Sacramento Kings Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Kings’ Temple Out Two To Three Weeks

February 1st, 2017 at 7:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kings guard Garrett Temple will miss two to three weeks with a partially torn hamstring, tweets Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com. Temple suffered the injury in Tuesday’s loss at Houston.

The 30-year-old swingman has been a reliable bench player for Sacramento for most of the season and moved into the starting lineup after Rudy Gay‘s Achilles tear last month. Temple is averaging 7.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 49 games.

“I got a strip on James [Harden] and pushed off to go grab it and felt it right away,” Temple told Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. “I knew it wasn’t a cramp. I knew what it was right away.”

Temple has experience with hamstring tears, and says this one isn’t as severe as one he suffered a couple of seasons ago when he played for the Wizards. That kept him out of action for about a month, as he aggravated it in his first practice when trying to return.

The Kings are already shorthanded at the wing position with injuries to Gay and Omri Casspi, so until Temple recovers, they will have to rely on rookie Malachi Richardson along with Ben McLemore, who played Tuesday for the first time in six games.

“Guys are going to step up,” Temple said. “I have a lot of faith in Malachi, Ben, and when Omri gets back, we can still bounce back and hopefully I’ll be back sooner than later.”

Matt Barnes Turns Himself In, Booked For Assault

February 1st, 2017 at 2:34pm CST by ChrisCrouse

FEBRUARY 1: Barnes turned himself in to the NYPD today, according to Larry Celona of The New York Post. The Kings forward received a desk appearance ticket and was booked for misdemeanor assault before being released without bail. He’ll have to show up in a Manhattan courtroom at a later date.

As we passed along earlier this week, Cousins won’t face any criminal charges relating to the December incident.

JANUARY 27: Kings small forward Matt Barnes is expected to turn himself in as a result of misdemeanor assault charges stemming from a nightclub incident in early December, Rocco Parascandola of the New York Daily News reports. Barnes allegedly assaulted a woman at a Chelsea nightclub on December 5th.

Two people—Jasmine Besiso, a 26-year-old woman, and her boyfriend, Myrone Powell, a 35-year-old man—filed a federal lawsuit last month against Barnes and DeMarcus Cousins, claiming they were assaulted by the NBA players. Besiso said she was sitting with her boyfriend at a table adjacent to Barnes’ and claims she witnessed Barnes get into an altercation with another woman. Besiso claims that Barnes then suddenly appeared near her and began choking her until she was unconscious.

Powell’s lawyer claims Cousins sucker-punched Powell in the head when he tried to intervene. Powell was knocked to the floor at which time other members of Barnes’ entourage hit and stomped him, his lawyer claimed at the time. The claimants’ lawyer has since said that the investigation is taking “way too long” and he claims that his clients have not been kept abreast during the investigation.

Both Cousins and Barnes maintain their innocence. Police tell Parascandola that only Barnes will be charged and the 36-year-old is expected to travel to New York as early as next week.

Barnes is making slightly under $6.13MM this season and he holds a player option worth roughly $6.4MM for the 2017/18 campaign. It would be very surprising if he opts to turn that option down and hit the free agent market, given his current legal troubles.

Suns, Kings Discussed DeMarcus Cousins

February 1st, 2017 at 8:18am CST by Austin Kent

FEBRUARY 1, 8:18am: There’s “nothing to” the reported talks between the Suns and Kings, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee, who tweets that the Kings don’t have interest in moving Cousins, especially without getting a high-level player in return.

Considering the original report came from a Phoenix outlet, with a Sacramento outlet throwing cold water on it, I would guess that any Cousins talks were initiated by the Suns. The Kings may have listened to Phoenix’s pitch, but there’s still no indication that they’re looking to move their star big man.

It’s also worth noting that members of rival teams have said that Sacramento’s front office structure is confusing to navigate, as Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com wrote last week. It’s possible that the Suns discussed Cousins with one Kings executive even if Sacramento – as an organization – ultimately wouldn’t have signed off on a trade.

JANUARY 31, 4:52pm: The Suns have had discussions with the Kings about big man DeMarcus Cousins, says John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports, although there’s no indication that the trade talks ever developed into anything serious.

The deal, Gambadoro reports, was said to center around a package involving at least T.J. Warren, Alex Len and the Suns’ first-round pick in 2017.

Worth noting is that both Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker were specifically exempt from the alleged proposal. Not only are Bledsoe and Booker two of the more intriguing assets on Phoenix’s roster, they’re Kentucky alumni like Cousins.

This isn’t the first time that Cousins’ name has been involved in trade speculation and it’s not likely to be the last. The center looked to be a likely trade target prior to Sacramento’s emergence as a contender in the Western Conference but then the team started to win more games. Now that Rudy Gay is expected to miss the rest of the season with an Achilles injury, they’ve fallen into a three-way tie for 10th in the West.

Earlier this month news broke that the Kings and Cousins were on track for a $200MM contract extension this summer but that may not deter Sacramento’s front office from moving their young superstar should it net them a suitable return from Phoenix or elsewhere.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Players Association, Campazzo, Fredette, Neal

January 30th, 2017 at 7:23pm CST by Milo Taibi

Several NBA players and coaches (including Steve Kerr, Stan Van Gundy, Kyle Lowry, and Luol Deng) have launched criticisms of President Trump’s executive order banning entry to the U.S. of all refugees. Most recently, the NBA Players Association lent their voice to the conversation, releasing the following statement to members of the press:

“Anything that might compromise our players’ freedom as members of the global basketball community is a cause of concern for the NBPA,” relayed USA Today reporter Jeff Zillgitt. “With that in mind, we have been working diligently to gather all available information regarding the recent executive order on immigration and its potential affects on our players. We’ve also been in regular contact with the players who could be impacted, and we will continue to monitor the situation very closely.”

DeMarcus Cousins Cleared In Nightclub Incident

January 30th, 2017 at 4:34pm CST by Milo Taibi

DeMarcus Cousins won’t be arrested or prosecuted for his role in a December nightclub brawl, according to Marc Stein of ESPN. The incident occurred on December 5, after the Kings wrapped a loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. While Cousins has been “cleared of all wrongdoing,” teammate Matt Barnes is still expected to turn himself in to authorities, though it is unclear when he will do so.

This develop comes as a partial relief to the Kings, who endured a PR crisis when footage of Barnes and Cousins discussing the incident circulated on TMZ. As Stein noted, Cousins may still face punitive damages; both he and Barnes have been named in a civil suit, alleging that the two assaulted a man and woman.

The December incident marks the second time in the last year Cousins has been involved in nightlife trouble. Boogie was involved in a fracas at “The Drynk SoHo” in Tampa last May (also documented on TMZ), being pulled from the scene before police arrived.

The reigning Western Conference Player of the Week, Cousins has one year left on his contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent.

Rudy Gay Expects To Be Healthy To Start 2017/18

January 27th, 2017 at 9:48pm CST by Milo Taibi

According to a team-issued statement, Kings forward Rudy Gay underwent successful surgery to repair a torn left Achilles’ tendon at The Hospital of Special Surgery in New York on Monday.

“Dr. [Martin] O’Malley did an exceptional job and I am truly thankful for him and his team,” Gay said. “I am expected to make a full and complete recovery within the next few weeks and plan to resume on court activities by early summer. I am 100% committed to returning stronger than ever and will work extremely hard to get there.”

Dr. O’Malley provides an optimistic recovery timeframe for Gay, stating that “it is anticipated that he will be able to participate in training camp and be ready to play at the start of next season.” Of course, it’s not yet clear where Gay will be playing next season — the veteran forward has made no secret of his intention to opt out after 2016/17, as Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported in September.

Gay, who has a player option of $14.26MM available for 2017/18, will look to prove his health to prospective suitors. The 30-year-old’s season came to a premature end after he averaged 18.7 points through 30 games.

Cousins' Future In Sacramento

January 27th, 2017 at 7:24pm CST by Milo Taibi

Andrew Sharp of Sports Illustrated proposed a DeMarcus Cousins-to-Detroit trade, in which the Kings would receive a package headlined by Andre Drummond. Cousins has had a tumultuous (albeit productive) run with Sacramento, as illustrated by Kevin Arnovitz’s profile piece on ESPN.

Kings Rumors: Ranadive, Cousins, Gay, Westbrook

January 26th, 2017 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Sources with “intimate knowledge” of the Kings insist that team owner Vivek Ranadive won’t entertain the prospect of trading DeMarcus Cousins, Kevin Arnovitz writes in a lengthy and entertaining feature piece for ESPN.com. That’s something we’ve heard before, and comes as little surprise, considering the Kings and Cousins are reportedly on track for an offseason contract extension.

Arnovitz’s piece features many more fascinating tidbits about Cousins and about the Kings’ franchise though, many of which we haven’t heard before. The entire story is worth checking out, but we’ll round up a few of the highlights right here:

Although Ranadive insists that the only major player personnel decisions he has made were the ones to trade for Rudy Gay and to not hang onto Cousins, Arnovitz writes that “not a single league source for this story outside of Sacramento said that ultimate authority resides anywhere but with Ranadive.”
Arnovitz hears from one NBA insider that Ranadive told him “some months back” that he’d like to assemble a big three in Sacramento, with Russell Westbrook joining Cousins and Gay. It’s not clear if that declaration was made prior to Westbrook signing his extension with the Thunder, but either way, it seems extremely unlikely that the OKC star would end up with the Kings. Gay also seems likely to depart in free agency this summer, though Ranadive remains unconvinced of that, per Arnovitz.
Members of front offices that have dealt with the Kings say that Sacramento’s front office structure is confusing to navigate, according to Arnovitz. “There’s just so much ambiguity about how the decision-making process works [in Sacramento] and what information actually gets back to whom,” said one rival executive. By way of example, Arnovitz cites one Kings source who says that during the 2015 draft, there were as many as five team owners in the draft room, including one who was trying to make a side deal for a second-round pick.
One league source tells Arnovitz that Ranadive has an “unhealthy fixation on the Warriors,” having previously been a part of Golden State’s ownership group.
According to Arnovitz, communication between Cousins and Kings’ executives has sometimes created problems. Sources tell Arnovitz that Cousins was assured that George Karl wouldn’t be hired as the team’s head coach in 2015. Cousins was later told in February 2016 that the team was going to fire Karl that day, but it ultimately didn’t happen until two months later.
Be sure to check out Arnovitz’s full story for many more tidbits about Cousins and the Kings.

NBA D-League Recalls/Assignments: 1/24/17

January 24th, 2017 at 6:32pm CST by Austin Kent

Here are the D-League transactions from the day:

The Raptors have recalled point guard Delon Wright and forward Bruno Caboclo from their D-League affiliate, says the team’s media relations department over Twitter. In 15 games Caboclo has averaged 9.1 points for the Raptors 905 while Wright has missed the entire season thus far on account of a shoulder injury.
The Kings have assigned rookie big man Georgios Papagiannis to their D-League affiliate tweets James Ham of Comcast SportsNet. In 13 games with the Reno Bighorns, Papagiannis has averaged 10.9 points and 7.6 rebounds.
The Nets have assigned forward Chris McCullough to their D-League affiliate, the team has announced in a press release. In 24 games with the Long Island Nets, McCullough has averaged 19.0 points and 8.0 rebounds.

Richardson Could See Role Increase

January 22nd, 2017 at 10:13pm CST by Austin Kent

Used sparingly through the first few months of his rookie season, Malachi Richardson didn’t expect to get the taste of first-quarter action he did on Saturday. Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee suggests that it might be Dave Joerger‘s December decision to give the Kings shooting guard extra opportunities finally coming to fruition. Already well-equipped to handle himself on offense, the Syracuse product will need to improve upon his defense, suggests teammate Garrett Temple.