Sacramento Kings Blog – Page 55 – NBA Blog

Patrick Patterson to Kings, Marcus Morris to Suns, Thomas Robinson to Rockets

The Houston Rockets have reached separate agreements on trades that will send Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich and Toney Douglas to Sacramento and Marcus Morris to Phoenix, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday.

The Rockets will receive Thomas Robinson, the No. 5 pick in last year’s draft, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt from the Kings, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced and was still pending league approval.

In the other deal, the person said the Rockets will receive a future second-round pick from the Suns in exchange for Morris, who will join his twin older brother, Markieff, on the Phoenix roster.

“If I was to be traded, that’s where I would want to go,” Marcus Morris said outside the Rockets’ locker room. “I think Houston knew that. That’s all I did was talk about my brother and how happy I was to play with him. I’m excited. That’s all I can say.”

Patterson, Aldrich and Douglas walked out of the Toyota Center just as Houston was starting its game against Oklahoma City, on the eve of the trading deadline.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Vince Carter passes Larry Bird as Mavs put away Kings 123-100

Move over, Larry Legend. Vinsanity still has a few special moments in him.

Vince Carter scored 26 points to pass Larry Bird on the NBA’s career scoring list, and the Dallas Mavericks headed into the All-Star break with a 123-100 victory against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.

Carter earned his nickname with circus dunks but can’t quite rattle the rim like he used to. He’s more dangerous these days from one of the places where Bird did plenty of damage: the 3-point line.

The 14-year veteran turned aside a Sacramento rally in the third quarter by going 5 of 7 from long range and scoring 17 of Dallas’ last 21 points in the period. He ended the night with 21,796 career points for 29th on the all-time list, five ahead of Bird.

”There were open shots and I was shooting them to make them. I wasn’t shooting to get attention,” said Carter, who also became the 11th NBA player with at least 1,600 3-pointers. ”I’ve talked to Larry before. He is a legend and one of the greatest to play the game.”

Tyreke Evans scored 23 for the Kings, who lost their 18th straight regular season game in Dallas dating back almost 10 years.

The 3-pointer that pushed Carter past Bird came from a couple of feet behind the line with 2.9 seconds left in the third quarter and gave Dallas a 92-77 lead.

— Reported by Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press

Mayor Kevin Johnson close to unveiling plan to keep Kings in Sacramento

As he prepares to head to Houston this weekend to lobby the NBA’s team owners to keep pro basketball in Sacramento, Mayor Kevin Johnson said he is getting “very close” to revealing the deep-pocketed investors he has recruited to make a pitch to buy the franchise.

Those investors – along with a plan for a new downtown arena – would be the foundation of Johnson’s argument to the NBA to block a deal the Kings’ owners have to sell the franchise to a group that would move the team to Seattle in time for the 2013/14 season.

Johnson said he is working against a March 1 deadline to secure those investors and an arena plan. That date is the deadline for a team to file for relocation, which the Kings did last week.

The mayor is expected to make his pitch to the league’s Board of Governors – made up of team owners – in New York in mid-April.

— Reported by Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee

Tony Allen steps up, Grizzlies beat Kings 108-101

Known for his stellar defensive play, Tony Allen has been coming through offensively for the Memphis Grizzlies the past few games.

Allen scored a season-high 19 points and led a key late third-quarter run in the Grizzlies’ 108-101 victory over Sacramento on Tuesday night, helping Memphis beat the Kings at home for the seventh straight time.

An 8.4-point scorer on the season, Allen has averaged 14.7 points in his last three games – all Memphis wins.

”The last few games he’s been scoring a few points and he’s made shots,” said Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins. ”He’s gotten to the basket, he’s made good decisions.”

Allen had seven points during a 13-8 run that gave the Grizzlies a 10-point lead in the closing seconds of the third quarter. He could have had two more points during the run, but his reverse layup was tipped in by Darrell Arthur.

”Tony is everywhere, he’s all over the place,” Grizzlies center Marc Gasol. ”We need Tony to do what he did. He’s a great player.”

Gasol led the Grizzlies with 24 points and 12 rebounds and Mike Conley scored 22 points. But it was Allen’s accuracy (8-of-12 shooting) and energy that helped Memphis enter the All-Star break on a three-game winning streak…

DeMarcus Cousins scored 23 points and Tyreke Evans had 20 for the Kings, who were attempting to win three straight for the first time in more than two months.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Isaiah Thomas scores 17 in 4th, Kings beat Rockets 117-111

Isaiah Thomas scored 17 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and John Salmons also had 23 points to help rally the Sacramento Kings to a 117-111 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday.

The Kings were trailing by 10 points early in the fourth quarter, but Thomas led an offense that was difficult for the Rockets to match in the fourth quarter.

Houston was outscored 17-7 over a four-minute stretch when the Kings took control of the game.

Kings center DeMarcus Cousins had 20 points despite sitting out much of the second half with foul trouble. Jason Thompson scored 12 points, and Francisco Garcia came off the bench and had 11, including six points in the fourth quarter when the Kings outscored Houston 33-25.

James Harden had 30 points, six rebounds and four assists for Houston, which lost for the fourth time in five games. Patrick Patterson scored 18 points and Omer Asik had 17 points and 12 rebounds. Carlos Delfino added 15 points and Jeremy Lin finished with 12 points and six assists.

The Rockets pulled within a basket, but Salmons, who had 10 fourth-quarter points, was quickly fouled and made both free throws for a 115-111 lead with nine seconds remaining…

Evans picked up two fouls in the game’s first six minutes while guarding Harden.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Procedure to move Kings to Seattle takes another step

With one more procedural move, the Sacramento Kings took another step toward Seattle.

NBA Commissioner David Stern said Wednesday night that the Seattle group led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer, which recently reached an agreement to purchase the Kings, has formally filed for relocation with the league.

Stern spoke in Minneapolis before the Timberwolves hosted San Antonio. He called the Seattle group ”very strong,” and said the appropriate committees have been convened to look over the proposed sale of the Kings and the prospective move.

Stern said the relocation proposal calls for the team to play in KeyArena for ”two years, possibly three,” while a new arena in Seattle is being built.

”We have had submitted a signed agreement to have the team sold to a very strong group from Seattle,” Stern said. ”We have received an application to have the team moved from Sacramento to Seattle.”

The deadline for teams to file for relocation is March 1. It’s been expected that the Hansen/Ballmer group would file to move the team, but Stern’s comments were the first time that decision had been verified. The filing for relocation is just another step, but big in the efforts to bring professional basketball back to Seattle for the 2013-14 season.

— Reported by Tim Booth of the Associated Press

Stoudemire 10 for 10, Knicks crush Kings 120-81

Amare Stoudemire sat through the sluggish start, and had one thought in mind when it was his turn to change it.

”Dominate,” he said. ”Dominate is the main objective. That’s the only thought that I think when I go in the game.”

That’s exactly what Knicks did. Really, really dominate.

Stoudemire was 10 for 10 from the field for 21 points, and New York unleashed a 38-4 run on Sacramento in the first half and clobbered the Kings 120-81 on Saturday night for its fourth straight victory.

The Knicks actually trailed by 10 when Stoudemire entered in the first quarter, then went on to challenge the franchise-record victory margin of 48 points and kept alive Mike Woodson’s chances of coaching the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

It was an awesome display by New York in front of some special guests: 150 children, their families and teachers from Sandy Hook Elementary School. The Knicks didn’t even need much from leading scorer Carmelo Anthony, who tied a season low with nine points and had his run of 20-point games snapped at 31, the longest single-season streak in franchise history…

J.R. Smith scored 25 points and Steve Novak added 15 as the Knicks made 19 3-pointers. Tyson Chandler had 11 points and 20 rebounds, becoming the first Knicks player with consecutive 20-board games since Marcus Camby on Dec. 8 and 11, 2001…

DeMarcus Cousins had 25 points and nine rebounds for the Kings, who were horrible from all areas of the court, missing shots right at the rim on offense and often not even getting anywhere near the Knicks’ 3-point shooters on defense.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Big 3 lead surging Thunder past Kings 105-95

If the Oklahoma City Thunder never play in Sacramento again, they sure left quite a lasting memory.

Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Martin overcame a slow start, and Oklahoma City overwhelmed the Kings 105-95 on Friday night behind its star trio.

Durant had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Martin scored 24 and Westbrook added 18 points and a season-high 14 assists to anchor a 28-10 run to start the third quarter. The spurt helped the Thunder go ahead by 25 points and improve to 3-2 on their season-long six-game road trip, which ends Sunday at the Los Angeles Lakers.

”Maybe one of our better quarters of the year,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said.

With the Kings’ pending purchase agreement to a group that wants to relocate the team to Seattle, there’s no guarantee the Thunder – coincidentally the former SuperSonics, who moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008 – will be back in California’s capital city next season…

Oklahoma City outshot Sacramento 48 to 41 percent, won the rebounding battle 47-39 and dished out 27 assists. The Kings had only one more assist than Westbrook, who had what Brooks called ”one of his best overall games,” especially considering the point guard shot 3 of 16 from the floor in a loss at Golden State on Wednesday night…

Tyreke Evans scored 16 points and DeMarcus Cousins had 14 points and eight rebounds on a difficult shooting night for the Kings, who have lost three straight and four of five. Cousins finished 6 of 16 from the floor and had seven of Sacramento’s 18 turnovers.

— Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press

Larry Ellison courted to bid for Sacramento Kings

The Maloofs’ plan to sell the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle group ran into a pair of hurdles Thursday – a possible counteroffer from America’s third richest man and a potential legal challenge from at least one of the Maloofs’ own limited partners.

Larry Ellison, one of the titans of Silicon Valley, is expected to meet soon with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson about the Kings situation, according to Kings minority owner Bob Cook.

With Cook complaining the Maloofs have improperly shut limited partners out of the bidding, Ellison’s potential interest in the team ramps up the drama even higher. The software tycoon is worth $41 billion and was an unsuccessful bidder for the Golden State Warriors in 2010.

Cook said he asked a Bay Area sports attorney to broker the meeting between Ellison and Johnson, and he expects it will occur soon. The mayor has been recruiting deep-pocketed “whales” to present a competing bid to the NBA that he hopes would derail the Maloofs’ pending sale to an investor group that would move the team to Seattle.

A spokeswoman for Ellison declined comment. The mayor’s office issued this statement: “Out of respect for the private nature of these conversations, we are not commenting on any of the ongoing discussions with potential equity partners, real or imagined.”

By Tony Bizjak, Dale Kasler and Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee

Fight to keep Kings in Sacramento continues

Billionaire Ron Burkle and Bay Area investor Mark Mastrov are in serious discussions to team up on a bid to buy the Sacramento Kings and partner with the city of Sacramento on a plan to help finance a new downtown sports arena, The Bee has learned.

A source familiar with the negotiations told The Bee that Burkle and Mastrov are both committed to keeping the team in Sacramento and building the Kings into a contender. The teaming of Burkle and Mastrov is seen by city officials as a “dream team” counter offer to the group that this week agreed to buy the Kings and move the franchise to Seattle, the source said.

Burkle, who owns the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, has been mentioned by both Mayor Kevin Johnson and NBA Commissioner David Stern as a potential suitor of the Kings. Mastrov, the founder of the 24 Hour Fitness chain, made an unsuccessful bid to buy the Golden State Warriors in 2010 and until now had been the only person to publicly express interest in buying the Kings and keeping them here.

— Reported by Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee (Blog)