Photo: Jonathan Santiago/Cowbell Kingdom

The NBA shut down all basketball-related communication from league front offices during the lockout.  Yesterday afternoon, Geoff Petrie broke his silence, addressing media for the first time since June.   After the jump are a few bullet-point takeaways from Wednesday’s media session with the Kings President of Basketball Operations.

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Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida caught up this weekend with Sacramento Kings free agent center Samuel Dalembert, who is currently in his native Haiti.  Not surprisingly, Dalembert spoke glowingly about the prospect of playing for the Miami Heat, a team in desperate need of a center and only a two hour flight away from Haiti.  Quotes like, “That would be fantastic” and “I’m keeping all my options open, but Miami could be a good fit for me,” might sting for some Kings fans who were hoping to retain the eight year veteran, but keep in mind that anything can happen in free agency.

The Miami Heat are under the luxury tax threshold coming into free agency, but can only offer Dalembert the mid-level exemption (MLE).  Under the new proposed collective bargaining settlement, the MLE for non-tax paying teams begins at $5 million a year for a maximum of four years with annual increases of 3%.  That is a far cry from the unlimited five year contract with 7.5% increases the Kings could offer Dalembert, but there is no guarantee that the Kings are interested in retaining last season’s starting center.

On the first day of training camp last season, Dalembert injured his adductor which caused him to miss all of pre-season and the first game of the season.  Although he got off to a slow start, Dalembert played well from mid-January on, posting 15 of his 16 double-doubles on the season after January 18th.

In his interview with Tomasson, Dalembert mentioned the possibility of playing next to Amaré Stoudemire in New York or replacing the retired Yao Ming in Houston, as well as Miami.  A possible return to Sacramento was not brought up in the article, but there is no telling if that was intentional or not.  Either way, Miami is a lot closer to both Haiti and Dalembert’s off-season home in Boca Raton, Florida, so don’t be surprised if the Kings have a tough time retaining him.

For those of you who missed the Goon Squad Classic out at the UC Davis Pavilion on Sunday night, here is a taste of the action.

Our recap of the evening will be up soon and we have plenty of interviews to share with you over the couple of days.

Image by Kevin Fippin

Pending Donté Greene’s signature, a charity basketball game for Sacramento is a go.

Appearing on the Carmichael Dave Show this afternoon, the Sacramento Kings forward said the Goon Squad Classic is scheduled for Sunday, November 20th at the UC Davis Pavilion, with tip-off planned for 6:30 PM PST.  Tickets are expected to go on sale Thursday, November 10th.

Greene said he was waiting on the recent negotiations between both sides to finish before signing a contract with the university.  But with NBA owners and players unable to reach a new collective bargaining agreement, the game is an all but certainty.

The Kings forward also added some new names to the list of participants.  Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant will compete and play on Greene’s team.  Former Kings guard Kevin Martin, now with the Houston Rockets, has committed to the game, too.  Chandler Parsons, also with the Rockets, has confirmed to play as well.  Greene said he’s still working to convince Sacramento-native Matt Barnes along with teammate-to-be Jimmer Fredette to participate.

“I did talk to his manager, his assistant,” Greene said of Fredette. “And he said that he really wants to come out and play for the fans and get a chance to hang out with some of his teammates and what not.  But he has a busy schedule.  He’s a busy guy, so we’re just trying to get a yes from him.”

Greene also confirmed the participation of DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans, Hassan Whiteside, Darnell Jackson, Jason Thompson, Isaiah Thomas, Jonny Flynn and John Wall.

(Updated at 9:11 pm PST following latest labor news)

The Portland Trailblazers are still without a general manager after the club parted ways with Rich Cho in May.  It appears they’re interested in the Kings President of Basketball Ops per ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter):

Petrie has spent the last 18 years in Sacramento after a four-season tenure as the Blazers senior vice president of operations.

Straight from my SLAM story earlier today…new details are in bold.

Social Media played a major role to keep the Kings in Sacramento for at least one more year.  And now, it’s playing a vital role to bring basketball back to California’s capital during the NBA Lockout.

Kings forward Donté Greene is organizing a charity exhibition game for the Sacramento region, thanks in large part to Twitter.  A Sacramento Kings fan tweeted the idea yesterday to Greene, who took the message to heart and put the thought into action.

Speaking to KHTK Radio in Sacramento this afternoon, Greene said he’s already reached out to a number of NBA players who are interested in playing in the game dubbed the Goon Squad Classic.  Greene said Kings teammates DeMarcus Cousins, Hassan Whiteside, Jason Thompson and rookie Isaiah Thomas have expressed their desire to play.  The Kings forward also said that Washington Wizards point guard John Wall has interest as well.

“We’re definitely going to go out there and play,” Greene said in a phone interview on the Carmichael Dave Show.  “It won’t be no nonchalant game.  I’ma tell guys let’s come out and put on a show.  Give the fans something to look forward to.”

New Kings big man J.J. Hickson announced on Twitter last evening that he would play, too.  Greene has also extended invitations to DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers, Jonny Flynn of the Houston Rockets, Matt Barnes of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kings teammates Tyreke Evans and Jimmer Fredette.

“I don’t think he wants the upper- decker so he might want to show up to the game,” Greene said jokingly of a rookie hazing ritual Fredette could face if he doesn’t play.

Planning is still in the early stages, so a venue is still up in the air.  With the ongoing labor strife between players and owners, Power Balance Pavilion is off limits.  Greene said the Pavilion on the campus of UC Davis, which seats 8,000 at maximum capacity, is his preferred option.

“Right now there’s nothing set in stone,” Greene said. “Everything is (a) blueprint. UC Davis isn’t even set.  That’s just a site I would like to host it at.  But we’re still in talks with them.”

Greene would like to host the game the weekend before Thanksgiving, just a few days before the NBA season is scheduled to start if a new labor deal is reached in time.  He’s hoping to get tickets on sale by November 1st.

Charities for the game are still being determined.  However, the Kings forward said he would like some of the proceeds to go towards breast cancer awareness.

“That’s my charity (because) my mom had breast cancer,” he said. “That would be one of the charities that I’m definitely going to donate to is breast cancer.”

Sponsorship for the game is also being explored.  Greene sent an open invitation to local Sacramento businesses to get involved.  But he also said he will reach out to Nike, which has been sponsoring many of the exhibitions that have been played during the lockout.

“Nike sponsors most of the games and of course I’ll call Nike try to get them to sponsor this game,” Greene said.  “Basketball never stops – that’s the slogan.”

Today was supposed to be media day at Power Balance Pavilion.  It’s kind of like the first day of school.  You get to see a bunch of friends that you haven’t seen all summer, meet the new kids and take pictures.  Sure, there would be a little bit of homework after, but this was supposed to be a good day, a day of new beginnings.

We were supposed to get a “state of the Kings” address from Geoff Petrie today, followed by a jam packed introduction to the 2011-12 Sacramento Kings training camp roster.  Today we were supposed to meet a new free agent acquisition or two that would make the team and then another handful of NBA hopefuls with very little chance of donning the purple and black in a regular season game.

Jimmer Fredette, Tyler Honeycutt and Isaiah Thomas were supposed to begin a season of first’s – first presser wearing a Kings jersey, first meet and greet with the coaching staff, first taste of NBA life.

Today we were supposed to see if DeMarcus Cousins came to camp in the best shape of his life or if we would have to spend all camp long talking about weight or cardio issues circa Donté Greene, 2010.

What we are missing today is the opportunity to collect new content.  We are missing the bold proclamations of Marcus Thornton, the chance to see Tyreke Evans healthy for the first time in a year and Coach Westphal’s calm and positive message about new beginnings.

While I should be packing up a gear bag for training camp tomorrow, I am instead waiting and watching a twitter feed for new crumbs of information telling me that the basketball hiatus is over.

Regardless of the schedule, today we missed day 1 of the 2011-12 NBA season.  Boo lockout.

Jimmer Fredette and a group of rookies put on a show Thursday night in Provo, Utah on the campus of BYU.  Although team Fredette lost 140-126 to team Leonard, the former Cougar got an incredible send off from more than 11,000 enthusiastic fans.  As opposed to most of the other summer league events, Fredette and his Octagon management team, landed a first class facility complete with a free live streaming website and a television deal with the BYU channel.  So that means that thousands of folks all over the country got to catch a glimpse of some high flying, fun loving, no defense playing hoops.

Coach Steve Fisher came out to coach his former San Diego State star Kawhi Leonard who teamed with the Bucks’ first rounder Tobias Harris to lead team Leonard with 24 points apiece.  Kemba Walker chipped in 23 points, six rebounds and four assists to drive the offense from the point, while big man Vernon Macklin anchored the post with 18 points on 8/11 shooting and six rebounds.  Team Leonard took an 18 point lead into the half, outscoring team Fredette 36-19 in the second quarter and never looked back.

More after the jump…

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I caught up with Marcus Thornton for SLAM today.  He says he has no idea where the report of him declining a lucrative Maccabi Tel Aviv offer came from.  But he is considering overseas options and has received some offers in China and Spain.  Thornton and his agent continue to watch what progress is or isn’t made in lockout negotiations before he figures out what’s next.

“Once they start cancelling games, ruling preseason games out and ruling regular season games out, I guess that’ll be the last resort before I start really deciding what I want to do.”

As we all know, Thornton’s due a significant pay raise as a free agent.  And the uncertainty of the lockout is stifling new contract plans.

“It’s very frustrating,” Thornton said of his pending NBA free agency.  “Like you said, it’s terrible timing.  But you can’t do nothing about it.  You have to live and go on and hope they reach an agreement fast so we can start playing basketball again.”

In terms of the moves the Kings made before the lockout began, he likes the J.J. Hickson trade the most.  James and I will actually be talking to Hickson later today sometime within the next week on the podcast, so we’ll get his thoughts on Thornton’s respect.

As far as the selection of Jimmer Fredette in the draft, Thornton sees no reason to doubt that he, Fredette and Evans can co-exist together.

“I think Jimmer would take the place of Beno (Udrih),” he said. ” Last year, we were on the court at the same time, so I think it should work out.   Like you said, we play with guys who put the ball in the goal and I think it should work.  You can’t relax off any of us so I think it would work.”

Following Tuesday’s meeting between the players union and NBA officials, CBA negotiations seemed to take a turn for the worst.  However, union president Derek Fisher wants to set the record straight.  So in a letter obtained by Sports Illustrated’s Sam Amick,  the Laker guard addressed each member of the NBPA on the direction of negotiations.  Here are some excerpts.

On the outcomes of recent meetings:

The most recent meetings in New York were effective. What you have been told by your agents, representatives and the media is probably speculative and inaccurate.

What actually happened in those meetings was discussion, brainstorming and a sharing of options by both sides. The turning point this past Tuesday was not a disagreement between the players and the owners. It was actually a fundamental divide between the owners internally. They could not agree with each other on specific points of the deal and therefore it caused conflict within the league and its owners.

On union decertification:

Decertification seems to be a hot button issue today in the media. So I’d like to address it. I’ve read yesterday’s stories and find the position of these agents interesting. I have made myself available to each and every agent. But not once have I heard from them. If they are so concerned about the direction of the union, then why have they not contacted me? Each and every one of them mentioned has been in meetings with me. I’ve answered their questions, I’ve been told they support you, their players and our Players Association. So if there is a genuine concern, a suggestion, a question, call me. Email me. Text me. I’m working tirelessly each and every day on behalf of the over 400 players that they represent. Working for nothing but the best interests of THEIR guys. I don’t make a commission, I don’t make a salary for serving as President. I have NO ulterior motives. None.

It is because they have not come to me once that I question their motives.

The players union have a scheduled meeting today in Las Vegas while the owners will confer in Dallas.