Kings at about $51.6 million. If the NBA cap stays at $58 million, the Kings would be just $6.5 under the cap. That isn’t much left with to go after any big names, and that means dropping the Kings other free agents. Mind you, the Kings still hold the mighty amnesty option if they wanted to clear necessary space (John Salmons or Chuck Hayes, perhaps?).

As Bryan Rosa discussed yesterday, Ken Berger of CBS Sports mentioned in his recent article that “a member of the proposed ownership group trying to keep the Kings in Sacramento” has looked into Milwaukee Bucks potential free agent Monta Ellis as a possibility if the Kings don’t resign Evans this season.

For all of Evans faults and potential high cost, he is a better option for the Kings long term than Ellis. Ellis may be a better shooter than Evans, but he is inefficient and a poor defender to boot.  Evans is younger, a better defender, and a more efficient scorer (Evans’ true shooting percentage last year was 55.8 compared to Ellis’ 49.3). Ellis is also more ball dominant (a usage rate of 25.5% to Evans’ 21.2%) and this team already has enough of that.

Ellis would be walking away from an $11 million salary from Milwaukee if he leaves. A bit worrying thought—is it possible that the Kings ownership is looking at Ellis as a “cheaper” option to Evans? Could Evans demand more than $11 million per year? Golden State’s Stephan Curry got that much when he signed a four year, $44 million deal last summer. Would anyone be willing to pay Evans that much?

2. What will the Kings do with their non-Tyreke Evans free agents?

That whole last section ran under the assumption that the Kings will not make offers to the squads three other free agents.

James Johnson began the season as the starting small forward, but his minutes fell with each passing month. His slightly-above-average defensive abilities looked great in the otherwise terrible Kings defensive, but his offensive decision making was dreadful. Then, according to Carmichael Dave, he wore a Sonics hat when the sale was announced. Nail in the coffin, anyone? I can’t see the new Kings brass offering him a new contract, let alone the $3.9 million qualifying offer he’d be eligible for.

Toney Douglas is a bit harder of a decision. He plays a position that the Kings are deep at, and he might be left to walk if a new Kings organization decides they have enough with Isaiah Thomas and Jimmer Fredette. Yet Douglas was an intensive defensive worker who surprised fans late in the season with a capable offensive touch. The $3.1 million qualifying offer seems a bit much, but I’d like to see him return.

Finally, we come to the big man—Cole Aldrich. He provided the Kings with a true backup center, a tough rebounder and defender—as Bryan Rosa pointed out in the Royal Pain player review on Aldrich, “in games where he played over 20 minutes, Aldrich (despite a small sample size) averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds on 72% shooting.”

Of the Kings three non-Evans free agents, Aldrich is both my biggest hope and least likely returner. He shined late in the season, and provided the Kings bench with a defensive toughness they didn’t have enough of in the paint. He doesn’t have a qualifying offer, but the Kings will have space to sign him if they wish (on the open market, he won’t command much).

With the teams’ salary already clogged, it is unlikely that all three return to Sacramento next year. It’ll be interesting to see which of these young players (if any) the new Kings organization makes an effort to retain.

3. Which potential Head Coach best fits DeMarcus Cousins?

Scott Levin threw together an excellent list of potential Kings head coaching candidates. I disagree with a few (I’m nowhere near as high on Byron Scott, am a much bigger fan of Stan Van Gundy, and if I had my way, Mike Budenholzer would be hired tomorrow) but it’s safe to say that Kings fans would take most of this list over another year of Keith Smart.

DeMarcus Cousins is an enigma. He is the biggest attraction for potential coaches AND the biggest detractor. Not only will a new coach have to break Cousins of his bad basketball habits (poor shot selection, sparse defensive tenacity, bad decision making) but also have to command enough in the big man’s eyes to keep Cousins’ grounded.

Would former NBA big man Patrick Ewing be able to relate to Cousins on a personal level? Could Jerry Sloan handle the downsides of Cousins after the messy divorce in Utah? And with Cousins’ undeniable passing skills, could a guy like Brian Shaw—or, dare we say, even Zen Master Phil Jackson himself—be able to run the triangle in Sacramento?

On the flip-side – can you see probably-gonna-be-gone-soon Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro trying to see eye-to-eye with Cousins? Or how about reuniting Cousins/Evans/Patrick Patterson with John Calipari, who apparently scared Evans jump shooting ability out of him at Memphis?

4. The 2013 Draft keeps getting more depressing

Former UNLV big man and future 2013 lottery selection Anthony Bennett had rotator cuff surgery on his left shoulder this week and will be sidelined four months. He will be out until at least September, meaning he will not be able to participate in pre-draft workouts or in the Las Vegas Summer League.

Bennett’s surgery makes him the third injured lottery talent—Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel and Maryland’s Alex Len will also miss pre-draft workouts and the Summer League. Making it even worse is the fact that Bennett, Noel and Len are considered the premier big men talent in the class… has anyone looked in Cody Zeller’s closet for voodoo dolls?

The draft was already looking weak—but then again, we’ve heard that about every draft for years.  Regardless, would the Kings look to add a big man with their pick, currently slotted pre-lottery at No. 6?

Noel would be an intriguing option and would give Sacramento a true post defender and shot blocker they’ve lacked for years. But before you start daydreaming of a Cousins/Noel post tangent, the Kings would need to end up with a top 3 pick to snag Noel, who is believed to be in contention for the top spot.

As for Bennett, ESPN’s Chad Ford currently mocks him going No. 6 to Sacramento. Bennett is a bouncy, undersized power forward with sharp upside but who was never efficient offensively and never showed himself to be more than an average defender. Sounds perfect for the Kings, no?

Ford seems determined to give the Kings another inefficient ball-needy player, as he gave them UCLA forward Shabazz Muhammad in his first mock. While Muhammad seems an attractive option on paper—he plays the much needed small forward spot and is a capable scorer—he did little else but score last season, and produced controversy when he admitted he lied about his age.

Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

DeMarcus Cousins made an early holiday grab for the nut bowl of one Dallas Maverick, O. J. Mayo. It was the highlight of the week, really, eclipsing the miserable play by the team on its 3-game road trip through the mid-west. Had Mayo not been such cry-baby, running to officials, it probably would not have come to anyone’s attention. I must have watched that video at least five times before I actually saw what happened. Mayo was all over Cousins, yet there was nary a word from the official who was watching the whole thing. Cousins tried to push Mayo off of him, but Mayo came back to grope him some more.

Games played this week:

Game 20 Monday, December 10 Kings @ Dallas, Loss 96 – 119
Game 21 Wednesday, December 12 Kings @ Milwaukee, Loss 85 – 98
Game 22 Friday, December 14 Kings @ Oklahoma City, Loss 103-113

Player of the Week:

Isaiah Thomas (22) Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Isaiah Thomas surprised everyone with his amazing performance in the second half of last night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He went into some kind of intense scoring mode to try to get his team back into the game. He was the high-point King’s scorer with 26 points, in 15 minutes on the court. Let that soak in for a minute. He made 10 of 13 field goal attempts and 4 efficient 3-point shots. Not only did he show in 15 minutes of play on the court what he is capable of bringing to his team, I think his performance last night also calls into serious question Coach Keith Smart’s use of him this season.

Miscellaneous Observations:

• Okay, maybe I made light of the Cousins fast-hand groin jab, but I think way too much was made of it, especially when Mayo was the one to precipitate the situation and the official did nothing to stop it. It is pretty clear the NBA has issued a zero tolerance for any of Cousins’ transgressions, as he does not get the benefit of the doubt. When did the NBA decide to make him their whipping boy? It encourages players to provoke him to get him out of the game. Ostensibly, it limits his game, if he has to always worry about having a foul or technical called on him.

• Seven-year veteran, Francisco Garcia, got a career-high 7 3-point shots on Monday against the Dallas Mavericks. He started in place of Tyreke Evans, who was out with a sore knee. He also received 25 points, tying for team high points, and 3 blocks.

• Keith Smart got a bit of a respite from the flurry of criticism last week when the team enjoyed a three-game win streak at home. Those criticisms returned this week following his starting lineup of John Salmons, Aaron Brooks, Jason Thompson, Francisco Garcia, and Travis Outlaw, when Tyreke returned from his time off. The obvious questions being that he chose to bring Tyreke in off the bench, while he had Outlaw start. Just a horrible starting line-up to begin a game. Second, many people have questioned his handling of Brooks, Thomas, and Jimmer Fredette’s minutes.Thomas’ performance last night only adds to that conversation, seriously questioning why the coach seems to be limiting/hampering Thomas’ time on the court.

Wrap-Up:

7 W – 15 L (.318 win-loss percentage)

After the feel-good three-game home wins of last week, this week has been a let down; a week when the Golden State Warriors beat the Miami Heat in Miami, another reminder of where our team should or could be. Our neighbor rivals are thrilled watching their team rise above the bottom. For us, this was not the week we had hoped it would be. Heck, this is not the season we hoped it would be. It is very frustrating to be a Kings fan today, especially when there is no guarantee of tomorrow and the progression of the team has been slower than most of us hoped.

I have concerns about the overall competence of Keith Smart as a head coach.

I believe there are three essential qualities of a head coach:

• Vision;

• Understanding principles of learning and knowing how to effectively communicate what he wants from his players;

• Developing appropriate relationship with his players.

A head coach needs have his own vision about how he wants his team to play. It isn’t something he gets from a book; it is something he has learned and acquired from his own experiences, developing a cognitive map in his head. Next, he needs to know how to effectively communicate his vision to his players. He has to have a good understanding how players learn, how to break skills down into component parts to help a player learn something new. Last, he has to have a good relationship with his players, which instills their trust and respect. An example of the three qualities can be seen in former Sacramento Kings’ coach, Rick Adelman.

Rick Adelman had vision, an understanding of how to communicate his vision to his players, and developed the trust and respect of his players. Adelman is the kind of coach who can take a group of players, work with their weaknesses and strengths to have them play better as a team than their individual parts would predict. In contrast, Smart has a group of talented players, who appear by most accounts to be playing beneath themselves as a team.

I have some doubts whether Smart has a clear vision of what he wants. He says he does, but he hasn’t demonstrated that. As fans we often find ourselves scratching our heads trying to understand the reasoning behind many of his rotations and substitutions. While he looks to stats, often his use of them seems to guide him in his choice of rotations, rather than offer feedback.  Second, I doubt whether he knows how to effectively communicate his ideas to his players. If he did, he wouldn’t be throwing his players under the bus saying they don’t follow what he tells them. He would be blaming himself for not being able to effectively communicate his ideas to them. Last, the book hasn’t been written yet on his relationship with his players. If players begin to lose their trust in him as a coach, then they will become less likely to listen to him in the future.

This is my last write-up. I want to thank everyone here at ARoyalPain, especially Bryan Rosa who took on a female in a typically male-dominated sport’s blog and Scott Levin, for whom writing seems to flow from him like water from a tap. It was fun to share our mutual love for this team and its players.