It looks like Joe Alexander might be the riser coming out of Sacramento's big Friday draft workout. Sam Amick of The Bee talked to Vanilla Sky.

"I feel I'm as good a shooter as anyone (at the workout)," the 6-foot-8 Alexander said when asked about his alleged weaknesses. "I shoot 50 percent from the NBA three (point line) every workout I've been to, so anyone who's watched me extensively knows I've got a full set of skills. I don't have any glaring weaknesses.

"The No. 1 thing people talk about is ballhandling (deficiencies), which is even more incorrect. That's my biggest strength. People have no idea what they're talking about, just throw the stereotype out there that because I'm 6-8 I can't handle the ball because I played forward in college. It's ridiculous."

Russell Westbrook tweaked his ankle and didn't get to scrimmage against Ty Lawson. (What, did Randy Brown run the point?) Darrell Arthur played but complained of some back pain which had already caused a rescheduled workout in Sactown. No word on how Lawson looked, though he (and Nico Batum) seem most irrelevant since they likely depend on the Kings grabbing another first.

The importance of the headline here: Petrie drafts kids who can shoot. Kevin Martin got drafted because he broke Peja's workout record for shooting. Quincy Douby got drafted because he broke Martin's record.

I'm still not opposed to Alexander. I'd prefer a lockdown PG defender who can dunk like Ronnie Price, or an ultra-skinny version of Chris Bosh. But I'm not in the camp who thinks another small forward would mean the death of the team. We need talent, period. If Alexander's more talented than the PGs or PFs left on the board (which might be the case with regards to Augustin and Arthur, though D.J.'s looking top-11 almost for sure), take him. Deal with the logjam this summer or at the deadline, or never. Garcia/Martin/Salmons/Alexander/Artest for the win! No one's stopping that lineup!

And while I'm feeling good, a highlight reel:

Sal(i)vation time, courtesy of The Bee's Melody Gutierrez.

The Kings will work out six players, including four potential first-round draft picks. Included in the mix is Russell Westbrook (6-foot-3, point guard, UCLA), Darrell Arthur (6-10, power forward, Kansas), Joe Alexander (6-8, small forward, West Virginia) and Ty Lawson (5-11, point guard, North Carolina).

Nicolas Batum (6-8, small forward, Le Mans, France) and Othello Hunter (6-8, power forward, Ohio State) are also scheduled for today's 9:30 a.m. workout at the Kings' practice facility.

After working out D.J. Augustin on Monday, this is the next logical step.

Without getting ahead of myself, I want to say Boston's Finals defense has made me lean to Westbrook even harder than before.

You won't believe this.

"You know," the Kings' basketball president said, "when the season starts, we're going to have to have some point guards."

Geoff Petrie, you bold bold man.

In all seriousness, The Bee's Scott Howard-Cooper sets the scene w/r/t the Kings and their point guard prospects. He narrows the draft field at the position and in the Kings' current draft slot to D.J. Augustin and Russell Westbrook, and notes the strengths and weaknesses of each. Re: Westbrook:

Westbrook is the contrast, for better and worse, a spectacular athlete who is bigger (6-foot-3, according to UCLA) and will physically dominate opponents on offense and would be the best defensive player in the Kings' backcourt on the first day of camp. But he has little experience at point guard, meaning he would need time to grow into the role.

While I earlier lamented the absurd abuse heaped on shooting point guards, it might actually work in our favor here. Chris Paul showed the world a small PG could thrive in the current NBA (thanks, hand-check rules!), and the (mistaken) assumption he and Deron Williams are each as pure a distributor as Nash and Kidd (by virtue of their obscene assist totals) could cause teams to give extra credence to their anti-combo bias.

Westbrook's a lot closer to combo than Augustin. If Paul's ascension (in part) causes Indiana or another top-11 chooser to take D.J. over Russell, we win.