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Kings Notes: Karl, Lawson, Barnes

December 25th, 2016 at 3:16pm CST by Will Joseph

Not many in Sacramento seem to be surprised about the content in former Kings coach George Karl‘s forthcoming book “Furious George” nor to the reaction the book has received, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes. Out of all the team’s six coaches over the past seven-plus seasons, no one ignited as much frustration and negative feelings throughout the organization like Karl did, Jones explains. Karl’s relationship (or lack thereof) with DeMarcus Cousins is well-known, but Jones adds that it was Karl’s poor treatment of quieter players that rubbed many the wrong way on the Kings.

Here is more on the Kings:

  • The Kings have flourished late in games with solid performances in the fourth quarters, leading to wins, Shahbaz Khan of NBA.com writes. The resurgence of Ty Lawson and the play of other Kings reserves have a lot to do with more scoring late in games and that speaks well for the Kings looking ahead to 2017, Khan notes.
  • Matt Barnes, 36, is the oldest player on the Kings, so coach Dave Joerger would like to give the veteran time off, but injuries have made that impossible lately, Jones relays in another piece. Barnes is averaging 24.8 minutes this season, four fewer minutes than he averaged playing for Joerger with the Grizzlies last season, Jones adds.
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Pacific Notes: Buss, Lakers, Karl, Tolliver

December 24th, 2016 at 7:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Lakers president and part owner Jeanie Buss will face a major decision after the season ends, writes Bill Oram of The Orange County Register. Buss could signal a change of direction for the franchise by firing her brother Jim, who serves as executive vice president, and GM Mitch Kupchak. It has been nearly three years since Jim Buss promised to resign if the Lakers weren’t “contending for a championship” in three or four seasons. Coming off three of the worst seasons in franchise history, L.A. sparked some hope with a 10-10 start, but has lost 12 of its last 13 games. “We’re like every other team that we will play a season and we will assess that season when it’s over,” Jeanie Buss said. “No reason to speculate on any possible changes. It’s a waste of time to speculate.”

There’s more news from the Pacific Division:

  • Nearly all of the Lakers‘ offseason signees are now eligible to be included in trades, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Power forward Thomas Robinson passed his deadline December 23rd, a day after Metta World Peace. Marcelo Huertas, Luol Deng, Timofey Mozgov and Jordan Clarkson all became eligible on December 15th. The one exception is backup center Tarik Black, who cannot be traded until January 15th. League rules stipulate a later deadline for him because he received at least a 20% salary increase while re-signing with Bird rights.
  • Critical comments about the time he spent coaching the Kings were removed from George Karl’s new book, according to ESPN’s Marc J. Spears and Marc Stein. A proof copy of “Furious George” obtained by the network included negative passages about DeMarcus Cousins, GM Vlade Divac and owner Vivek Ranadive. Karl said he had “not authorized” those parts of the book to be included. Sources told ESPN that Karl agreed to refrain from critical statements about the organization in the settlement he reached when he left the team after last season.
  • Anthony Tolliver is earning more playing time with the Kings, relays James Ham of CSNBayArea. The well-traveled forward signed with Sacramento in July for $16MM over two seasons. He has been in and out of the rotation during the first two months of the season, but has found a larger role in the past week. “Professional — he can sit five games in a row and his name is called and he’s going to come out and play like it’s his last game,” Cousins said. “True professional. He’s always ready to play.”
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NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/24/16

December 24th, 2016 at 7:53pm CST by Austin Kent

Here are the D-League moves from Saturday:

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Lawson Fitting In With Kings

December 23rd, 2016 at 9:58pm CST by ChrisCrouse
  • Ty Lawson is adjusting to his role off the bench for the Kings and coach Dave Joerger believes the point guard can give the team more than a typical reserve can, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes. “Generally, backups will play 16 to 18 minutes,” Joerger said. “I think he’s way better than that … I want him to know I have the faith in him to play him longer minutes.” Lawson signed with Sacramento on a one-year deal during the offseason.
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Lowe’s Latest: Lakers, Cousins, Ingram

December 22nd, 2016 at 11:56am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Lakers have the pieces to trade for a superstar, but the team isn’t rushing to make any moves, Zach Lowe of ESPN.com writes. “If you grow from within, you control your own destiny,” coach Luke Walton said. “That’s the game plan. We want to see what this group can do. We don’t want to rely on anything else — on free agency, or trades.”

Lowe passes along more in his latest piece. Here are the highlights:

  • DeMarcus Cousins doesn’t appear to be available in trade talks because the Kings are in contention for a playoff spot, Lowe relays in the same piece. Sacramento is just one game behind Portland in the win column for the eight seed in the Western Conference
  • Rival executives are split on the value of the Lakers‘ young core, according to Lowe. Some would trade D’Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram for Cousins without hesitation, while others consider such a deal to be outlandish.
  • If the Lakers could steal Cousins for a package of Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson and a future first-rounder, they should pull the trigger, Lowe opines. Though he adds that should the Kings deal the big man, it will likely be for a better package.
  • Kobe Bryant‘s farewell tour wasted a year of player development and the Lakers can’t properly gauge the team’s young talent because of it, Lowe contends. Rather than playing and learning in a balanced offense, the team watched Bryant run an inefficient offense. “It was definitely a strange year,” Larry Nance said. “Playing with Kobe was awesome. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. But it was a weird season.”
  • Ingram will take time to develop, but he’s already comfortable making plays for the Lakers and the team maintains high hopes for the 2016 No.2 overall pick, Lowe adds. “You can’t teach [his] feel,” Walton said. “We feel very confidently about the player he is going to become.”
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Kings Notes: Cousins, Joerger, Barnes, Afflalo

December 21st, 2016 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kings coach Dave Joerger is defending DeMarcus Cousins after his latest controversy, which involved two technicals, one of which was rescinded, and a brief ejection in Tuesday’s game, relays the Associated Press. Cousins, who leads the NBA with eight technicals and is third in fouls committed with 102, has complained that officials treat him differently than other players. “I wish they’d just call it like a high school game,” Joerger said. “Set the tone in the first 5 minutes how you want to officiate and go from there. He’s not easy to officiate. He creates a lot of contact and people bump him, just like they do with all the bigs.”

There’s more tonight out of Sacramento:

  • The Kings took the easy way out with a $50K fine for Cousins’ latest run-in with a journalist, charges Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Considering that Cousins makes about $15.7MM this season and $16.7MM next season, the fine won’t impact him, she writes, making it the latest in a series of incidents in which the franchise has enabled his bad behavior.
  • A woman who was allegedly involved in the December 5th nightclub brawl involving Cousins and Matt Barnes in New York City has been arrested, according to Ryan Lillis of The Sacramento Bee. Police took Laura Closure into custody on suspicion of assault and attempted assault for allegedly throwing a bottle at a woman’s face inside the club. The New York Post has reported that Closure was with Barnes and Cousins at the time of the incident. Neither player has been charged, but they were named in a civil suit earlier this month filed by Jasmine Besiso and Myrone Powell.
  • Arron Afflalo is denying a report that he refused to enter a game in Houston last week. In a video posted on the ABC 10 website, Afflalo says he has been “active and available” for every game this season. Joerger refused to discuss the incident, according to station reporter Sean Cunningham (Twitter link).
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Cousins Apologizes

December 20th, 2016 at 5:24pm CST by ChrisCrouse

DeMarcus Cousins was fined $50K by the Kings for his part of an incident with a local columnist and the 26-year-old said that he picked the wrong time to confront the reporter, adding that he let his emotions get the best of him, Sean Cunningham of ABC10 passes along (Twitter link). However, in his prepared statement, Cousins did not apologize to the reporter whom he intimidated..

“I understand my actions were inexcusable and I commit to upholding the professional standards of the Kings and the NBA. I apologize to my teammates, fans and the Kings organization for my behavior and the ensuing distraction and look forward to moving on and focusing on basketball,” Cousins said.

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NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/20/16

December 20th, 2016 at 3:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Tuesday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

3:21pm:

11:53am:

  • With Clint Capela sidelined due to a fibula fracture, the Rockets have recalled 2016 second-rounder Chinanu Onuaku from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced today (Twitter link). Onuaku, who had been on his latest D-League assignment for nearly a month, has averaged 10.7 PPG, 10.3 RPG, and 1.5 BPG in 16 games for the Vipers this season.
  • Maurice Ndour and Marshall Plumlee have been assigned to the D-League by the Knicks, according to the team (Twitter link). The duo will join the Westchester Knicks in time for New York’s NBADL affiliate to take on the Los Angeles D-Fenders tonight.
  • The Thunder have sent Josh Huestis back to the D-League, according to a press release issued today by the team. Huestis, who has been shuttled back and forth frequently between the NBA and NBADL, has appeared in nine games for the Oklahoma City Blue, but has yet to play this season for the Thunder.
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DeMarcus Cousins Fined $50K By Kings

December 20th, 2016 at 12:44pm CST by Luke Adams

12:44pm: Cousins was fined $50K by the Kings, a source tells Bill Lindelof of The Sacramento Bee.

10:31am: The Kings have fined DeMarcus Cousins, following a recent incident with a Sacramento Bee columnist, reports Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Although the fine is said to be “substantial,” the exact amount isn’t known, and Cousins won’t be suspended at all by the team. Still, the Kings hinted that a harsher penalty could be levied if the veteran center continues to exhibit the same sort of behavior.

“The Kings have a clear set of standards of conduct expected of our entire organization. As a result of negative interactions with certain members of the media that were not corrected after verbal warnings, we have decided to impose a substantial fine,” the Kings said in statement obtained by ESPN. “If this behavior is repeated again we will be forced to consider further discipline.”

[RELATED: DeMarcus Cousins may face penalty for media run-ins]

As we detailed last week, The Sacramento Bee published a video that showed Cousins confronting and shouting profanities at The Bee’s Andy Furillo after Furillo mentioned Cousins’ brother Jaleel in a recent column. The video also showed a separate incident in which Cousins refuses to answer questions from reporters until Cowbell Kingdom managing editor Leo Beas leaves the locker room.

For his part, Beas published a piece over the weekend detailing how Cousins’ “beef” with Cowbell Kingdom began, describing an incident in which the 26-year-old singled him out and began attacking him “on a personal level.” Beas writes that he received a text from another Kings player following that altercation, apologizing on the team’s behalf. According to the Cowbell Kingdom editor, Cousins also confronted him 15 minutes before a recent game as Beas was filming B-roll footage of Kings players running out of the tunnel.

“The Sacramento Bee only released a small portion of the altercation, which is positive for Cousins because if the full video had been released, then we would be talking about something else,” Beas writes. “I’ll just leave it at that.”

In response to The Bee’s story and video, Kings head coach Dave Joerger called the paper’s coverage “ridiculous” and defended his star big man, which Cousins appreciated, as he tells Spears.

“I think he understands where I’m coming from,” Cousins told The Undefeated. “I don’t really think it had anything to do with him trying to show that he has his player’s back. I generally think he understands where I’m coming from. … I respect him for speaking out. He doesn’t have to. He went about it the right way. He spoke out on it. I respect him for that.”

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'Growing Rift' Between Afflalo, Kings' Coaching Staff?

December 19th, 2016 at 12:17pm CST by Luke Adams
  • The Thunder and Magic are both believed to be keeping an eye on the market for a scoring threat, per Kyler. Kings forward Rudy Gay is a player to watch, as many league insiders still believe he’s the most likely player to be dealt by the deadline, even if it doesn’t happen until February.
  • Another Kings scorer, Arron Afflalo, isn’t thrilled with his current role, and may be angling for a trade, Kyler reports. A Sunday report suggested that Afflalo had refused to enter a recent game against Houston, and Kyler says there’s a “growing rift” between the veteran guard and the Sacramento coaching staff.

    [SOURCE LINK]
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