Kings Notes: NBA TV's Goodrich: Kings will be solid, but not great

The Kings will be formidable this coming NBA season, but they might not even make the playoffs.

That's the opinion of Gail Goodrich, the Hall of Famer who works as a color analyst for NBA TV and whose job is to break down and study teams in and out of season.

In the Kings, Goodrich sees a good coach replacing a very good, proven one -- Eric Musselman in for Rick Adelman -- and he said there's a clear defensive foundation with Ron Artest. Other than that, don't expect 50 wins this season.

"They got a lot of work cut out for them," Goodrich said from his cell phone while plodding through New York traffic. "Ron is a tremendous basketball player, one of the top 10 players in the world. But losing Bonzi Wells really hurts. That's a big loss. He really stepped up for them and gave them what they needed inside and with rebounding.

"I think you'll see a period of adjustment with that team. I have a great deal of respect for (club president of basketball operations) Geoff Petrie. But the Kings are in sort of a rebuilding mode."

Goodrich said the Kings made solid summer additions -- drafting Rutgers guard Quincy Douby and signing free-agent swingman John Salmons and 7-foot-2 center Loren Woods. But there was no one splash addition -- unless a trade brings in new blood, Goodrich said.

"I think the Kings will be pretty much like last year in terms of finish -- the eighth seed, but that won't be easy," Goodrich said. "If you look at the other teams in the Pacific Division with the Kings, there's a lot of talent with Phoenix, the Clippers, and the Lakers are going to get better. The Kings will be OK, but it may take awhile for them to be really good again."

Bonzi watch -- Wells and his agent, William Phillips, are still waiting for a taker. Having rejected the Kings' offer of a five-year, $38 million deal earlier this summer, a move that looks to have burned them both, it appears the shooting guard will have to settle for a one-year deal somewhere. The money has dried up quickly across the NBA landscape.

Transitional talk -- Kings guard Mike Bibby said he's impressed with the fire of Musselman after talking with him several times this summer. But the veteran said he'll miss Adelman, the only coach he played for in his five Kings seasons, a period in which Bibby played his best games.

"Of course he'll be missed," Bibby said. "Rick was a great coach. But in this league, players move on, and coaches move on. You still remember them, though."

Artest clinic -- The Ron Artest Tru Warier Clinic Tip-Off Dinner and two-day clinic presented by 3rd-Degree will be held in Sacramento at the end of September. It starts with a dinner at the Hyatt Regency on Sept. 29, followed by a Saturday-Sunday clinic at Capital Christian High School for boys and girls, ages 5-17.

"I'm really looking forward to it," said Artest, who added he wants to make such events a regular occurrence in Sacramento. "The kids will have a great time -- I promise."

Also, 3rd-Degree will present a one-day Francisco García clinic Sept. 23 at the Salvation Army for children fluent in Spanish. It's a co-ed event with García teaching drills and communicating entirely in Spanish. For information on either event, contact Stephanie Nguyen, 3rd-Degree director of operations, at (916) 919-5902 or stephanie@ 3-degree.com.

About the writer:

• The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at jdavidson@sacbee.com.

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