Imagine your fantasy team going the first two-plus months, on and off, without its three best players. It would be tough to compete in a fantasy league, and in the NBA it's just as tough. The Sacramento Kings aren't playoff bound, and might not have been even if their three best scorers from last year were out there every night, but wouldn't it have been nice to try?
Pretty soon Kings fans and fantasy owners will get to find out if Mike Bibby, Kevin Martin and Ron Artest can recreate at least the statistical magic from the 2006-07 season, when the trio averaged more than 56 points per game together. Martin led the team in scoring, Artest in rebounds and Bibby in assists, and nobody else on the team averaged as many as 10 points per night. The Kings won 33 games, so they weren't close to the playoffs, even had they played in the East. The current bunch, which hasn't played one game with the trio intact, is on pace for fewer than 33 wins.
Kings coach Reggie Theus has expressed frustration that Bibby and Martin aren't already back in the lineup, since they are practicing with the team, but they will be soon. Bibby has had the Jan. 16 game in Toronto circled on his calendar for weeks, and Martin could resume action on Monday against Dallas. Seems pretty odd for a coach to question his own training staff, no? Would Isiah Thomas get away with this in New York? We digress. Regardless of when these guys, and Artest, return, there's plenty to discuss in fantasy.
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Eric Karabell
