http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/14260099p-15074093c.html
By Sam Amick
We take this break from the summertime coaching search to offer this: Summer league should be more interesting this time around.
From July 6-14, the youngest Kings and a host of fill-in players in Kings jerseys will be in Las Vegas for the annual summer league. But whereas last year's Kings' contract-player contingent consisted of only Kevin Martin and Francisco García, this year's team will have five contract players.
Martin, whose 19.4 points per game last year ranked him third in the summer league, will return for his third stint. García will make his second trip.
They'll be joined by Ronnie Price, Sergei Monia and the Kings' first selection of the June 28 draft.
Second-year point guard Price won an invitation to Kings training camp last October despite being injured for all but two of the Kings' five summer-league games. This time, he could be trying to impress enough to battle for eventual playing time with Jason Hart, who has exercised the player option on his contract for the 2006-07 season.
Monia -- the 23-year-old, 6-foot-8 swingman who played a total of seven minutes after he was traded to the Kings in late February -- will make his first trip. It will be a welcome change of pace for Monia, who spent much of the past few months playing one-on-one against center Vitaly Potapenko.
Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie is as eager as some of his players. He said he's looking forward to seeing Price and Monia, in particular.
"I think there's a strong belief here that Ronnie can play, but he can't prove it yet," Petrie said last week. "It's going to be great to watch him play in summer league. … (And) summer league will be big for (Monia), give us a better chance to watch him compete in a game situation."
The same goes for García, who will look to avoid any setbacks such as the March 1 ankle injury that marred much of his rookie season.
"It's really unfortunate that he got hurt when he did, the way he did," Petrie said. "It seemed like he had just started to relax, to get a feel for how he should play and all that stuff. And he never really got going again after that. It's obvious he's a multiskilled guy and a competitive player. He does a lot of things."
Workouts -- Petrie's calendar has been full of draft workout appointments lately, with a number of candidates having already passed through and more scheduled to come.
Among the masses: Nevada junior forward Nick Fazekas (6-11, 230 pounds), Stanford senior forward Matt Haryasz (6-10, 230), Notre Dame senior guard Chris Quinn (6-1, 190), Denver senior center Yemi Nicholson (6-10, 240), Connecticut senior forward Hilton Armstrong (6-11, 235), Tennessee senior guard C.J. Watson (6-0, 190), Louisville senior guard Taquan Dean (6-3, 185), UCLA sophomore guard Jordan Farmar (6-2, 170), Illinois senior guard Dee Brown (6-0, 185), and Gonzaga senior J.P. Batista (6-8, 240).
Cal sophomore forward and Oakland Tech High School product Leon Powe (6-8, 240) had to reschedule his appearance this week because of a stomach virus but is expected to come to Sacramento.
By Sam Amick
We take this break from the summertime coaching search to offer this: Summer league should be more interesting this time around.
From July 6-14, the youngest Kings and a host of fill-in players in Kings jerseys will be in Las Vegas for the annual summer league. But whereas last year's Kings' contract-player contingent consisted of only Kevin Martin and Francisco García, this year's team will have five contract players.
Martin, whose 19.4 points per game last year ranked him third in the summer league, will return for his third stint. García will make his second trip.
They'll be joined by Ronnie Price, Sergei Monia and the Kings' first selection of the June 28 draft.
Second-year point guard Price won an invitation to Kings training camp last October despite being injured for all but two of the Kings' five summer-league games. This time, he could be trying to impress enough to battle for eventual playing time with Jason Hart, who has exercised the player option on his contract for the 2006-07 season.
Monia -- the 23-year-old, 6-foot-8 swingman who played a total of seven minutes after he was traded to the Kings in late February -- will make his first trip. It will be a welcome change of pace for Monia, who spent much of the past few months playing one-on-one against center Vitaly Potapenko.
Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie is as eager as some of his players. He said he's looking forward to seeing Price and Monia, in particular.
"I think there's a strong belief here that Ronnie can play, but he can't prove it yet," Petrie said last week. "It's going to be great to watch him play in summer league. … (And) summer league will be big for (Monia), give us a better chance to watch him compete in a game situation."
The same goes for García, who will look to avoid any setbacks such as the March 1 ankle injury that marred much of his rookie season.
"It's really unfortunate that he got hurt when he did, the way he did," Petrie said. "It seemed like he had just started to relax, to get a feel for how he should play and all that stuff. And he never really got going again after that. It's obvious he's a multiskilled guy and a competitive player. He does a lot of things."
Workouts -- Petrie's calendar has been full of draft workout appointments lately, with a number of candidates having already passed through and more scheduled to come.
Among the masses: Nevada junior forward Nick Fazekas (6-11, 230 pounds), Stanford senior forward Matt Haryasz (6-10, 230), Notre Dame senior guard Chris Quinn (6-1, 190), Denver senior center Yemi Nicholson (6-10, 240), Connecticut senior forward Hilton Armstrong (6-11, 235), Tennessee senior guard C.J. Watson (6-0, 190), Louisville senior guard Taquan Dean (6-3, 185), UCLA sophomore guard Jordan Farmar (6-2, 170), Illinois senior guard Dee Brown (6-0, 185), and Gonzaga senior J.P. Batista (6-8, 240).
Cal sophomore forward and Oakland Tech High School product Leon Powe (6-8, 240) had to reschedule his appearance this week because of a stomach virus but is expected to come to Sacramento.
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