After being dismissed before the Kings 96-80 win over the New Orleans Hornets, DeMarcus Cousins made the trip out to Memphis, where the Kings begin a three-games-in-three-nights set, starting with the Grizzlies.  Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie met yesterday with Cousins along with his Seattle-based agent, John Greig, who flew down from Washington to address the issue first-hand.  Petrie details some of the meeting to the Sacramento Bee’s Jason Jones:

“We talked about the important role he play in what we’re trying to do offensively an the gamut of what he needs to do going forward,” Petrie said. “…We did not agree on everything but that’s OK.”

Head Coach Paul Westphal tells Jones that Cousins will dress for tonight’s game and will not start.  J.J. Hickson is expected to once again fill the void.

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Update (1:09 pm): According to multiple reports, Cousins is joining the team on its flight to Memphis. The Sacramento Bee’s Jason Jones says there’s no word yet if the Kings big man will start tomorrow’s game against the Grizzlies.

If you haven’t heard by now, Sacramento Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins has apparently requested a trade.  The news broke just hours before last night’s Kings game, a 96-80 home victory over the New Orleans Hornets.

James Ham and I break down the latest in this developing story with Sports Illustrated’s Sam Amick on this week’s Cowbell Kingdom Podcast.

• Amick says Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie is meeting with Cousins and his agent John Greig before the team heads out on its two-game road trip.  Greig is based out of Seattle and flew down from Washington to address the situation first-hand.
• In addition to Westphal, Amick spoke to Petrie and Gavin Maloof to gain a wide-ranging perspective from the Kings side on the story.  He believes they back Westphal’s decision to go public.
• Any chance the Kings explore trade scenarios involving Cousins?   Amick doesn’t think so.  But he added that other NBA teams will continue to closely monitor Cousins’ status with the team throughout the season.

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Following his re-signing and arrival back in Sacramento, Chuck Hayes alongside Geoff Petrie and Paul Westphal addressed media this morning before the start of Kings practice.  Embedded above is video of the media session.

We had an audio glitch at the beginning of the recording, so I’ve transcribed Geoff Petrie’s opening statement:

Well thanks for coming out so early on a Saturday morning.  Of course I think if you have young kids, you’ll be up a lot earlier tomorrow, but I’m not going to say a whole lot.  I think a lot of what I put in our statement last night reflects the way that we feel about Chuck and the odyssey, and having him come full circle back to the Kings.  Explains pretty much how we feel about it.  Everything that we said before still stands as far as his contribution to the team.  On the floor, in the locker room and in the community.  So we welcome him back and it’s been an incredible week, I think everybody understands that.  But not too long, we’re going to see him out on the basketball court and that’s where he belongs.

The Sacramento Kings have made it official:

KINGS REACH AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE WITH CHUCK HAYES

SACRAMENTO, CA —- The Sacramento Kings tonight have reached an agreement in principle with free agent center/forward Chuck Hayes to a multi-year contract, according to Kings’ President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Rumors have persisted throughout the evening that the Kings would bring Hayes back after voiding his contract due to an apparent heart condition.  Sports Illustrated’s Sam Amick has tweeted the preliminary figures and plenty of other information that should set Kings fans at ease following one of the most bizarre weeks any NBA player has ever had.

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The Sacramento Kings have voided the contract of veteran forward Chuck Hayes.   Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie released  the following statement:

“This morning, in one of the most heartbreaking moments of my professional or personal life, Chuck Hayes was notified that he failed his physical exam with the Sacramento Kings. Subsequent to that, the contract signed on December 9th has been voided. At Chuck’s request, we will have no further comment at this time.”

It is believed the Kings forward is suffering from some sort of unknown heart condition.  The Kings performed further tests last week on the Modesto native, revealing an abnormality.

The news comes on the heels of the Boston Celtics nullifying the contract of forward Jeff Green, who too was discovered to have a some sort of serious heart condition.  Green will miss the entire 2011-12 NBA season.

Day two of training camp for the Sacramento Kings wrapped up at about 8 pm here at the Kings practice facility in Natomas.  Like yesterday, James will have an exhaustive recap complete with analysis of tonight’s action in a later post.  For now, I’ll leave you with a few some bullets to digest for the evening.

• Head Coach Paul Westphal described tonight’s practice session as pretty good overall.  However, he added: “It got pretty sloppy.  But in general, the guys are working hard and they’re working together and that’s really what we’re looking for right now.  It was another good day, nobody got injured.  (We’re) moving forward.”
• Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie spoke to media before the team was made available for comment tonight.  He was asked if there’s any concern going into the season considering the roster and coaching changes.  ”I think everybody’s concerned about the shortened time period just because the amount of practice time and the preparation that you have to go into the regular season.  But as far as the staff is concerned, Jim (Eyen) has obviously been here.  Keith (Smart) has a lot of experience and a terrific pedigree in basketball.  And Bobby (Jackson) has obviously been here and knows our roster and our players, so to this point it’s been a pretty smooth transition.”
• Salmons was asked what stood out to him most about all the young guys on the roster:  ”I think the thing I was most impressed with was they were sharing the ball, was passing the ball.  They was all looking to find the open guy, hitting cutters.  I think I’ve been surprised about that the most.”
• I asked Tyler Honeycutt about his conditioning and whether he started to feel exhausted now that he’s finally playing in NBA-level scrimmages.  After two days, so far so good for the Kings rookie. “Kind of.  We haven’t been playing as much, but guys have been in shape.  So it’s like not like we’re out there super tired.  We played 40 minutes today.  It seemed pretty long, but we’ll have TV timeouts and stuff like that.”
• Fellow rookie Isaiah Thomas is having to adjust from being a leader in college to now being a pupil.  ”(I’ve) always been the one to lead and always tell people what to do.  But now they’re telling me what to do.  At the same time, when I tell them what to do, they’re listening too. So it’s a mutual thing with all of us and like I said, I’m trying to learn on the flow and learn everything from the vets and the guys that have been here for a while.”

Before they raised the curtain tonight at the Kings Practice Facility, Geoff Petrie answered questions from the media.  A few standout points to consider:

• Petrie says DeMarcus Cousins is about 10 pounds lighter than the beginning of training camp last year.
• Tyreke Evans is probably 12 or 13 pounds lighter than he was entering training camp last year according to Petrie.  He thinks he’ll lose a few more as they continue play.  He holds the same belief for the rest of the team’s conditioning level.
• As far as the roster is concerned, Petrie says they’re exploring multiple options right now.  He says they’ve got “a proposal that we’ve made that we’re sitting on” and they’re possibly going to explore the crop of amnestied players as well.  He added that the Kings still have salary cap flexibility that could open the door on different trade possibilities.  It’s important to note that he went on this explanation after being asked where talks stand with center Samuel Dalembert.

The rumors are now reality.  Modesto Christian alum Chuck Hayes has signed with the Sacramento Kings. (Video courtesy of Kings.com)

Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears tweeted the terms of the deal first:

Kings President of Basketball of Operations Geoff Petrie on the move via press release:

“Chuck Hayes brings a tremendous amount of professionalism and competitive spirit to the team,” said Petrie. “He’s been a winner everywhere he’s been. I really look forward to watching him add to our team defensively, his ability to pass the ball, move the ball and be a real stabilizing force out on the court. We feel lucky to have him. We look forward to watching him play with all of his new teammates.”

Kings Head Coach Paul Westphal on the signing via press release:

“Chuck is a player who knows how to help his team win basketball games,” said Kings’ head coach Paul Westphal. “It was paramount for us to add a player like Chuck who is a young veteran who can play defense and has experience winning. He’s a great ball-mover. In a lot of ways, he’s a point guard from the center position. I think his addition will help all of our young, scoring players get more shots. He knows how to do that and he knows how to defend and we just couldn’t be happier.”

Reaction from across the web after the jump.

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Marcus Thornton will remain a Sacramento King. (Video courtesy of Kings.com)

Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie via press release:

“We’re really excited that we were able to re-sign Marcus Thornton and have him come back and build off of the great contribution that he made to the team last season,” said Petrie. “He’s a young and exciting player who has a lot of competitive drive. He’ll team with Tyreke (Evans) and Jimmer (Fredette) and be part of a terrific, young backcourt. We’re very upbeat about the future potential for improvement and the opportunity to watch him play for the Kings again.”

Kings Head Coach Paul Westphal via press release:

“Marcus impressed us greatly last year and we just couldn’t wait to re-sign him,” explained Kings’ head coach Paul Westphal. “We made that a high priority and never felt it was in doubt. We’re really pleased to have one of the fine, young shooting guards in the league to be on our team for several years to come. It’s a great fit for him and us and was a high priority on our behalf.”

ESPN’s Chris Broussard initially broke the news of the transaction via Twitter. However, the specifics of the contract have changed according to Sports Illustrated’s Sam Amick.

Amick originally reported the deal hit a snag after Broussard’s tweet.  However, Amick along with David Aldridge of Turner Sports later followed up, the snag was only a formality and didn’t keep Thornton from again donning the purple and black.

Reaction from across the web after the jump.

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Just sent in via press release from the Kings:

 The Sacramento Kings today renounced the rights to Samuel Dalembert (center), Pooh Jeter (guard), Marquis Daniels (forward/guard) and Darnell Jackson (forward), according to Kings’ President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie.

So what does this mean?  NBA Salary Cap Expert Larry Coon has the answer:

By renouncing a player, a team gives up its right to use the Larry Bird, Early Bird, or Non-Bird exceptions (see question number 19) to re-sign that player. A renounced player no longer counts toward team salary, so teams use renouncement to gain additional cap room. After renouncing a player, the team is still permitted to re-sign that player, but must either have enough cap room to fit the salary, or sign the player using the Minimum Salary exception. The exception to this is an Early Bird free agent who is coming off the second season of his rookie scale contract. Such players, when renounced, are treated as Non-Bird free agents.

Further explanation from Cowbell Kingdom’s James Ham:  Samuel Dalembert had a free agent cap hold figure of $19,045,250.  The combination of Darnell Jackson, Pooh Jeter and Marquis Daniels had an additional cap hold of approximately $4.8 million, taking the Kings’ cap figure from roughly $32 million, to close to $56 million.  By renouncing the rights to Dalembert, Jackson, Jeter and Daniels, the Kings freed up their cap holds, enabling the team to sign the contracts of Marcus Thornton (estimated 5-yr/$40 million) and Chuck Hayes (estimated 4-yr/$21.3 million).

What does this mean?  The Kings no longer have Larry Bird rights to any of the four waived players.  All four could be retained as unrestricted free agents, but the maximum length of any deal signed would be four years, instead of five.  The Kings also relinquished the right to use any of these players in sign and trade transactions.