After today's practice, Kings coach Paul Westphal said there were three starting spots that are still open.
Tyreke Evans will start. So will Beno Udrih. I think we can all agree on that.
Time to sort out the rest.
The small forward situation has been known for some time. What happens at power forward and center is still undecided, largely because of injuries.
If DeMarcus Cousins starts, he would probably be the center. The Kings don't want to ask the rookie to have to defend power forwards. With Samuel Dalembert still nursing a left strained adductor muscle, the Kings haven't had a good chance to see how Dalembert plays with Cousins.
If they play together, Dalembert would have to defend power forwards that might play on the perimeter. It's something Jason Thompson would probably be able to handle. The same goes for Carl Landry.
Landry excelled as a reserve in Houston, and Westphal could opt to use him in that role if he wants a bigger frontline. But that can't be sorted out fully until Dalembert and Hassan Whiteside (strained left patellar tendon) return to practice.
Some quick thoughts:
*If Dalembert is slow to return, he might find he's gone from likely starting center to backing up Cousins.
*The Landry/Thompson decision could come down to matchups with both taking turns starting.
*Of the group of bigs in contention to start, Landry is the one that wouldn't play center and might be used as a small forward in some scenarios.
*Thompson's energy makes him an ideal reserve. But if he continues to play well with Cousins, that wouldn't be a bad duo to start with.
In other news:
*Cousins and Landry are likely to start tomorrow's exhibition game because of the injuries to Dalembert, Whiteside and Darnell Jackson (strained right hip flexor).
*Francisco Garcia missed practice after missing last night's game for personal reasons. He's expected to be available for tomorrow's game.
*The NBA survey of general managers can be found here.
Suprisingly, Cousins didn't get any votes for Rookie of the Year, but Wesley Johnson did.
--Jason Jones
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