Amidst the drama surrounding DeMarcus Cousins and Sacramento Kings head coach Paul Westphal, the assignments of rookie Tyler Honeycutt and Hassan Whiteside became footnotes in the news.  However, the demotions are part of a league-wide trend over the last week.

1. December 29th: The Milwaukee Bucks assign second-year guard Darrington Hobson to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
2. January 1st: The Washington Wizards assign second-year big man Hamady NDiaye to the Iowa Energy.
3. January 2nd: The Houston Rockets assign rookie Marcus Morris to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
4. January 3rd: The Denver Nuggets assign rookies Julyan Stone and Jordan Hamilton to the Idaho Stampede.
5. January 4th: The San Antonio Spurs assign rookie Cory Joseph to the Austin Toros.
6. January 4th: The Portland Trailblazers assign second year players Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson to the Idaho Stampede.

Why?

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Last night, camp began with a Q&A with Geoff Petrie, followed by two hours of viewing time during the team’s scrimmage.  We have seen more basketball action in the first two days of camp this season than all 20-plus days of last season combined.  I like the policy change.

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With players trickling back to Sacramento, the Kings practice facility in Natomas was a bit livelier today.  Francisco Garcia, DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans, Isaiah Thomas, Jason Thompson, Hassan Whiteside and J.J. Hickson all wandered onto the practice court at various times this afternoon.

Since they’re currently not obligated to, none of the players addressed media only Jason Thompson addressed media (I had to leave before he did).  But the curtain was raised while a few of them organized a light scrimmage session.  We have some video (without audio) of that, plus additional notes after the jump.

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You’ve probably seen LeBron James (twice actually) and more recently, Chris Paul handle their business against the younger generation.  Now watch as Kings center Hassan Whiteside goes to work on kids at a student rally yesterday at Jesuit High School.

One additional note:  A student in the video asks Whiteside what’s been the toughest challenge he’s faced in his career so far, and no surprise, he says the knee injury that kept him out his rookie year.  Out of everyone who played in the Goon Squad Classic two weeks ago, the general consensus among those in attendance was that Tyreke Evans looked the most impressive.  But considering the left knee issues Whiteside battled all season, I was pretty impressed by the Kings center, who said before the game he had just been cleared to start playing a few weeks ago.  Granted the GSC was just an exhibition, however Whiteside looked explosive and moved fluidly throughout the game.  When I asked who impressed him most after the game, Donté Greene co-signed:

Hassan looked real good.  Hassan Whiteside didn’t get a chance to play last year, injury-prone.  So it was good to see him out there getting dunks and doing his thing.

With news of a new labor agreenment being tentatively reached, your Sacramento Kings took to Twitter to share their reactions.

 

 

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Every NBA coach has the fear that one or more of his players are going to come back from this long lay off way out of shape.  It’s happened before.  Shawn Kemp and Vin Baker are two players that come to mind when people speak of the 1998-99 lockout.  These two went from all-star power forwards to poster children for what can happen when players are left to their own devices.

Before his rookie season, DeMarcus Cousins fell under attack for being a player who was out of shape.  I’m sure some people circled Cousins’ name on their lockout weight gain betting pools.  He may have even been one of the favorites.  Well, it didn’t happen.  I saw DeMarcus last weekend at the Goon Squad Classic and he looked like he was in great shape.  Wait … I have video.

Cousins wasn’t the only King to show up for Donté Greene’s charity game.  Jason Thompson looked like he hadn’t missed a day in the gym all summer, but that is typical for JT.  Rookies Jimmer Fredette and Isaiah Thomas also looked lean and ready to play, but you expect that out of rookies.  Greene, who came into camp at 260-pounds last season, some 15 to 20 pounds heavier than his previous season playing weight, looked as though he had learned from the previous mistake.  Hassan Whiteside played a total of 4 minutes for the Kings last season due to injury.  The second year big man out of Marshall looked like he had continued to stack weight on in a positive way.

Coming into the game, there had been chatter that Tyreke Evans had added a few pounds.  While I don’t want to say that the face of the Kings franchise looked portly, he was definitely thicker through the mid-section.  Be it muscle or just a winter coat, Evans still dropped 54-points and looked good doing it.

The players have a little bit of time to fine tune and get ready for camp, which barring a major setback in negotiations, should start on December 9th.  This should be a very busy couple of weeks for the Kings as they not only gear up for a shortened 66-game season, but also figure out a way to spend a whole lot of cap space.

The team over at Yay Area’s Finest put together an amazing mixtape of all the highlights from the Goon Squad Classic.  Tremendous tip of the hat to them for their work.

Shameless plug alert.  My final thoughts on this past weekend over at SB Nation Bay Area.  A snippet:

Following suit with most of the exhibitions played during the lockout, the contest, which took place at an approximately two-thirds-filled-to-capacity UC Davis Pavilion, was more style than substance.  Greene’s team, which featured rookie-to-be Jimmer Fredette, Jason Thompson and former teammate Spencer Hawes won 167-164 in overtime against a squad highlighted by Tyreke Evans, Isaiah Thomas, DeMarcus Cousins, Hassan Whiteside and Matt Barnes.  But more important than the result was Greene and company’s presence back in the community.  Without the constraints of the NBA’s tightly-guarded structure, they were more accessible than usual.

Case and point?  Saturday morning, Greene along with Thompson tailgated with fans at the 58th Annual Causeway Classic between UC Davis and Sacramento State’s football teams.  And they did so with ease.  The two wandered around the main parking lot of Hornets Stadium, mingling and chatting with fans.  There were no security or bodyguards trailing their every move.  Like normal people, they immersed themselves and genuinely enjoyed the college tailgating atmosphere.

“I can really appreciate (this) because when I went to college at Rider University we didn’t have a football team,” Thompson said after socializing and throwing footballs around with fans during Saturday’s tailgate.

Sure they were trying to promote and sell tickets to Sunday’s game, but nobody forced them to organize it in the first place.  Greene and the players who participated chose to play for this region that nearly lost the NBA all together.

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It wasn’t NBA caliber.  But host Donté Greene and company put on a show that entertained the fans in attendance at the Goon Squad Classic.  His Black Team toppled the Purple Team, 167-164 in overtime at the UC Davis Pavilion.  Greene’s team featured  Jimmer Fredette, Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes.  Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas, Hassan Whiteside and Matt Barnes played together on the Purple Team.

James Ham will have his own take on the game in a post later today.  For now, I’ll share a few notes about Sunday night’s charity exhibition.

• Several players who were slated to play didn’t show.  Not surprising considering that’s been a common theme in many of these lockout contests.  After the game, Donté explained to me why some of guys didn’t make it.  “Jonny (Flynn) decided to participate in the game in Houston – John Lucas’ game.  Kevin Martin, I think went on an overseas tour.  And Kevin Durant had a family emergency he had to take care of, so it was last minute and he couldn’t come out.”  Donté added that he’s hoping to get those guys for perhaps another exhibition game in the future and appreciated the ones who did come out.
• John Wall made an appearance, but didn’t play.  I had overheard some chatter about his groin giving him some issues, forcing him to sit out the contest.  Donté told me that that Wall was indeed injured because he had been playing overseas and that the Washington Wizards guard wanted to “rest his body”.
• Questions arose on Friday about Evans’ weight when Jonathan Givony of Draft Express tweeted that Evans appeared to be at least 20 pounds bigger.  From what I saw, he looked bulkier, heavier with less defined muscle tone.  But overweight?  I can’t say exactly.  We’d need a check of his body fat to make a fair assessment.
• Tyreke’s jumper had no issues though.  In fact, he and Fredette traded back-to-back 40-foot threes during an exciting in-game exchange.
• The most impressive player physically was Hassan Whiteside.  He’s clearly added upper-body muscle this offseason.  He told me before the game that he’s actually been in Sacramento during most of the lockout.  He displayed extraordinary athleticism when he finished a slam by sticking his arm into the basket.  It was reminiscent of Vince Carter’s final jam from the 2000 NBA Dunk Contest.
• Best part of the halftime show was when a little rookie hazing took place and Fredette and Thomas were forced into an entertaining dance-off.  Watch below to see who won. (H/T to Blake Ellington with the video.)

• There were no stats being kept during the game.  But fortunately, Ben Taylor of KDVS Radio in Davis logged some numbers.  Evans was the leading scorer in the game with 54 points and connected on 10 three-pointers.  Cousins and Thompson both scored at least 40.  And Fredette dropped 32 34, connected on eight three-pointers.  The final scoring numbers for the game’s all notable players are below.
• No head count on attendance was given.  I’d estimate that maybe 3,500-4,000 people attended the game.  The Pavilion was about two-thirds full.

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)