[Izulde]

I grab Alfred Baxley off the free agent pile on the eve of the regular season. Great pass-first reserve who fills a major concern of ours. On the other hand, trying to find a rebounding specialist for the bench via trade or free agency is much more difficult. I'd love to get my hands on Jamarcus Wilson, who went from Philadelphia to Washington this offseason, but trade negotiations fail, so we'll roll with what we have going into the season.

Our season tickets completely sold out, as everybody's eager to see what this completely new me-fashioned Kings product looks like on the court.

Early returns are promising as we sweep a road doubleheader to open the season. A sweet 105-96 win over the Mavericks comes courtesy of David Anyan, who starts earning his money right away with 28 points and 14 rebounds, William Tackett, who electrifies with 21 points in his pro debut and Greg Oden of the 12 points and 13 rebounds. We embarass the Spurs 97-66 the next night, David Anyan almost singlehandedly beating them with 33 points, William Tackett continuing his flying start with 16 points and 11 assists.

Another away game, another win, this one good for 119-104 in Houston. David Anyan's the hero again with 31 points, Greg Oden pulls a pair of 15s in points and rebounds, William Tackett is continuing the run of great Kings draft steals with 23 points and 13 assists (Remember, Justin Barnes and Mike Vines were also mid-late 1st round Sacramento picks) and Mateen Yeaton chimes in with 13 points off the bench.

Our first home game is a sellout crowd against Toronto and David Anyan and Greg Oden punish their old team with 24 points and 18 points and 14 rebounds respectively in our 101-89 victory. William Tackett scores 22 and Ronald King paces the reserves with 12 points. We beat Seattle on the road the next night, William Tackett putting up a great line of 23 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and a steal, David Anyan the second with 23 points of his own. Mateen Yeaton leads the bench with 10 points.

All hot streaks must end and ours goes down in a disappointing pair of back-to-back losses. Phoenix clubs us 108-96 despite David Anyan's 27 points, William Tackett's 13 points and 11 assists and Mateen Yeaton's 14 bench points. But the real kick in the teeth is our 88-84 loss to the Nuggets at home the next evening and it's all the more frustrating because Walter Coleman finally breaks through for 21 points, David Anyan adds the same and Mateen Yeaton scores 13 off the bench.

Lawrence Smiley comes back to give us new life as the starting PF, but we still drop our third game in a row, 113-103 to the Bulls. Mateen Yeaton thunders for 25 points off the bench, Jim Johnson and Ronald King adding 11 and 10 points respectively, but this is getting frustrating.

The drought ends with a 110-90 pummeling of the Grizzlies keyed by David Anyan's 21 points and 11 rebounds, Walter Coleman's 25 points, William Tackett's 12 points and 12 assists and Mateen Yeaton's dazzling 24 bench points. Coleman's been god awful to start the year and I'm -this- close to trading him for more big man help.

A slow start slays us in a 111-103 home loss to the Bucks. We've been just terrible at home this year and I don't know why. David Anyan scores 29, Walter Coleman scores 20, William Tackett engineers 12 points and 13 assists and Mateen Yeaton leads the reserves with 12 points.

Disgusted with Coleman and our uneven play, I call around and make a trade.

Sacramento Kings receive
PF Antonio Sarchet
Chicago Bulls 2026 1st round pick

Chicago Bulls receive
SG Walter Coleman
C Larry Lovett

What this means for the Kings
Sarchet's a career 60.6% shooter and is averaging a double-double this season. Fantastic rebounder, terrific inside and can really draw the fouls. Not the best defender, however. This trade also allows Mateen Yeaton to step back into a starting role, a wish GM Jestor no doubt was looking to fulfill.

What this means for the Bulls
Poor shooting led Coleman to a fast ticket out of Sacramento and he'll slot in as the best 6th man in the league, a real scorer with size, passing and handling skills and adequate defense. The Bulls are so stacked, they're not really going to miss Sarchet or that 1st round pick.

Winner: Chicago
Jestor's being way too hasty here and he'll regret it by the end of the year, no matter how much Sarchet improves the Kings' frontcourt.

That may be true, but we win our next game 105-90 over the Rockets on the strength of Antonio Sarchet's 20 points, Ronald King's 11 bench points and completely suffocating defense.

Fantastic 114-104 win against the Lakers in our next game. William Tackett gets player of the game with 22 points and 16 assists, Antonio Sarchet doubles for 22 points and 11 rebounds, David Anyan scores 24, Greg Oden gets a cheap 10 point, 10 rebound double-double and Jim Johnson just misses a bench double-double with 9 points and 10 rebounds.

We utterly crush the Timberwolves 113-77 as David Anyan lights up for 26 points, Antonio Sarchet bangs around for 16 points and 11 rebounds, Mateen Yeaton has his first 20 point game as a Kings starter with exactly that and Ronald King tosses in 12 bench points.

My first month as the Kings GM ends as it began, with a back-to-back on the road and much to my great pleasure, we sweep. The Grizzlies put up one hell of a fight and nearly rally to beat us, but we edge them 103-101 on David Anyan's 28 points, Greg Oden's 22 rebounds, Lawrence Smiley's 10 bench points and an absolutely shrewd decision by Andre Miller. Going on a hunch, our rookie head coach puts Ronald King in the starting lineup at SG and King responds with a sensational 33 point night. Mateen Yeaton returns back to the starters the next night in our 111-99 hammering of the Hornets. David Anyan scorches New Orleans for 29 points, Antonio Sarchet is his fellow frontcourt sniper with 26 points and Lawrence Smiley headlines the reserves with 12 points.

Our blistering pair of win streaks set us at 11-4, on top of the Pacific by 2.5 games over the Clippers. Dallas parlays a weak division into an 11-5 record and a 4 game lead on the Grizzlies, Spurs and Hornets, who are shockingly competitive at 6-8. Minnesota and Utah are deadlocked atop the Northwest at 11-3 and 12-4 respectively.

I'm amazed when I see Toronto's 14-2, shrugging off David Anyan's defection as if it were nothing. They're just a half-game ahead of the equally confounding Celtics. 11-2 Milwaukee stakes an early 2 game edge on the Cavs, as the Bulls apparently miss Antonio Sarchet more than most people realized. The Southeast features 8-5 Charlotte 1.5 half up on the .500 Hawks.

The city of Sacramento is quickly falling in love with this team and I am too. I don't care how many people blasted the Sarchet trade, because we're 5-0 since the deal, knock on wood.

But the most wonderful thing of all is seeing Denver with a $26.6 million cap overrun and a 5-9 first month record to show for it.

I'll do comparisons at the end of next month. I'm hungry and it's suppertime.