The Sacramento Kings and Maloof family today exercised the option on President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie’s contract for the 2009-10 season.
“We’ve had the privilege of working with Geoff for the past nine years and consider him to be the best general manager in the NBA,” explained Kings owner Joe Maloof. “He’s respected league-wide for his dedication to the game, innovation, scouting and diligence. We look forward to our continued work with Geoff as we bring the Kings back to prominence.”
A two-time NBA Executive of the Year award winner, Petrie has been a key figure behind the success of the Sacramento Kings over the past 14 years.
“I want to thank Joe, Gavin, and the rest of the Maloof family for their ongoing trust, loyalty and support,” said Petrie. “We are all committed to working diligently in the present so as to ensure a more productive, exciting and entertaining future for our fans, players and staff.”
Under Petrie’s direction, the Kings have qualified for the NBA Playoffs in eight of the past 10 campaigns and nine of the past 13 years overall, while winning Pacific Division titles in 2001-02 and 2002-03 and advancing to the 2002 Western Conference Finals. Between 2000-01 and 2004-05, Sacramento joined San Antonio and Dallas as the only teams in the league to register 50-plus wins in each of those years.
When Petrie was named The Sporting News NBA Executive of the Year following the 1998-99 campaign, he became the first person to win both the league’s executive and rookie annual awards. Petrie shared the 1971 NBA Rookie of the Year award with Boston’s Dave Cowens. Following the 2000-01 season, Petrie was named the Sporting News Executive of the Year for a second time.
