The Ron Artest trade was certainly the most significant move. They sent the mercurial small forward (and second-round picks Sean Singletary and Patrick Ewing Jr.) to Houston in exchange for first-round draft pick Donte' Greene, veteran point guard Bobby Jackson and a 2009 first-round pick.

Greene -- who was taken taken by Memphis with the 28th pick, then traded to Houston on draft night in a three-team deal also involving Portland -- is expected to be the small forward of the future. In the coming years, Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie is envisioning a starting lineup that has Greene joining point guard Beno Udrih (re-signed this summer to a five-year, $33 million deal), shooting guard Kevin Martin (signed last summer to a five-year, $53 million extension that begins this season), forward Jason Thompson (taken with the No. 12 pick out of Rider University in June) and center Spencer Hawes (drafted with the No. 10 pick last year out of Washington).

The organizational blueprint will require plenty of patience from the team's fans because the focus this season will be on developing the youth and continuing the salary cap waiting game. As it stands, the Kings will see most of their payroll come off the books in the summer of 2010. If all goes according to plan, the youth movement will be complete by then, and they would have the financial freedom to land a big-name free agent to take their plan to a whole new level.

In the interim, second-year Kings coach Reggie Theus will have to prove himself worthy as a molder of young men. Theus is entering the final guaranteed season of his contract after his requests to have the third-year option on his deal picked up this summer were rebuffed.