The team is in last place. The defense is inconsistent. The offense is erratic. The intensity is apparent some nights – as it was for Saturday's visit by the Phoenix Mercury and approximately 100 of the area's pooches – and not so evident others.

Outside his Ultimate Fitness mixed martial arts training center at the corner of 17th and I streets, a shirtless, perpetually tanned Urijah Faber paces the parking lot while chatting into a cell phone.

Don't adjust your television. This is really happening. Unless Ron Artest experiences one of those Ron-Ron moments when he completely loses his senses and changes his mind, the free agent and former King today officially becomes a Los Angeles Laker.

Lou Gehrig was handsome and athletic and admired, a New York Yankee by profession, and a real gentleman by all accounts.

Geoff Petrie hasn't completely lost his mind. It just seems that way. His edgy, new in-your-face, elbow-to-the-ribs, forearm-to-the-hip approach makes perfect sense.

The long and wiry 6-foot-9 Israeli forward must be as tough as his reputation suggests, because the 21-year-old is carrying an entire nation along for the ride.

The Kings didn't draft the conventional, creative point guard, the charismatic Spaniard who would have spurred season-ticket sales and whose presence immediately would have addressed the club's most glaring deficiency: someone to pass the ball to everyone else.

We'll learn more about the Kings basketball president today when David Stern announces the club's first-round draft selections, or in the alternative, reveals that Sacramento has swapped picks or players in a dramatic, deadline-pressured maneuver.

As NBA draft day nears, scouts, coaches and general managers tinker with their mock drafts with considerable trepidation. Trade talks will continue until the deadline, with clubs looking to dump salaries, trade picks, and in a few instances, actually acquire a particular player.

The mother lode of point guard prospects arrived in Sacramento for a competitive gathering on Father's Day, but, sorry, no easy-to-assemble gifts were delivered. As NBA draft day nears, clarity remains an elusive, confounding concept.

The temptation this morning will be to ignore the sermon, pass on the Sunday services and head over to the Kings' practice facility for an informal brunch/scrum with the club's potential draft prospects.

Ricky Rubio is in town, and the Kings absolutely cannot let this kid escape.

What do we really know about this Paul Westphal, and specifically, how he will react to the influx of soda-sipping teens on his roster?

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