What is with all the hate and anxiety surrounding Sacramento’s backcourt tandem of Kevin Martin and Tyreke Evans? Both players have combined to average more than 40 points, nine rebounds and nearly eight assists together despite playing less than 20 games together which should have Kings fans elated.

You would think solid results would get Kings’ fans excited about the duo’s potential, right? Wrong. Turns out some fans and members of the media are clamoring for Martin to be dealt because they feel his presence on the court is impeding the development of Evans.

To me this is all to familiar as fans in Toronto did a similar thing when all the new pieces in the fall were having a tough time adjusting to each other. Luckily the front office showed some patience and Toronto has recently found themselves on a tear and rising in the standings.

Likewise, Sacramento has a core in Evans, Martin and Jason Thompson that has the chance to be one of the best in the NBA for the next decade. There’s no reason to break that trio up when they’ve played less than 20 games.

Yet that is exaclty what fans and some members of the media are clamoring for and it doesn’t make any sense.

Wht fans fail to realize is Evans’ stats haven’t slowed down because of Martin’s return to the court. Intead, they’ve slowed down because Evans is battling through a sore hip. For a player that is explosive and relies on his athleticism that’s the reason his stats have dipped a bit over the past few weeks.

Despite battling through some injury issues over his past 23 games, there have only been two times where Evans has failed to get off at least 10 field goal attempts.

Not only that, but last season Martin averaged 15.1 field goal attempts per contest and so far this season he’s had 16.2.

Clearly the presence of Martin isn’t taking away from either player having the chance to fill it up on a regular basis.

Outside of the numbers, after spending some time in the Kings’ locker room and talking with their head coach and some players I’ll be shocked if Sacramento deals Martin before the trade deadline next week.

Their head coach, Paul Westphal, was emphatic when explaining to me how much he values having a starting backcourt of Martin and Evans.

Evans, the player most people point to as being the reason why the team would move Martin, talked with me in glowing terms about how having Martin on the court with him helps make him a better player.

When I asked the Jason Thompson about this topic he chuckled and told me, “I just think the media is trying to stir up a little something because it makes good headlines.”

Sure, the team would deal Martin if a team offered up a franchise player like Chris Bosh or Tim Duncan, but the odds of that happening are slim to none. So the Kings are left with one of the best young point guards in the NBA and an elite shooting guard who gets his shots off cuts and screens and doesn’t need the ball in his hands a lot.  Throw into the mix one of the more entertaining power forwards in the game and the future is looking pretty bright in Sacramento.

It’s just a shame some fans aren’t able to appreciate what they currently have.