Kings Blog and Q&A: All is well with the Kings today

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Optimism. That was the overall mood of media today at Arco Arena.

Of course everyone is optimistic this time of year in the NBA, but this optimism is quite different from the Kings of last season.

The roster is bigger and better. There's more depth in the frontcourt thanks to youth and some experience added via the draft (DeMarcus Cousins, Hassan Whiteside) and a trade (Samuel Dalembert).

The goal that was spoken of - without a hint of sarcasm - was the playoffs. I don't remember anyone mentioning the playoffs last year with a straight face.

Players have no problem stating such goals. Coaches and executives tend to be a little more careful in choosing their words.

"I believe we've gotten better," said Kings coach Paul Westphal. "Have we gotten better enough to jump over a lot of those teams? We'll find out."

The weight room was a big part of the offseason, most noticeably with Whiteside.

Slender was being nice when describing him after the draft. But he's added 25 pounds courtesy of weight and "eating."

Donte' Greene said he's up to 251 pounds, about 15 pounds more than he was last season. He was looking forward to banging against the likes of Kevin Garnett and Amar'e Stoudemire, who he said talked trash to him last season while he played power forward.

But most Greene's time this season is likely to come at small forward with some possible spot duty at shooting guard, which he played at some last season.

Jason Thompson also said he's stronger and hopes that will help him in the post.

Two-a-day practices begin tomorrow.

Here are a few outtakes from media day:

Thompson on some of the goals for the season:

"I'm trying to average a double double and get at least 40 wins and get this team to the playoffs."

Thompson on the new emphasis on being demonstrative over officiating leading to technical fouls. Thompson isn't abusive with officials, but there's no mistaking when he doesn't like a call:

"It's obviously something I want to work on and why not start now when they have a new rule out. I want to keep my money in my pocket and obviously affect the team in being labeled a certain way."

Pooh Jeter, on returning to the Kings with a guaranteed contract after his first stint with the Kings in 2007 on their summer league team:

"When I was at Portland I played against Coach Westphal (who was at Pepperdine) my whole four years so he knows what I bring. So I'm glad I'm able to sign back here. Sacramento is the only team that gave me a chance (out of college)."

Tyreke Evans on if the Kings are his team now:

"I don't just want to go in there and say I'm the leader of the team. It's my second year and there's a lot of guys that have been in the league longer than me."

Westphal on settling on a starting lineup and rotation:

"I think there's certainly things we need to look at as far as trying to have our best players out on the floor as much as possible. It starts with who can you defend? You've got to be able to guard your position to get much legitimate playing time. And those are things we look for in training camp. We'll look at different combinations. But at the same time I would hope we can settle on a lineup sooner rather than later that will hold up."

Carl Landry on having his younger brother, Marcus, on the same team:

"It feels good to have him on the same team with me. Our all lives we've been battling, competing for everything. A pair of shoes, a piece of meat in the refrigerator, a Capri Sun."

Geoff Petrie on the roster:

"I think there's potential for a couple spots that are still open. We'll probably carry 13, maybe 14 players going into the season."

Connor Atchley, Joe Crawford, Darnell Jackson, J.R. Giddens, Luther Head, Marcus Landry and Donald Sloan are the players in camp without fully guaranteed deals.

Petrie noted Head, Crawford and Giddens for their three-point shooting, an area the Kings want to improve in. Sacramento finished 16th in three-point shooting last season (34.9 percent).

--Jason Jones