The Sacramento Kings won’t be moving to Anaheim, at least not for the 2011-12 season, per ESPN.

Team co-owner Joe Maloof told The Associated Press the team would remain in Sacramento for one more season to give mayor Kevin Johnson a chance to follow through on his promise for a new arena. If the city doesn’t follow through, the Kings will be relocated to another city, he added.

The move to Anaheim seemed like a done deal, but Mayor Kevin Johnson convinced local businesses to commit to $10 million in sponsorships to keep the Kings in town. The deal buys time for the city to figure out a way to build a new facility to replace the aging Arco Arena. (It’s now called something else, but I’m not going to make the effort to look it up.)

This is good news for the team’s fans in Sacramento, who have been organizing in an attempt to keep the franchise in town. Things were looking pretty grim lately until this last push from the mayor’s office.

The New York Daily News reports that a possible move by the Sacramento Kings to Anaheim is likely to be opposed by the two teams already in the L.A. area.

The move to Anaheim will be opposed by the Lakers and Clippers, who see it as an encroachment on their territory. But sources close to the Maloofs say they’re willing to pay the two L.A. teams whatever it takes to relocate. That would be in addition to the league’s relocation fee of $30 million.

Anaheim Honda Center and Ducks owner Henry Samueli is prepared to help the Maloofs with the financing, offering a $100 million loan. Samueli tried to buy the team last year.

I live about six miles from the Honda Center and I’d love to see the Kings play there. I go to about one or two Clippers/Lakers games a year, and I’m thinking about getting season tickets to see the the Anaheim Kings (or whatever they end up calling themselves), so I don’t see the Kings as major competition for the Lakers or Clippers. If either franchise (especially the Clippers) were serious about courting Orange County, they’d move to Anaheim. As it stands, the 45-mile trek into the city (oftentimes during rush hour) is more than most OC folks can handle.

Orange County has more than 3.0 million residents, while Los Angeles County boasts 9.8 million residents. The OC’s population is greater than the metro areas of these current NBA cities: Denver (2.5 M), Portland (2.2 M), Sacramento (2.1 M), Cleveland (2.1 M), Orlando (2.1 M), San Antonio (2.1 M), Charlotte (1.7 M), Indianapolis (1.7 M), Milwaukee (1.6 M), Memphis (1.3 M), Oklahoma City (1.2 M), New Orleans (1.2 M) and Salt Lake City (1.1 M).

In short, there’s plenty of room for a third team in SoCal, though the best move would be for the Clippers to head south. That isn’t going to happen as long as Donald Sterling is the owner, and he isn’t likely to sell anytime soon, so I don’t blame the Maloofs for trying to capitalize on a move to Anaheim.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (talk about a dumb name for a baseball team) were #5 in average attendance in 2010 and 2009. The Anaheim Ducks have been in the #15-#25 range over the past four seasons.

Orange County will support a professional team if it’s good. Southern Californians are notoriously front-running, and will only go out of their way to support a winner. A team that loses like the Kings have this season is unlikely to outdraw Sacramento or Las Vegas, but Anaheim has a respectable arena and the Maloofs are finding that they have a lot of support from Samueli, who owns the Ducks and the Honda Center.

So the Clippers and Lakers may oppose the move, and why not? There’s no downside for them. If they put up a stink, they’ll at the very least get some extra cash out of the deal to grease the wheels.

But it’s not fair to basketball fans in Orange County, who would like a local team to root for that wouldn’t require an hour-plus white knuckle drive to see in person. It’s nonsensical that a metro area this populous and spread out has two teams sharing an arena when there’s a comparable arena in Anaheim.

Kings rookie forward DeMarcus Cousins was removed from team plane bound for Phoenix after an altercation with teammate Donte Greene on Saturday night, according to two sources close to the organization.

The incident, which was first reported by FanHouse, immediately followed a loss to Oklahoma City. Cousins, who had overcome early-season struggles of the performance and personality variety recently, is expected to be suspended for at least one game.

According to the sources, Cousins (whose postgame interview can be seen here) was furious at the last play in which Tyreke Evans missed a three-pointer in the final seconds of regulation that would have won the game. Cousins, who had been calling for the ball in the post in the final possession, watched angrily as Greene in-bounded the ball to Evans for the final shot.

After the buzzer, Cousins let his opinion be known to Greene as he blew by him in the tunnel leading into the locker room. According to the sources, Greene and Cousins began exchanging words inside the locker room. The situation then escalated when Cousins accused Greene of being too “scared” of making what Cousins thought was the right play and with both players taking swings at each other before they were separated.

Here’s the play in question. Watch as Green inbounds the ball to Evans instead of Cousins, and then watch Cousins’ reaction after the game ends.

FanHouse looks at the bigger picture:

There is certainly a bigger picture to consider for the Kings, though, as their volatile 20-year-old who was taken fifth overall in the June draft clearly has no plans to keep quiet about what ails the team. The situation has become nothing short of a power struggle between the rookie and the reigning Rookie of the Year, with Cousins’ improved play of late giving him the gumption to question the way in which Evans is so often given carte blanche control of scenarios such as these.

This is not how the Kings wanted this to go, but when a team is 13-38, the frustration is going to pile up. Sacramento was hoping that Evans and Cousins would make a great 1-2 punch, and they still may, but clearly Cousins isn’t afraid to vent his frustration when he isn’t being utilized in late-game situations.

One thing I noticed about the video is that Cousins didn’t react negatively until the play was over. He didn’t snap his hand down in frustration (like Kobe does ALL THE TIME) when Greene didn’t pass him the ball and he fought for the rebound until the buzzer sounded.

In the game, Cousins was 5-of-14 for 14 points, while Evans was 11-for-22 with 30 points, so this may not be the battle that Cousins needs to fight. Evans was 0-for-2 from long range before he missed the potential game winner, so maybe he should have instead taken the ball into the paint to try to tie the game up at home.

Over the last 10 games, Cousins is averaging 18.1 points and 9.8 rebounds, and is shooting 48% from the field, so he has it in him to be great. But, fair or not, with his reputation he’s under a microscope and he can’t be getting into physical altercations with teammates after a loss. He needs to channel that frustration into getting better — if he does, he could become one of the all-time greats. He’s that good.

This year, I’m going to preview the NBA season by starting with the lowest of the low and working my way up to my Finals picks. If a franchise is a legitimate championship contender, I’ll focus on what stars have to line up for a title run. If a team is a playoff also-ran, I’ll identify the weaknesses that have to be shored up via trade, free agency or draft over the next couple of seasons to make it a contender. If a team is likely to miss the playoffs, I’ll take a look at the salary cap, and provide a blueprint for how the team should proceed in the near future to get back in the postseason.

Click here to see #26 to #30.

#25: New Jersey Nets
The Nets only won 12 games last season, but there are reasons to be optimistic about this team. Brook Lopez is developing into an All-Star caliber center and Terrence Williams played well in the last two months of his rookie season. Devin Harris is still a dangerous guard, and he’ll be reunited with his former coach, Avery Johnson. Throw in a good power forward (Troy Murphy) to mentor the #3 overall pick (Derrick Favors) and there are some pieces in place in New Jersey. Of course, Nets fans want to see the franchise swing a deal for Carmelo Anthony, but that plan looks to be on hold (or dead?) for now. He’d be a great fit at small forward, though after missing out on LeBron, the Nets did fork out $35 million at the position by signing Travis Outlaw this summer. That contract could come back to bite them, but for now the team has plenty of financial flexibility and a projected payroll of only $38 million heading into next season. The Nets would rather trade and extend Melo this season because they know the risk inherent anytime a player hits free agency.

#24: Detroit Pistons
I still don’t get Joe Dumars’ reasoning when he traded away Chauncey Billups to create enough cap space to overpay Ben Gordon and Charllie Villanueva. At that point, the Pistons were a good (but not great) team in the East that was destined to compete but not contend. Now they’re an Eastern Conference bottom feeder with a few bad contracts and not enough cap space to sign an impact free agent. To make matters worse, the Pistons’ projected starter at power forward, Jonas Jerebko, tore his Achilles and will miss the next five-plus months. That means Villanueva (or rookie Greg Monroe) will have to play starter’s minutes. The Pistons used to beat teams with chemistry and defense, but the chemistry just isn’t there and neither is the defense. There’s a good chance that this gets worse before it gets better.

#23: Indiana Pacers
I like the direction that Indiana is headed. They pulled off a great trade this summer by stealing Darren Collison from New Orleans, and now the Pacers have their point guard of the future. They’re building around Danny Granger, Collison and Roy Hibbert, who is showing improvement after slimming down and working out with Bill Walton over the summer. Still, I can only be so optimistic about a team that is planning to start Josh McRoberts at power forward. Tyler Hansbrough is waiting in the wings, but he’s still suffering from vertigo. Mike Dunleavy is penciled in at shooting guard, but he’s going to have a tough time defending smaller and quicker player. Payroll-wise, the Pacers are in great shape, as they project to have around $25 million in cap space next summer.

#22: Sacramento Kings
Sacramento landed perhaps the best talent in the draft with the #5 pick when DeMarcus Cousins fell into its lap. Along with 2010 ROY Tyreke Evans, the Kings have a formidable 1-2 punch to build around for the next several years. They’re not going to be very good this year, but with a group of solid forwards (Omri Casspi, Jason Thompson, Carl Landry) they’ll be competitive. The key for the Kings is to add a top-tier talent before they have to give Evans and Cousins their extensions, which are likely to be of the max variety. The Kings project to have plenty of cap space next summer, but aside from Carmelo Anthony, there won’t be any max free agents on the market. The good news is that the Kings have a few years before they have to commit to Evans and Cousins, so they have plenty of time to acquire a third star.

#21: Philadelphia 76ers
Doug Collins is arguably the biggest addition to the Sixers this season, and he should give the franchise a shot in the arm from a leadership standpoint. With the development of Jrue Holiday and the versatility of Andre Iguodala, the Sixers have a good backcourt, and that doesn’t even take into account the potential of Evan Turner. But the key to Philly’s season will be Elton Brand and whether or not he can play at an All-Star level again. There’s enough talent here for the Sixers to make the postseason, but they’re going to have to stay healthy and get adequate play from a suspect front line. Cap-wise, Philly isn’t going to have any financial flexibility for two more years, so unless they’re willing to part with a good young player, this roster isn’t going to change very much in the short term.

< < #26 to #30
#16 to #20 > >

He was arrested at gunpoint, pled guilty to reckless driving and was sentenced to 80 hours of community service.

Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee writes that it’s time for the Kings to change their approach to the young star.

“It has to be a one-time thing,” an animated co-owner Joe Maloof said late Friday. “Believe me, Tyreke has been scolded by everyone. But we have to put this behind us; we have to move on.”

And how to do that? Change. Philosophically and pragmatically, the approach to the coaching, nurturing and packaging of Tyreke has to be revised.

No more sacred cows or separation. Evans isn’t Chris Webber, and he certainly isn’t Charles Barkley. He hasn’t earned superstar treatment yet. He isn’t even a winner yet. While he obliged with impressive individual stats during the 20-5-5 ticket campaign, the Kings slumped to 7-23 and dropped 11 of their final 12 games.

Yet almost from the moment Evans emerged as a major talent, the Kings altered the rules. They handed him the keys to the Mercedes. There was one set of guidelines for the prized rookie and another set for everyone else – a development that caused resentment in the locker room and is among the reasons Kevin Martin, Spencer Hawes and Andres Nocioni welcomed trades.

Evans’ personal trainer, for instance, enjoys unique access before and after games. A practice was canceled so Evans could fly to Las Vegas and meet President Barack Obama. Westphal routinely jumped Hawes, Donté Greene, Jason Thompson, Omri Casspi and other young Kings for mistakes yet blatantly looked the other way when Evans’ game became linear – times he dominated the ball or ignored wide-open teammates.

And now, here comes 19-year-old DeMarcus Cousins, oozing ability, personality, and immaturity.

Someone has to become the adult. Like, soon. With players entering the league at an increasingly young age, there is a finite amount of time to influence careers; at some point, the kids stop listening.

Voisin is right to be outraged. Evans could have killed someone with his antics that day.