With Kevin Martin Out for a Week, Kings Short at the League's Most Bountiful Position

One thing the NBA has too many of: swingmen. The D-League is littered with shooting guards and small forwards good enough to play in the bigs, and you'll find most domestic players who end up taking a European payday fall in the swing positions. It is a bountiful position.

The Kings currently have one healthy non-rookie swingman. One. Francisco Garcia strained his calf in the preseason, and will be on the sidelines another week at least. Quincy Douby (a failed point guard, now an Eddie House-style two-guard) twisted his ankle early in camp and has only been back long enough to re-injure himself.

Most recently, Kevin Martin sprained his ankle hard in Sunday's win over Golden State, and he'll be out 7-10 days.

That leaves starting small forward John Salmons and the rawest rookie of them all, Donté Greene, as the only swing players left.

Luckily, Bobby Jackson has no conscience, so Reggie Theus can get away with slotting the cagey old man at the two. We should also expect to see a bit of Jason Thompson (a dazzling rookie power forward) at the three, and some combinations of Beno Udrih and Bobby Brown (the team's two shoot-first point guards) in the backcourt. The Kings will make do, despite carrying a shortage at the position.

This really is a weird situation, though. Last season, the frontcourt was Sacramento's clear weakness, with no depth of quality and, honestly, low quality in the starting lineup. But Spencer Hawes has exploded in his second season, and Thompson already has Mikki Moore worried about his starting job. Shelden Williams is the team's best defender -- not worth the No. 5 pick in any draft, but as close to a frontcourt stopper as the league has these days. You spend one summer focused on fixing your frontline, and the backcourt goes all to hell. Go figure.