Slam Dunk Central

???????????????????????????????????? ?

The Sacramento Kings are 0-3 this young season.? They’re a team that has issues that have yet to be resolved.? Firstly, there’s point guard Mike Bibby’s thumb injury.? Then there’s newly signed guard Beno Udrih’s broken left index finger (he may be ready around November 9 or so).? Then as with most rebuilding teams, they have rotation problems that need to be fixed - in a hurry.? But there’s a bit of good news for the Kings and Kings fans.

Rookie center Spencer Hawes is almost ready to make his season debut.? Hawes, the #10 overall pick in this year’s draft for the Kings, is showing no signs of being slowed down by the procedure that was done on his left knee and Hawes himself has said that he is “ready to go”.? But as in most cases, Hawes is waiting for medical clearance to begin his NBA career.? Hawes told Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee, “It feels a lot better.? I’m able to cut on it. … Now it’s just a question of testing it out in practice-type, game-like situations and trying to see how it responds and then going from there.? It shouldn’t be that much longer.”

Kings head coach Reggie Theus concurs, adding, “He’s coming along.? A lot of times what happens with stuff like that is it’s really healed, but it’s just not strong.”? The sooner that Hawes gets to being physically ready to handle the grind of the NBA season, the better off the Kings will be as starting center Brad Miller needs the relief.