Kings Blog and Q&A

Kings guard Marcus Thornton did not practice with the team today after suffering a left quad contusion in the third quarter of the Kings' loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.

"It was too tender for him to practice today, so he didn't go today," said Kings head coach Keith Smart.

Thornton was kneed by Spurs guard Manu Ginobili and left Wednesday night's game briefly, but returned. Smart said Thornton was getting treatment to reduce swelling in the quad Thursday and that his availability for the Kings' game tonight against the Oklahoma City Thunder has not been determined.

"We'll see how he feels in the morning and then evaluate him by the time we get ready for the shootaround and then game-time," Smart said.

It wouldn't help the Kings to lose Thornton against the Thunder. The Kings are 1-10 this season in the 11 games Thornton has missed.

Kings head coach Keith Smart addresses the media following the team's practice session Wednesday.

Swingman Terrence Williams was practicing with the Kings after the team announced today it signed him to a 10-day contract.

Head coach Keith Smart said he had no immediate plans for where Williams might fit into the Kings' rotations.

Kings head coach Keith Smart talks about his goals for the team's nine-game homestand and other topics following Thursday's practice.

Kings center DeMarcus Cousins took part in some of the team's practice today and should be good to go Friday night when the Kings play the Dallas Mavericks, said head coach Keith Smart.

Cousins sat out the Kings' win over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night with food poisoning, the first time he has missed an NBA game due to injury or illness.

"He got on the floor, ran today a little bit, was not totally himself based on what had taken place for him, but he was OK," Smart said. "... He'll be ready tomorrow."

* Forward J.J. Hickson (hip pointer) did not practice as he continues his recovery from the injury sustained last Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers.

"Just still going through his rehab," Smart said. "I won't do anything with him until the trainers have released him."

Kings head coach Keith Smart talks about getting the Kings to run at a faster pace and trying to develop a winning mentality.

Forward John Salmons, who missed the Kings' last two games with a sore right hip, is expected to be available tonight against the Utah Jazz, said head coach Keith Smart.

Salmons came off the bench in the two games prior to the injury as Isaiah Thomas started at point guard and Tyreke Evans at small forward.

Smart said Salmons "wants to do what is necessary" for the team.

Kings coach Keith Smart was asked after the team's practice tonight for his reaction to news of the city of Sacramento and the Kings announcing a tentative deal to build a new downtown arena.

"It's good news for everyone, I think, the fact that we have that opportunity," Smart said. "But my focus for me, the players, as always, has been to focus on the floor, what we can do on the floor -- let our management team, the ownership, the NBA, the city of Sacramento do their jobs to bring that to fruition. And now my job is to focus on, as always, continuing to develop the team, get the players much better than what they were, and then eventually we'll see where it goes from there."

Guard Isaiah Thomas said the announcement was a topic of discussion as the Kings reconvened Monday evening for their first practice after the All-Star break.

"I just know that we're staying here in Sacramento," Thomas said. "I'm very happy. The community, the fans, the organization's brought me in like a warm feeling, like a family feeling, and I'm just happy to be able to be here for years to come."

MIAMI - Concerns about Tyreke Evans playing small forward had a lot to do with his ability to defend the elite small forwards in the NBA.

Tuesday's assignment doesn't get much tougher - LeBron James.

James is playing like he will win his third MVP award in three seasons, averaging 27.9 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists while shooting 54.8 percent.

Kings head coach Keith Smart talks about what he thinks of the Kings' shot selection and other topics following the team's practice Friday afternoon.

Head coach Keith Smart talks about gauging the growth of his team and how he deploys his rookies following the Kings' practice Friday.

Kings guard Isaiah Thomas discusses trying to be a vocal presence as a rookie and his role on defense.

At the end of practice today, the Kings gathered around a TV set up alongside one of their practice facility courts and had a brief film session.

It's part of the strategy of head coach Keith Smart -- a big believer in using film to reinforce his critiques and teachings to players -- to combat the dangers of having an early film session in the usual dark room.

"Players sometimes come over in the morning, they just got up, you put them in a dark room and they're half asleep, and then you've got to come on the floor," Smart said.

Kings forward John Salmons talks about where the Kings must improve from their first two losses to the Portland Trail Blazers and other topics following Wednesday's practice.

Guard Tyreke Evans discusses taking on a leadership role.

Kings head coach Keith Smart addresses the media following Wednesday's practice.

The Kings play the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday for already the third time this season, having lost their first two meetings by double-digit margins.

This time, forward John Salmons said, when push comes to shove, the Kings need to do both.

"We've got to match their physical presence," Salmons said. "The first two games they were very physical with us, so we have to match that play."

Guard Marcus Thornton (left thigh hematoma) said he wants to play Thursday against the Portland Trail Blazers, but that the decision will be up to team doctors.

Thornton has missed the Kings' last four games. The team announced on Jan. 25 that tests had revealed a significant hematoma in his left thigh, and that Thornton would miss one to two weeks.

Thornton participated full-contact during the window of today's practice that was open to media -- a high-energy half-court scrimmage -- and appeared to be moving without much hesitation. Afterward, he said he "felt good out there for the most part."

Chuck Hayes' return to the lineup looked as if it might be a one-game deal when he left the court in the final seconds of Saturday night's loss at Utah.

Hayes was holding his left arm after missing 11 games because of a dislocated left shoulder.

But Hayes won't miss any time.

"(Hayes) just got treatment today but i think he's going to be OK and ready to go," said Kings coach Keith Smart.

Hayes grabbed eight rebounds and had two steals in 20 minutes against the Jazz. His return as a "glue guy" on the court that doesn't need to score is expected to help the Kings, especially on defense.

The Jazz had 96 points last night. The Kings had allowed 117 points per game in their previous three losses.

One thing that has come up more than once in conversations with Kings players over the last couple of seasons is scouting reports - namely the players need to do a better job of studying them.

Good teams know the nuances of their opponents and the Kings have struggled with that

When I spoke to Chuck Hayes earlier in the season about the Houston Rockets' 22-game winning streak during the 2007-08 season, Hayes noted how everyone knew the opponent.

Kings head coach Keith Smart addresses the media following Tuesday's practice.

Kings forward-center Chuck Hayes practiced full-contact today -- the latest step in his recovery from dislocating his left shoulder against the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 5.

Hayes wore a protective sleeve on the shoulder and said afterward that the shoulder "felt good."

"We did some contact drills where I had to engage my shoulder muscles and see if it'll hold up with some resistance, and it felt good," Hayes said. "Now I just think it's the mental standpoint now, just trusting the rehab, trusting the doctors and trusting the treatment that my shoulder's OK."

SAN ANTONIO - Consistency has been hard to come by for the Kings this season. That was to be expected with the young roster.

But as Kings coach Keith Smart also pointed out after Thursday's practice at the San Antonio Spurs practice facility, the Kings' young players are in new roles.

"You're asking all these guys to be primetime players and they've never been in that role - to be a primetime guy every night," Smart said.

What makes great players great is consistency. The Kings haven't found that and their youngsters don't have the same support behind them anymore.

"(DeMarcus) Cousins, if he wasn't playing well, he had (Samuel) Dalembert," Smart said. "Tyreke if he wasn't playing well, he had (Beno) Udrih. We don't have a lot of that now, these guys are the forefront. They now have to bring something to the table every night, that's what I'm trying to build."

Until the Kings know they can count on certain players to be consistent, Smart will continue to mix up his lineups as he sees fit and rely on his entire roster to try to win games.

MINNEAPOLIS - Keith Smart has a drill where players dribble to a spot and have to make a choice.

Depending on where the defender comes from, the player has to decide where to pass the ball.

Needless to say watching the Kings play on offense, it's a drill that's needed as Smart tries to change how the Kings play.

My unofficial look at the NBA. All records are through Saturday night's games.

1. Miami Heat (8-1, Last week, 1) - The Heat can win without Wade ... and LeBron.
2. Chicago Bulls (7-2, LW 3) - Derrick Rose and Co. aren't conceding the East to the South Beach N.W.O.

Kings coach Keith Smart addresses the media following Saturday's practice.

As he begins to install his offensive and defensive schemes eight games into a shortened season, Kings coach Keith Smart said today he introduced "concepts" to players in practice but plans to keep things simple during games for the time being.

"As I told them, I'm giving you a lot of things today just to give you a concept of it, but I won't have you confused in a game," Smart said after practice. "I'll keep it very simple in the games for you to play with your freedom and space."

One aspect that players are finding immediately apparent is a faster tempo.

"We're running," said guard Marcus Thornton. "We're running and getting the ball to open guys. We're just playing. The main thing (Smart) preached today was freedom. Don't get too crazy with it, but we have freedom to do our thing and have fun with it."

Smart has said he believes the Kings can and should run more, but said players have work to do in terms of getting into the necessary shape. Ideally, he said, that will come with building habits in practice and games.

Smart offered this on the Kings' potential:

Coach Paul Westphal talks about transition defense.

With a little more than four minutes remaining in the third quarter of Thursday night's game against the Chicago Bulls, the Kings had pulled to within one point of the Bulls at 74-73 and had the ball with a chance to take the lead.

Marcus Thornton pulled up for a three-pointer and missed. Bulls backup guard C.J. Watson grabbed the rebound and brought it quickly up the court, pausing behind the three-point line to survey his options. No Kings defenders picked him up, so Watson shot an open 25-footer that wound up sparking an 11-2 Bulls run to end the quarter.

Coach Paul Westphal said the Kings had a "very spirited practice" today following a one-hour film session of last night's game in which there were "no feelings spared." Westphal was not happy Thursday night following his team's 108-98 loss to the Chicago Bulls because he felt the Kings gave away a game they could have won largely through poor transition defense and free-throw shooting.

After the game, he challenged the players to "go together" into the rest of the season. He elaborated today on what might show they are buying into doing so.

Kings coach Paul Westphal addresses the media following practice Wednesday.

In another season, following back-to-back games and with another scheduled Thursday night, the Kings might have rested Wednesday. Instead they held a several-hour practice that featured a lot of on-court instruction from coaches.

Coach Paul Westphal said emphasis was placed on transition defense and "fine-tuning our offense -- being able to go past one option without stopping to look at each other and saying what do we do next?"

All players participated in the workout.

-- Matt Kawahara

The Kings made it through their final full practice of camp today healthy and will rest tomorrow before the season begins Monday against the Lakers.

Forward-center Chuck Hayes returned to practice and looked "rusty," coach Paul Westphal said. "But it was good to have him back," Westphal added. Hayes will be the team captain this season.

Tyreke Evans banged his left shoulder during a team drill and sat out part of practice with ice on the shoulder. But he returned later and scrimmaged. Evans said the shoulder "was stinging for a minute," but that he felt good after practice.

Reaction today to the announcement that Chuck Hayes is returning to the Kings underscored the idea that Hayes left a real impression on players and coaches during his first stint in training camp.

The team announced Thursday night it had agreed in principle to a new four-year deal with Hayes, shortly after the veteran forward-center -- whose original contract was voided by the team after it was announced earlier this week that he had a heart abnormality -- was cleared to continue playing professional basketball by the Cleveland Clinic.

"It's a blessing," center DeMarcus Cousins said. "Nothing but the Lord. Our prayers were answered and Chuck is coming back.

"Chuck was that veteran leader on this team. Chuck was basically the voice on this team, the most experienced. That's what we all looked up to. When Chuck left, that was a big piece of our team, even though it was early on in the season."

Hayes is expected to be back in Sacramento tonight, suit up for practice tomorrow and start against the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.

Coach Paul Westphal said that while Hayes was gone, players broke huddles by saying "Chuck," to "remind everybody what he brought to this team and the attitude you have to bring to work every day."

Forward John Salmons said players reached out to Hayes on Thursday. "Just sent him a text message saying we can't wait to get him back," Salmons said.

-- Matt Kawahara

Kings coach Paul Westphal addresses the media following practice.

Coach Paul Westphal said he expects forward-center Chuck Hayes will start against the Lakers on Monday. He was less definitive when asked about swingman John Salmons, but answered that the Kings are "going to start our starters."

"When these guys are healthy, they'll start," Westphal said. "It'll be DeMarcus (Cousins) and Chuck and John, Marcus (Thornton) and Tyreke (Evans). If they're all healthy they'll go. If not, we'll make adjustments then."

Salmons (right quad contusion) participated in a full practice today for the first time in a week, and Hayes is expected back in Sacramento tonight after agreeing in principle to a new four-year contract with the Kings on Thursday.

Westphal said Salmons practiced at about 80 percent Friday. Salmons agreed with the estimate and said he "felt pretty good today. Was able to move up and down. So, I mean, long as it's at the point where I can actually move, I'm good."

Cousins also participated in the full practice after he banged his knee during yesterday's scrimmage.

Hayes is expected to suit up for practice tomorrow. The Kings have tomorrow's practice and Monday's shoot-around remaining before they play the Lakers.

"Sure there'll be catch-up," Westphal said. "Very important practice tomorrow and very important that we get something out of the shoot-around. But the honest truth is nobody's ready to play this game on Monday. The Lakers aren't ready, we're not ready, but they're going to play it. So we'll put the best group we can out there and hope for improvement along the way."

-- Matt Kawahara

Coach Paul Westphal addresses the media after practice.

Forward John Salmons (right quadriceps contusion) took part in some team drills during practice today, but Kings coach Paul Westphal said it is still "too soon to tell" if Salmons will be available for Monday's season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers.

"He wasn't quite full speed, but he did do some things out there in drills with other players on the floor, so he was doing some offense and defense, it wasn't just only shooting," Westphal said. "So that's a good sign that there's improvement with John."

Kings coach Paul Westphal said after practice today that Chuck Hayes is scheduled to return to Sacramento on Friday, though he did not say whether Hayes is coming back to sign with the team.

Hayes, whose four-year, $21.3-million contract with the Kings was voided earlier this week following a failed team physical, was cleared to play professional basketball without concerns earlier today, his agents announced.

Westphal offered the following response when asked about Hayes:

"Really all I know is that he's had great medical news," Westphal said. "And he's scheduled to come back to Sacramento tomorrow. We're just so overwhelmingly happy that the second opinions are so positive. Primarily we're happy for Chuck. We're also happy for his family and ourselves."

The Kings announced today the team has waived forward Lawrence Hill and guard Adrian Oliver, trimming the roster to 13 players.

Hill (6-8, 220), a Stanford product, and Oliver (6-4, 210), who played at Modesto Christian High School, were both signed on Dec. 10. Neither played in Tuesday night's final preseason game against the Golden State Warriors, and they were not at practice today.

* Guard Marcus Thornton did not practice after he had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night with a kidney stone, head coach Paul Westphal said. Thornton passed the kidney stone and Westphal said he is day-to-day.

* Forward John Salmons also did not practice. Westphal said Salmons (right quadriceps contusion) still has "a lot of pain in that bruised thigh" and is day-to-day. Salmons worked out individually during part of the practice session on a side court.

-- Matt Kawahara

Coach Paul Westphal discusses Wednesday's practice and injury updates.

The Kings issued a statement that the team had withdrawn its contract offer to free agent center Samuel Dalembert.

Within minutes of the announcement ESPN's Marc Stein reported Dalembert had agreed on a two-year deal with the Houston Rockets.

And I have the darndest timing. I was on the phone with Dalembert for less than 30 seconds when he told me he had to call me back.

I guess he must have had a call from Houston.

Travis Outlaw is facing a steeper learning curve than many of his new Kings teammates, with whom he practiced for the first time Monday after being acquired Saturday.

Outlaw will have just one week in the team's offensive system when the regular season begins on Dec. 26, and coach Paul Westphal said Outlaw will play both small forward and power forward, which are "radically different" positions in the Kings' offense.

"He has a lot to learn -- probably more than anybody," Westphal said. "We had him concentrate on the big forward spot today and he looked real good."

Outlaw (6-foot-9, 207 pounds) said he won't be picky about where he plays on the floor. "Whichever one I can get playing time in, I think it's up to me how I make the opportunity out of it," he said.

During Monday's practice, Outlaw wore a brace on his right wrist, which he broke doing a boxing workout during the lockout. He said he had surgery that involved placing two screws in the wrist, but said the wrist is now "doing great."

It didn't appear to visibly bother him while shooting Monday. He was not hesitant to shoot during team drills and was working on his jump shot after the team session alongside rookie forward Lawrence Hill.

Entering his ninth season, Outlaw has averaged 9.5 points and 3.5 rebounds during his career. He was waived by the New Jersey Nets last Friday under the amnesty clause, and the Kings were awarded Outlaw in a waiver claim the next day.

"I'm happy just to be coming back to playing," Outlaw said. "Young team, but it's a lot of potential."

- Matt Kawahara

Newly acquired Kings forward Travis Outlaw is practicing with the team.

The Kings were awarded Outlaw in a waiver claim under the NBA's amnesty waiver procedure on Saturday. Outlaw is wearing a small brace on his right wrist - he broke his wrist during a boxing workout during the lockout - but participating in drills.

DeMarcus Cousins is also practicing. He sat out the team's first preseason game Saturday with a right ankle sprain.

Forward John Salmons is not participating in drills right now. He is working with a trainer.

We'll find out after practice who is expected to be available for Tuesday night's preseason game against Golden State. We will also try to find out more about Chuck Hayes. Messages for his agent have not yet been returned.

- Matt Kawahara

Here's the latest on Chuck Hayes.

The Kings don't know what doctors found wrong on his echo stress test.

"The doctors have to get more information," said Kings coach Paul Westphal. "When we get more information we'll say something."

John Salmons left Thursday night's open scrimmage with a right quad contusion and will not play the rest of the evening.

More details will be provided when they become available.

The Kings are now without four starters tonight (DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans, Chuck Hayes and Salmons).

Cousins has a sprained right ankle. Evans has a sprained left foot. Chuck Hayes is undergoing tests after a recent stress tests showed abnormalities.

For the first time since the NBA set a March 1, 2012, deadline for the Sacramento region to come up with a workable proposal for financing a new sports and entertainment complex in the downtown railyards, Kings co-owner Joe Maloof indicated that the deadline was not hard and fast.

Read the full interview with Joe Maloof in Sunday's Bee and at Sacbee.com

"I'm sure we'll always have flexibility," Joe Maloof said Wednesday during a 90-minute interview in his office. "The league has always been flexible ... so I don't know about that (a firm deadline). There are a lot of people working in a positive vein this time, where before, there was a lot of negativity. But everybody is on board. So we're optimistic guys. We want to get it done here in Sacramento."

Frustrated with ongoing attempts to build a modern facility to house the Kings, the Maloofs last April considered relocating to The Honda Center in Anaheim. The other NBA owners urged them to persist in Sacramento, but NBA Commissioner David Stern, who has assumed control of the discussions that involve AEG president Tim Leiwecke, has said the Maloofs would be free to pursue other options if adequate progress wasn't achieved during the one-year grace period.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is scheduled to meet with Stern Friday in New York to discuss the status of the negotiations. A modern facility located in the downtown railyards is expected to cost approximately $406 million.

Though the Kings are still working on the schedules, sideline reporter Jim Gray and analyst Bill Walton will return for the 2011-12 season. Gray is expected to work 15 games, while Walton's availability is more fluid. Kings co-owner Joe and Gavin Maloof told Walton he could work as many games as he wanted.

Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins both did not finish practice Wednesday because of injuries.

Cousins sprained his right ankle and Evans sprained his left foot. Each injury happened because they landed on the foot of a teammate.

Each is listed as day-to-day. Kings coach Paul Westphal did not know if either would be available for Thursday's open scrimmage at Power Balance Pavilion.