Welcome to the first Sacramento Kings Ambassador Report, just in time for tonight's pre-season throwdown. Dave's previews haven't hit the Western Conference yet, so I'll steal a little bit of his thunder and bottle some of his lightning to give you a peek at the Kings.

First let's start with some background. The Kings recorded their second straight losing season after making the playoffs back in 2005-06. They charged hard at the end of last season and finished 1 spot behind the Blazers at 38-44. The Kings were lead by rising star Kevin Martin, who averaged team highs of 23.7 point/game (on 45.6% shooting) and 36.3 minutes/game, and the workhorse Brad Miller, who averaged 9.5 rebounds and 1.03 blocks/game. The Kings made a big mid-season trade, sending Mike Bibby to Atlanta for Sheldon Williams, Anthony Johnson, and Lorenzon Wright.

It was a busy off-season for the Kings. Ron Artest flirted with opting out, then chose to stay, then immediately regretted it, while letting the whole world know as the drama unfolded. Artest was finally dealt to the Rockets for youth and expiring contracts. Beno Udrih was courted by Golden State, but ended up staying with the Kings. SAR retired, and Francisco Gargia was given a contract extension. Fan favorite Bobby Jackson returned to the team. During the draft, the Sactown Royalty site imploded when the Kings, instead of making a move for a young PG, seemingly reached by drafting Jason Thompson, although some experts were ok with the pick. Lately the attention has been on the Spencer Hawes show.

Despite the off-season turmoil, the mindset at Sactown Royalty is now cautiously optomistic, flying in the face of most expert predictions that they will be, well, not very good. Considering they finished last season with 38 wins, without Bibby and Artest (for most of the season), you can see why they might be optimistic. They have talented guards, Miller at center, and a serviceable SF in John Salmons. However, their PF and bench are big question marks, and they are one Kevin Martin injury away from serious trouble.

According to Sactown Royalty, Martin and Miller will not play tonight (and possibly Quincy Douby as well), so don't read too much into a win if it happens. So far, no gameday preview or open game thread yet (I'll update if they post something), and their fanposts have been pretty quiet for the last month, compared to the explosion we've had here at Blazers Edge.

Thanks for reading my first ambassador post!

Update:  Ziller's take on tonight's game...

2nd Update:  Sacramento Bee on Portland and Sacramento rebuilding efforts...