--After signing Beno Udrih to a five-year deal in early July, the Kings continued to bolster their point guard spot by signing Bobby Brown on July 25.
According to the Sacramento Bee, Brown's deal is for two seasons at the league minimum with a player option for the second. Brown went undrafted out of Cal State Fullerton last summer and played in Berlin thereafter, but he made his official NBA debut as a member of the New Orleans Hornets summer league team. Brown averaged 15.2 points and 6.3 assists with the Hornets. --The Kings have until Oct. 31 to agree to an extension with fourth-year swingman Francisco Garcia, but they might instead opt to let him become a restricted free agent next summer.
Garcia is coming off a breakout season, having proved himself as a quality sixth man who can play multiple positions and is a favorite of his teammates in the locker room. Whether that translates to a big payday for the Dominican Republic player out of Louisville remains to be seen.
--Forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Kings assistant coach Kenny Natt spend the early part of September with the NBA's "Basketball Without Borders" program in Africa.
It was a short respite for Abdur-Rahim, who has spent the summer continuing his elongated comeback from multiple arthroscopic knee surgeries last season, which limited him to six games. Abdur-Rahim's future is a significant matter for the Kings, who could be off the hook for his contract (which has approximately $13 million remaining and runs through 2010) if he retires.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "You're looking at the total picture with your team going forward and how much better can it get the way it is vs. what is the potential to get better by doing something different. What we decided to do is do something different. You know, if you have a big shade tree, shade's good to a point. But if there's too much shade, then the grass doesn't get to grow." -- Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie, explaining the motivation behind the Ron Artest trade.
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