Discuss: Young Bigs and K-Mart

After practice on Monday, Coach Kenny Natt discussed his desire to see more leadership from the veterans on the team while complimenting the effort and play of his two young big men — Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson.

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Kings Ties to Big Dance

As Kings fans join sports fans across the country in filling out their NCAA Tournament brackets in hopes of predicting how the Big Dance unfolds, NBA players and coaches maintain focus on the final month of the NBA season. But, just as President Barack Obama took a few minutes to fill out a bracket and select his Final Four teams, Kings rookies Jason Thompson and Donté Greene made their Final Four prognostications, too.

On Monday, Thompson twittered his Final Four picks — Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Louisville and Syracuse. Although he has no connection to the Big East, he clearly has confidence in his rookie teammate’s former conference. Hailing from Syracuse, Greene predicted the same Final Four on Wednesday, also via Twitter, Panthers, Huskies and Cardinals to join his Orangemen in Detroit.

While neither Thompson nor Greene has tasted an NCAA Championship, they aren’t alone on the Kings roster. In fact, only North Carolina product Rashad McCants has the distinction, as he and the Coach Roy Williams-led Tar Heels claimed the 2005 NCAA Championship.

As the only player in purple and black to boast an NCAA ring, he is among just 30 current NBA players to maintain a League roster spot and a collegiate championship. Although his teammates can’t claim such NCAA success, they have reason to root during the 2009 gamut of 65 games. Seven of the team’s 14 players’ collegiate squads are in this year’s March Madness field:

Rashad McCants — North Carolina, 1-seed in South region.
Donté Greene — Syracuse, 3-seed in South region.
Ike Diogu — Arizona State, 6-seed in South region.
Will Solomon — Clemson, 7-seed in South region.
Francisco Garcia –Louisville, 1-seed in Midwest region.
Spencer Hawes — Washington, 4-seed in West region.
Bobby Jackson — Minnesota, 10-seed in East region.

Which Kings player’s collegiate program do you think will make the deepest run in March?

New-Look Kings Roster

With the Kings recent activity trading, acquiring and waiving players, it may have been easy to lose track of who’s on the current Kings roster. To ensure you’re up to speed on the 15 players who’ll sport the purple and black, here are the seven new faces:

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Kings Acquire Four in Three-Team Trade - Updated

The Kings acquired Drew Gooden, Andres Nocioni, Cedric Simmons and Ike Diogu in a three-team trade that sent Brad Miller and John Salmons to the Chicago Bulls and Michael Ruffin to the Portland Trail Blazers, according to Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie — press release.

Sacramento also waived Quincy Douby and Sam Cassell.

Updated with Quotes & Video:

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