Kings look to move on after Bibby deal

PORTLAND, Ore. – There was a No. 10 on the Kings' practice floor Monday night.

It just wasn't the No. 10.

This was Tyronn Lue sporting the number, one of four relatively nondescript players acquired in Saturday's trade that sent Mike Bibby to Atlanta and brought his memorable Kings tenure to an end.

In what was the first team practice since the move was made, there was an air of awkwardness in the building that even Lue couldn't ignore.

"I've worn that number since I was in junior high school, so I hope no one minds," Lue said sheepishly. "I'm not trying to take anyone's place or anything."

Kings coach Reggie Theus said there's no replacing Bibby, just learning to live without him. And that, said the first-year coach, is simply the latest difficult task he is being asked to complete.

It won't be the only challenge of the moment, either. While the Kings were scheduled to depart for Portland on Monday night and hold a team shootaround this morning, their charter plane had mechanical problems and they didn't depart until today.

Still, the challenge of integrating new players and continuing to survive this season took precedence.

"We've had to make a lot of changes this year, and to look up and have four new guys in the middle of practice at this time of year was a little difficult for me," Theus said. "There's no pressure on these guys. I don't know if they're going to play. I don't know how much they're going to play. I know that we have enough of our core guys that it's not an immediate issue for us."

Despite the additions of Lue and fellow point guard and former King Anthony Johnson, Theus said Beno Udrih will be given the starting spot as his team embarks on the season's final 31 games.

For Udrih – who will be a free agent this summer – it begins a stretch in which he will be unofficially auditioning to be the Kings' point guard of the future while attempting to impress the league at large just as he did when Bibby was injured for so much of the season's first half.

Ron Artest, meanwhile, isn't auditioning as much as he's waiting. With Thursday's trade deadline nearing, the small forward is still widely believed to be on his way out. All indications continue to point to Denver as his most likely destination, with the Kings and Nuggets at a stalemate of sorts in regard to trade talks and the likelihood high that any trade won't happen until at least Wednesday.

The holdup remains third-year small forward Linas Kleiza, a player the Nuggets continue to attempt to hold on to in any deal for Artest. There remains a disagreement within the Nuggets' higher-ups whether Kleiza is valuable enough to lose for Artest, with coach George Karl believed to be reluctant to lose him and vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien motivated to acquire Artest.

Karl's job security could certainly be in question if the Nuggets don't make the playoffs, and his team is currently in ninth place in the Western Conference despite its 32-20 record. There was pressure applied by one of their own players as well, as Carmelo Anthony openly campaigned for Artest while at the All-Star festivities in New Orleans.

A source close to the Nuggets, however, said the team is considering "a couple" of other potential trades that could steer their interest from Artest. As for Artest himself, he opted to stay relatively quiet as his future remained in doubt.

About the writer:

• Read Sam Amick's Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/blogs.