All the Kings' men need to be put back together again ... soon

Don't be surprised to see a major change come out of Sacramento in the not-so-distant future. The atmosphere surrounding its once prosperous basketball team has turned unhealthy.

'Sheed straight with benching

Veteran Rasheed Wallace, who plays through pain and is considered the heart and soul of the Pistons, was benched by Flip Saunders for calling to say he'd be late for practice. He was told to stay home and meet the team at the airport for their trip to Philadelphia instead.

It all sounded like the start of an ugly episode for a team already missing point guard Chauncey Billups, but the way Wallace handled it diffused any potential situation. Not only did he embrace the benching, but he volunteered to come off the bench again Wednesday.

"There's no beef at all," Wallace told the Detroit News. "I don't have any time for that mess. "I'm too old for that stuff, to be sitting up here complaining about starting and not starting and all that junk."

Saunders endorsed the move, and so it is. Until we see otherwise, Wallace will be coming off the bench.

"Sheed has not played his best basketball lately, and part of the reason is because he's not totally healthy," Saunders said. "This can be a way for us to know we're going to limit his minutes to start with because he's only going to be able to play 30 minutes a game. So right now, until we get him physically where he needs to be, it might be a situation where it will benefit him but also benefit us."

Saunders will evaluate the situation on a game-by-game basis, but right now, Jason Maxiell is the starter, and Wallace and Antonio McDyess come off the bench.

Wallace was joking in the Detroit locker room before Wednesday night's loss to Charlotte that he should be bought out, referring to Chris Webber's recent news. Webber, incidentally, has been rumored to be leaning towards Detroit as a potential destination once he's eligible to sign with a new team on Monday. Detroit's frontcourt could soon be very crowded, but again, with Wallace putting on a happy face through this precarious situation, don't expect his minutes to suffer.

Boykins to the rescue

Milwaukee wants no part of another run at the lottery, and that became evident in Thursday's trade for Earl Boykins. The Bucks then blew the $4.3 million dollar trade exception made available by Bobby Simmons' season-ending surgery, taking back the 5-foot-5 guard's contract and little-used guard Julius Hodge for Steve Blake.

Because of injuries to Mo Williams and Michael Redd, Milwaukee had Blake running the show and lacked significant punch in their first outing as a depleted squad, scoring just 77 points in a home loss to Toronto. Boykins, who had scored 18 points or more in nine of 10 games as the primary running mate for Allen Iverson in Denver, solves that problem.

With J.R. Smith returning from suspension and Carmelo Anthony due back Jan. 22, he became expendable, and his trade boils down to a salary dump considering the Nuggets did not want to pay a luxury tax at season's end and would've been doomed to that fate had they not made this move.

Expect Boykins to log major minutes as the primary scoring option in Milwaukee right off the bat, but it should be a tricky transition for him considering he's never been a starting point guard in this league and will now have to handle those responsibilities until Williams returns.

His stint in Milwaukee could be a brief one considering he's able to opt out of his contract at season's end, and will likely do so to test his market value. As things stand now, he's being brought in as a mercenary to try and keep Milwaukee afloat in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Currently, they rank eighth, just ahead of Miami.

Blake, who started in Portland last season and been a primary backup in his first season with the Bucks, will back up Iverson. Considering A.I. rarely sits, don't expect to see too much of him.

Quote assist

"I don't think he can ever sit down and just watch. I think he's going to be involved somehow -- coaching, in the office, something. He's going to do that until they wheel him to the cemetery." -- Detroit guard Chauncey Billups on Larry Brown, obviously expecting to see his old coach back in a more visible role in the not-too-distant future.