It could be Jake Voskuhl, someone else, or perhaps no one at all.

But the Kings' 95-85 loss to Utah in their exhibition finale Friday night at Arco Arena made one thing clear: They could use another big man.

After the free-throw lessons, that is, as they hit just 28 of 45 while falling to 2-5 in the exhibition season in front of an announced crowd of 11,104.

The Kings' frontcourt deficiency was clear even before tipoff, when coach Paul Westphal described the ways in which he's trying to make the most of his undersized front line. For the second game in a row, he started 6-foot-9 Sean May at center instead of 7-footer Spencer Hawes next to forward Jason Thompson.

"When we start Spencer and Jason together, if one of them gets in foul trouble and the other one needs a rest, then we're awfully small," Westphal said.

"If we do it like this, we should be able to at least be big enough at the five spot throughout the course of the game, despite fatigue and injury."

Westphal said nothing changed afterward and he'll reassess the situation before deciding who starts in the regular-season opener Wednesday at Oklahoma City, this despite Hawes turning in the worst shooting night of his career.

Hawes entered with 3:45 left in the first quarter, then proceeded to go 0 of 6 from the field, including two three-pointers, and 1 of 6 from the free-throw line.

He refused to blame his outing on the adjustment to coming off the bench but clearly was unhappy with the notion that he might not start come the regular season.

"I guess I've just got to adjust to it," he said. "Obviously, I got accustomed to starting, but if that's what (Westphal) asks, then I've got to be ready."

As Hawes pointed out, much of the talk within the organization last season was of Hawes and Thompson forming the front line of the future. Assistants Pete Carril and Shareef Abdur-Rahim worked with the pair to improve their cohesion and chemistry, and Hawes said he hopes that combination returns soon.

"One of the most positive notes we took from last year was Jason and my ability to play together," he said. "The games when we really clicked last year, that chemistry was really obvious and something we built on and going to be a cornerstone of this franchise."

Yet Westphal has even fewer reserve options with any size than his predecessors did, although that could change. Agent Mark Bartelstein said he has spoken to the Kings about Voskuhl, a 6-11 center who was waived by Dallas on Wednesday.

The Kings appear to have some interest, but there remains a hesitance to retain the league limit of 15 players unless the addition is significant.

The Kings' 38.8 percent shooting effort again revealed the need for a shooter. Starting small forward Desmond Mason continued to struggle, missing all four of his shots and finishing the exhibition season 6 of 28 overall.

Small forward Omri Casspi (13 points) started for shooting guard Kevin Martin, who sat for the second consecutive game because of a sprained left ankle. Martin, who plans to play in the opener, insisted this is unrelated to the ankle injury that limited him to 51 games last season.

Kings point guard Tyreke Evans led all scorers with 21 points but had a game-high seven turnovers against five assists. May played well, finishing with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting with seven rebounds in 19 minutes.

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