I keep seeing the inkling of the regular season schedule over there in the right sidebar. The season opener against Minnesota just stares at me. You know what it makes me think of? The last time the Kings played the Timberwolves. (Duh.) The time Kevin Martin scored 48 points.

Last year, in three games against Minny, Martin averaged 33 points on 19 shots. Also, he's traditionally been a good opener. He dropped 26 in last season's opener, and score 30 points twice during his first week as a full-time starter in 2006.

Martin averaged more than 26 points a game during March and April last season. The only King who took more shots than Martin has been traded, and Martin will be the unquestioned offensive focal point. Brad Miller will be out for the first five games.

...

I'm guessing 50.

In a perfect world, Reggie Theus wouldn't be judged by the team's won-loss record this season. He'd be judged by how well he develops the roster, both the starters (Kevin Martin, Beno Udrih) and the kids (Donté Greene, Jason Thompson, Spencer Hawes).

But even if it were a perfect world, Reggie would still coach for wins. That means plenty of Mikki Moore and Brad Miller, and plenty of John Salmons (which actually isn't a bad thing -- boost that confidence/value). In this mundane world, where it's not hard to imagine a coach's job riding on the difference between 37 and 39 wins, Theus has no choice but to fight for every victory, player development be damned.

That's why it doesn't make sense to offer Theus an extension this summer/fall. It's not going to change anything. Theus will play to win regardless, and an extra year on his contract isn't going to ensure minutes for Greene or patience with Hawes. It's just going to tie the franchise's hands an extra year, with the sincere possibility the team played over its head in 2007-08, and that Theus just doesn't mesh with the core.

Remember: Theus had to fine Mikki and Salmons after arguments. Hawes openly pushed for more minutes. Martin blew up two days after the season ended. Evidently, some other players you'd think would stand firmly in Reggie's corner were unimpressed with his rookie year.

Geoff Petrie has brushed him back (the "loquacious" quote). The Maloofs pressed him through the media to play Shelden Williams and Quincy Douby. Those parties agreed to trade Reggie's favorite player.

Far from being united behind Theus, it seems most who matter have at least at one point publicly disagreed with or feuded with the coach. That's not a good situation. If the Kings decide to wait out the season to see if he adjusts to fit in, it's a smart move. And if they switch paths next summer, it's not the end of the world. There are other potentially good coaches out there.

Melody Gutierrez has the goods on The Bee's blog.

Tuesday, Oct 7 @ POR
Friday Oct 10 v OKC in Sac
Sunday Oct 12 v LAL in Vegas
Wednesday Oct 15 v LAC in Stockton
Friday Oct 17 @ HOU
Saturday Oct 18 @ DAL
Monday Oct 20 v POR in Sac
Thursday Oct 23 v HOU in Sac

I can't believe Reno didn't get another preseason game after watching Mike Bibby tear his thumb ligament twice in such games. Shocking.

Last summer, I think we were all pleasantly surprised about the numbers involved in Kevin Martin's five-year, $55 million contract extension. It fit right into fair range, based on his age, performance, and personality (which is to say he has never loafed or gotten a DUI).

Looking back, we should be ecstatic. Andre Iguodala signed for $80 million over six years, an average salary of $13.3 million. That's a full 20% more than Martin, who is only a year older. And for what, you ask?

By PER, Martin is better player (21 vs 19). Martin's a better scorer (23.4 points per 36 min vs 18 pts/36 for 'Dala), a more efficient shooter (61.8% True shooting, vs 54.3% for 'Dala), and just a more versatile offensive player. Iguodala excels on the defensive end, earning more steals and anecdotally playing better man and team D. He's also a more potent passer. His rebounding is a touch better than that of Martin, though 'Dala did spend much of 2007-08 playing small forward whereas Martin was exclusively a two-guard. ('Dala will play two-guard in the near future, as Thaddeus Young wedges his way into the starting five. We'll see how that affects Iguodala's rebounding.)

Basically, Martin's a better player ... but it's fairly close. One excels on offense, the other is more well-rounded. My own thoughts on team-building would always prefer Martin, because he does a few massively important things (shoot threes, draw fouls, score a lot efficiently) incredibly well, while 'Dala does some important things (individual defense, turnover-causing, interior scoring) well ... but nothing exceptionally well. That's non-canon, of course, and I don't expect many to buy my philosophy. But I still think most would rate Martin above Iguodala at this stage.

Iguodala's contract is out of line with the rest of the Class of 2004, as I show in this FanHouse diddy. Al Jefferson will make a touch less and looks to be a far better player than 'Dala. Martin and Andris Biedrins make quite a bit less and should be better than Iguodala over the lives of their contracts. Josh Smith might be better today, does a lot of the same things, and will make a chunk less over the next six years.

Other than retroactively helping us cheer Martin's contract, how does this affect the Kings going forward? Well, the only restricted free agent in the pipeline -- Francisco Garcia -- won't be approaching $13 million in his dreams, so the contract number isn't terribly relevant. What is, however: players and their agents are no longer afraid of restricted free agency. 'Dala, Emeka Okafor, Luol Deng and (to a degree) Josh Smith turned down offers last summer, after Cleveland had basically held its two RFAs (Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao) hostage and eventually pressured them into small, below market value deals. In the collective consideration of the basketball punditocracy, restricted free agency became an ultimate weapon for cost-controlling franchises. The teams had all the power, and the players were going to lose money because of it. The repercussions would be endless -- players might take below-value deals a year early, players would jump on offers early in restricted free agency, guys would be stuck playing for cheap qualifying offers to get to unrestricted free agency, etc.

Josh Childress screwed all that up. You'd be hard-pressed to find smoking gun evidence the Childress exit cause Deng to get $72 million, or Iguodala to get eighty. But it seems obvious on the surface. Players have regained power.

As you'll no doubt notice on the left sidebar, CBS 13 has begun an advertising campaign with Sactown Royalty. As always, advertisers have absolutely no bearing on the editorial content of the site.

At some point in the near future, other sidebar ads may be added.

Jason Thompson either called out Marvin "Milk" Williams or the Atlanta Hawks in his neat Bee interview with Sam Amick:

"I mean, you've got a guy like (Atlanta's) Marvin Williams, who comes out of North Carolina and wins the championship, coming off the bench and maybe averaging eight points," Thompson continued, the exasperation building. "And he's a No. 2 pick (in 2005). I mean that's what's crazy to me."

One thing about Thompson which has been mentioned or alluded to several times has been his fearlessness, his toughness. Talking about a player everyone admits was a bad idea is one thing, far different from elbowing Kevin Garnett in the post or pushing back against bigger opponents. But it could be smoke.

We have the final word on the case of the confusing character in Donté/Donte' Greene's name. I sought out Extra E's agent. A representative responded to my query with this:

Yes, there is an accent over the ‘e’ in Donté.

Alt-0233, it is.

Toughest Stretch

Dec 16-28: at Portland, at Houston, at New Orleans, at San Antonio, vs Toronto, vs Boston

That's an 0-6 stretch right there.

Longest Wait

Houston -- and new Rocket/former King [redacted] -- doesn't visit Sacramento until April 9.

Sweet Respite

The Kings meet the Rockets, Blazers and Spurs only thrice.

Toughest Stretch That Really Probably Won't Matter

Mar 29-Apr 15: vs Phoenix, vs New Orleans, at Golden State, at Phoenix, vs Golden State, vs L.A. Lakers, vs Houston, at L.A. Clippers, vs San Antonio, at Denver

There are two, maybe three wins in there.

Homemade Cupcakes

The first two opponents to visit Sacramento: Minnesota, Memphis.

Note Which Will Keep You Out of Trouble

No Kings games scheduled on February 14.

Note Which Will Get You in Trouble

NBA All-Star Saturday, featuring Quincy Douby in the Three-Point Shoot-out, Donté' Greene in the Slam Dunk Contest, and Mikki Moore in the Skills Competition, with Kevin Martin in a denim suit at courtside, scheduled for February 14.

Is it Donté Greene? Or Donte' Greene?

misterbrister raises the question. The NBA goes with the é. Syracuse has used an apostrophe. ESPN remains agnostic.

Donté/Donte' was born in Munich, and lived in Europe for the first three years of his life. That would hint toward the acute accent, though it is far from definitive.

If it is, in fact, an acute accent, should we adopt its usage? If so, then we must provide equal diacritical ferver in Francisco García's name ... something the NBA does not offer but The Bee sometimes enforces.

We hope to have this serious matter resolved soon.

UPDATE: Reader Matt chimes in via email:

I'm not 100 percent sure, but I can tell you that some computer programs automatically turn an e' into an e with an accent over it. I bet good money that's what happened and no one bothered to check on it. Considering the T-shirts that the folks at Syracuse had made saying Don'te Leave, you can bet that it's an apostrophe. College kids don't mess that stuff up...

UPDATE #2: From TrueHoop's Henry Abbott:

That character in Donte Greene's name that touched it all off is not an apostrophe, as it may appear sometimes online. It's an accent. And the reason a lot of websites don't use it is because accents, in html, can get squirrely. For instance, they can appear as apostrophes.