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Enjoy! (Well, at least it's something, right?):

Forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim and assistant coach Kenny Natt are in Africa with the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program. From what I'm told, Abdur-Rahim's training continues and it's looking like his attempt at a comeback will continue into training camp.

On a somewhat related note, the Kings big man coaching job has gone unfilled and I could still see Abdur-Rahim filling that role eventually. It has been discussed informally within the halls of Kingsland, but all involved will continue to follow Abdur-Rahim's lead as his future unfolds.

Brad Miller and Kevin Martin have been among the players training hard in Sacramento recently.

Our own photographer Hector Amezcua told me he saw Miller and his family during a State Fair visit when Jessica Simpson was performing. According to his hometown paper, he's headed back home soon for the annual Brad Miller charity golf outing with Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

As for Martin, he's about to head for Florida for his offseason training regimen with personal coach David Thorpe. Speaking of which, I'm scheduled to meet with him in Florida for a piece starting on Monday if Hurricane Ike lets me in. Martin will be looking to lose himself in hoops after dealing with a tough family loss recently when his grandfather passed. Dallas Martin - whose name is honored in grandson Kevin Dallas Martin - was 76. Best wishes to the famly.

I'm assuming that Kings rookie forward Jason Thompson was at the recent rookie transition program in New York. The same could be said for Miami's Mario Chalmers and Memphis' Darrell Arthur, too, at least until the former fellow Kansas Jayhawks were kicked out midway through.
Needless to say, every GM in the league not named Chris Wallace or Randy Pfund was breathing a sigh of relief that it wasn't their draft pick getting in trouble. Way to take a bit of tarnish off the championship trophy, boys.

GARCIA EXTENSION COMING?

The Kings have until Oct. 31 to offer Francisco Garcia an extension, but it remains all quiet on that front.

From talking to numerous sources on this topic, I'd be shocked the Kings didn't let Garcia become a restricted free agent next summer. As for his summer "vacation," Garcia has been doing his home country proud while playing for the Dominican Republic national team.

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/sp ... .html#more

-Well, it is good to hear that Shareef is getting back in shape but will he be effective? I really want to give the minutes to Thompson and see what he can do but Shareef, if healthy, will limit that...And would Shareef be a good big man coach? He was an All Star and had great years with Vancouver and Atlanta. He can be a good one, I guess. But I really want to see either Webber or Divac though.

-Yeah, it's great to hear that both Miller and Martin are the hardest workers over the summer. But what about the others? Hopefully, they are doing the same. Especially, Beno.

-Hopefully, Jason attended the transition program, which I think he did IMO.

-Would we REALLY let Garcia be a FA after this season? I can't really see it. Garcia is a good player to have for any team. And according to the past (exemption of Martin's extension) we usually extend players often late into the offseason...

I'm interested in the idea of SAR as a big man's coach. He's always been good with fundamentals in the post and has the mentality of a teacher. I think Jason and Spencer could easily benefit from him.

As for Garcia, I can understand not making a hard push to extend him. The team is in transition and there's no guarantee that he's the right long-term fit. He is a very good utility guy to have, but it may be better to let him become an RFA and let the market set his value. It's not a slight against him or his abilities, it is just part of the business.

KingInExile wrote:As for Garcia, I can understand not making a hard push to extend him. The team is in transition and there's no guarantee that he's the right long-term fit. He is a very good utility guy to have, but it may be better to let him become an RFA and let the market set his value. It's not a slight against him or his abilities, it is just part of the business.

Yeah, I can see that I guess. To be fair, it can to said to Salmons though. IS Salmons the right fit for the long-term? But then again, he isn't up for an extension..yet.

If we offered Beno the MLE, I can see the Kings offer Garcia the same as well IMO.

Salmons is a 3 year small contract, commitment to Garcia means 6 years commitment.
These kind of deals should be given to corner stones not to sixth man type of guys, not many players from Garcia's draft class were extended, the only ones were the trivial ones, Deron, CP and Bogut, Ellis' contract was 2nd round pick with a shorter contract.

_SRV_ wrote:Salmons is a 3 year small contract, commitment to Garcia means 6 years commitment.
These kind of deals should be given to corner stones not to sixth man type of guys, not many players from Garcia's draft class were extended, the only ones were the trivial ones, Deron, CP and Bogut, Ellis' contract was 2nd round pick with a shorter contract.

6 years? I doubt it would be that long. Look at Martin's contract. He is supposedly our franchise player and his contract runs for 5 years.

If the Kings are interested to re-sign Garcia, ideally it would be a 3-4 years IMO. At MLE rate. Which is basically the same deal we did for Salmons couple years ago.

KingInExile wrote:As for Garcia, I can understand not making a hard push to extend him. The team is in transition and there's no guarantee that he's the right long-term fit. He is a very good utility guy to have, but it may be better to let him become an RFA and let the market set his value. It's not a slight against him or his abilities, it is just part of the business.

Agreed, Unless we get to keep him for a ridiculous bargain, no need to outbid ourselves, let the market set his value.

If we offered Beno the MLE, I can see the Kings offer Garcia the same as well IMO.

except that in Garcia is case there are other alternatives( Salmons,douby, green), in beno is case it was clear that no other alternative would have been reasonable on the open market or in the current roster, plus beno was UFA...

a-rod wrote:

If we offered Beno the MLE, I can see the Kings offer Garcia the same as well IMO.

except that in Garcia is case there are other alternatives( Salmons,douby, green), in beno is case it was clear that no other alternative would have been reasonable on the open market or in the current roster, plus beno was UFA...

Well, it is arguable who is the better player between Salmons and Garcia at best. But I do give Salmons the edge due his overall game. (Not saying that Gracia isn't well rounded but Salmons is even more IMO) But Garcia is better than Douby and Greene. Well, Greene has good potential to surpass Garcia but it is yet to be seen...

Well, for Beno's situation. He was traded to the Wolves and being cut. Most teams see Beno as a average player. But Petrie liked Beno since 2004 (He was about to select Beno but drafted Martin instead) So, there are some merits of signing Beno for that long because he produced and Petrie's attention of Beno....

I'm not saying we will sign Garcia automatically, there is ALWAYS a chance that we lose him as well. But to me that is unlikely IMO.

kingsfan10 wrote:

_SRV_ wrote:Salmons is a 3 year small contract, commitment to Garcia means 6 years commitment.
These kind of deals should be given to corner stones not to sixth man type of guys, not many players from Garcia's draft class were extended, the only ones were the trivial ones, Deron, CP and Bogut, Ellis' contract was 2nd round pick with a shorter contract.

6 years? I doubt it would be that long. Look at Martin's contract. He is supposedly our franchise player and his contract runs for 5 years.

If the Kings are interested to re-sign Garcia, ideally it would be a 3-4 years IMO. At MLE rate. Which is basically the same deal we did for Salmons couple years ago.

Point of clarification is needed here. Martin signed a 5yr extension of his rookie contract at the start of the final year of that contract. Based on the CBA rules, that final year counts in the total contract length. The rules state that the maximum length of rookie contract extensions is 6 years, starting from the date the extension is signed. He was signed for the maximum allowable contract length.

If Garcia is resigned as a RFA next summer, it would be as a new contract (not an extension) and can be signed to a maximum of 6 seasons. It doesn't mean that he will be. But if he is, he would not be really getting anything better than what Martin got.

I think letting Garcia become a restricted FA might be the best option. We can just match whatever deal that comes in anyway, or we can use him as sign and trade bait. The fact is, going into the future having Salmons, Garcia, and Done Greene simply won't work. Most likely Donte will get the "Gerald Wallace" treatment, with us kicking ourselves in the a$$ later on down the road.

At least one of them needs to go. I think both Salmons and Garcia will have tremendous trade value after this season gets under way.

KingInExile wrote:

kingsfan10 wrote:

_SRV_ wrote:Salmons is a 3 year small contract, commitment to Garcia means 6 years commitment.
These kind of deals should be given to corner stones not to sixth man type of guys, not many players from Garcia's draft class were extended, the only ones were the trivial ones, Deron, CP and Bogut, Ellis' contract was 2nd round pick with a shorter contract.

6 years? I doubt it would be that long. Look at Martin's contract. He is supposedly our franchise player and his contract runs for 5 years.

If the Kings are interested to re-sign Garcia, ideally it would be a 3-4 years IMO. At MLE rate. Which is basically the same deal we did for Salmons couple years ago.

Point of clarification is needed here. Martin signed a 5yr extension of his rookie contract at the start of the final year of that contract. Based on the CBA rules, that final year counts in the total contract length. The rules state that the maximum length of rookie contract extensions is 6 years, starting from the date the extension is signed. He was signed for the maximum allowable contract length.

If Garcia is resigned as a RFA next summer, it would be as a new contract (not an extension) and can be signed to a maximum of 6 seasons. It doesn't mean that he will be. But if he is, he would not be really getting anything better than what Martin got.

Oh, that's right. That last year of the rookie contract is counted. I forgot about that aspect. Sorry, my CBA is still rusty...

Yeah, that would be right. If Garcia is a RFA next season, he needs a new contract. But do we sign him now or wait until he earned it? But that way we are risking that Garcia's value will go up and it would be harder to sign in the future...Or we just don't extend him at all...

It's risky. Without Artest, our SF rotation is definitely going to be Salmons/Garcia, which means a bigger role for Cisco than last year. This summer could possibly be the cheapest time to sign him, especially if he blows up next year.

Cruel_Ruin wrote:It's risky. Without Artest, our SF rotation is definitely going to be Salmons/Garcia, which means a bigger role for Cisco than last year. This summer could possibly be the cheapest time to sign him, especially if he blows up next year.

Yeah, that was kinda my thought process as well. This is potentially the ideal time to sign Garcia if we want him in the longterm. Why wait now? If Garcia is part of our future?

Unless we are targeting a swingmen in 2010?

Cruel_Ruin wrote:It's risky. Without Artest, our SF rotation is definitely going to be Salmons/Garcia, which means a bigger role for Cisco than last year. This summer could possibly be the cheapest time to sign him, especially if he blows up next year.

I think Cisco and/or his agent might see that as well and that's why we're not too close on an extension. The fact remains though that Cisco probably won't be the starter this year, and while having him is nice, there isn't exactly a huge demand great bench wing players. So I don't know if his value would really increase all that much. I'll be fine either way though.

mitchweber wrote:

Cruel_Ruin wrote:It's risky. Without Artest, our SF rotation is definitely going to be Salmons/Garcia, which means a bigger role for Cisco than last year. This summer could possibly be the cheapest time to sign him, especially if he blows up next year.

I think Cisco and/or his agent might see that as well and that's why we're not too close on an extension. The fact remains though that Cisco probably won't be the starter this year, and while having him is nice, there isn't exactly a huge demand great bench wing players. So I don't know if his value would really increase all that much. I'll be fine either way though.

I would assume that most of the contenders would like Garcia's services. Garcia would look great as a 6-man for a contender. Like I said in the past, Garcia didn't met my initial expectations (Being a Prince-caliber player) but he will be viewed like a perennial six-man candidate IMO..Which is fine. I see him as a James Posey/Stephen Jackson type of player. An ideal player for elite teams IMO.

But the thing is that there just isn't that high of a demand because there are lots of solid wing players in this league. Very few teams really lack depth at the wing spots. I mean heck, Matt Barnes is a nice player--probably not much worse than Cisco, and he only got a minimum contract.

mitchweber wrote:But the thing is that there just isn't that high of a demand because there are lots of solid wing players in this league. Very few teams really lack depth at the wing spots. I mean heck, Matt Barnes is a nice player--probably not much worse than Cisco, and he only got a minimum contract.

I wouldn't say there is lots of solid wing players, when comparing to Garcia. I'm not saying that Garcia is an all star or anything. Because he isn't one. But he a excellent six man for any team and probably is the best available player when searching for solid wing players (if available) IMO.

And that Matt Barnes insertion. I don't really want to bring stats and etc but Garcia is a significantly better player than Barnes IMO...

There really isn't any kind of longer-term answer at SF

Donte Greene has to prove, he'll be quick enough to play there primarily, as the years go on. Can't really say what he is yet... bench speciality 3/4, bench speciaility 4/3, starting 3, bench smaller 4... ultimately I think his mass maturation and defensive quickness will determine what his role, positional fate will be in the NBA. Now, of course if he would be on a speed-ball team, no doubt he's a small 4-man. But thankfully we won't be going that route.

I seriously think that we can have our cake and eat it too. Let salmons start until his expires, extend garcia for the next 5 years, then either let greene take over if he emerges as the kind of player his potential has shown. Or let garcia continue to start if Greene isn't the guy we were hoping for. Salmons is here for 3 more years, so we should just let him show what he can do. Garcia is almost 27, five years would take him to his prime. And Greene is barely 20! He has plenty of time to develop and if he doesn't, let Garcia go until he gets old.

My guess is that The team is looking at @ 4 million per and Garcia's agent wants @ 6 million per. honestly, I would go the RFA route too and see if he even gets an MLE offer for more than 2 years plus a team option (11-17 million total value) vs. a 5 or six year deal starting at 4 million per (20-25 million total value) from us, and make them be realistic.