Artest sparks Kings
The small forward scores 12 points in a summer-league game.
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:01 am PDT Saturday, July 8, 2006
LAS VEGAS -- Much to the dismay of the non-Kings summer-league contingent, Ron Artest has arrived.
The small forward who re-energized the Kings last season did the same for the summer-league version, scoring 12 points in 25 minutes in Sacramento's 91-73 win over New Orleans at UNLV's Cox Pavilion.
Artest, who also competed in last season's summer league in Minnesota while he was with the Indiana Pacers, said he came to get some early work in with Kings coach Eric Musselman.
"That's definitely one of the reasons I came out here, to get a feel for how he's going to coach and how I should prepare for the remainder of the season," Artest said. "I'll definitely work hard and get in more conditioning, because the way he runs and he presses, I'm going to have to be in pretty good shape."
Among the audience was George Maloof, the operator of the family's Palms Casino Resort who pushed the decision to trade Peja Stojakovic for Artest.
"(Artest) is so competitive that I just thought it was worth taking a shot to help our team," Maloof said. "That was mainly it. He helped the team, and the timing was good. We needed a good spark. He's a good leader, so we're excited about next year."
Rebel King? -- Long after the Kings took Rutgers shooter Quincy Douby with the 19th overall pick in the June 28 draft, they went looking to steal a big man with a possible trade for a second-round pick.
Louis Amundson was part of that unsuccessful search, but the 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward out of UNLV wound up coming to the Kings via summer league. Amundson will be around for a while, as his contract with the Kings included an invite to training camp in October.
He is known as a scrappy, energetic player, with plenty of muscle and hustle to rebound and defend. He scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds in his debut Thursday, then had 12 points and 12 rebounds Friday. He was the recipient of a perfect alley-oop pass from Kings point guard Ronnie Price in the second quarter, slamming it home to the delight of his familiar crowd that chanted "Lou!"
Amundson later shook the backboard with a putback dunk, sparking rave reviews from Kings co-owner Gavin Maloof courtside.
Douby can do -- Douby -- who said his rookie contract will pay him $1.2 million this season -- had a shining moment in his possible path to point guard status.
Running the floor in the first half, he looked right and threw a behind-the-back pass to his left to a running Kevin Martin, who finished with a layup.
Waiting Wells -- All indications are that free-agent shooting guard Bonzi Wells is waiting for his price tag to increase.
His offer from the Kings, reportedly, is for $36 million over five years, and his agent, William Phillips, has said more than six teams put offers on the table. According to reports, Denver, Detroit and Indiana have interest. The question is if any team beside the Kings has offered more than the midlevel exception (approximately $5 million).
Phillips was on hand at summer league but declined comment. He spent much of his evening sitting in the vicinity of executives from Toronto -- one of the few teams with salary cap room to spare -- and spoke briefly with Miami Heat vice president of player personnel Chet Kammerer.
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Well, it looks like Louis will defeinately be back for camp that's awesome!!!
And also looks like Bonzi's agent is trying to whore himself to the last team with money to spare. I think Bonzi's potential suitors have all backed off with the moves they've made. Hopefully Toronto doesn't want him.
and the link:
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/14276163p-15085604c.html
The small forward scores 12 points in a summer-league game.
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:01 am PDT Saturday, July 8, 2006
LAS VEGAS -- Much to the dismay of the non-Kings summer-league contingent, Ron Artest has arrived.
The small forward who re-energized the Kings last season did the same for the summer-league version, scoring 12 points in 25 minutes in Sacramento's 91-73 win over New Orleans at UNLV's Cox Pavilion.
Artest, who also competed in last season's summer league in Minnesota while he was with the Indiana Pacers, said he came to get some early work in with Kings coach Eric Musselman.
"That's definitely one of the reasons I came out here, to get a feel for how he's going to coach and how I should prepare for the remainder of the season," Artest said. "I'll definitely work hard and get in more conditioning, because the way he runs and he presses, I'm going to have to be in pretty good shape."
Among the audience was George Maloof, the operator of the family's Palms Casino Resort who pushed the decision to trade Peja Stojakovic for Artest.
"(Artest) is so competitive that I just thought it was worth taking a shot to help our team," Maloof said. "That was mainly it. He helped the team, and the timing was good. We needed a good spark. He's a good leader, so we're excited about next year."
Rebel King? -- Long after the Kings took Rutgers shooter Quincy Douby with the 19th overall pick in the June 28 draft, they went looking to steal a big man with a possible trade for a second-round pick.
Louis Amundson was part of that unsuccessful search, but the 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward out of UNLV wound up coming to the Kings via summer league. Amundson will be around for a while, as his contract with the Kings included an invite to training camp in October.
He is known as a scrappy, energetic player, with plenty of muscle and hustle to rebound and defend. He scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds in his debut Thursday, then had 12 points and 12 rebounds Friday. He was the recipient of a perfect alley-oop pass from Kings point guard Ronnie Price in the second quarter, slamming it home to the delight of his familiar crowd that chanted "Lou!"
Amundson later shook the backboard with a putback dunk, sparking rave reviews from Kings co-owner Gavin Maloof courtside.
Douby can do -- Douby -- who said his rookie contract will pay him $1.2 million this season -- had a shining moment in his possible path to point guard status.
Running the floor in the first half, he looked right and threw a behind-the-back pass to his left to a running Kevin Martin, who finished with a layup.
Waiting Wells -- All indications are that free-agent shooting guard Bonzi Wells is waiting for his price tag to increase.
His offer from the Kings, reportedly, is for $36 million over five years, and his agent, William Phillips, has said more than six teams put offers on the table. According to reports, Denver, Detroit and Indiana have interest. The question is if any team beside the Kings has offered more than the midlevel exception (approximately $5 million).
Phillips was on hand at summer league but declined comment. He spent much of his evening sitting in the vicinity of executives from Toronto -- one of the few teams with salary cap room to spare -- and spoke briefly with Miami Heat vice president of player personnel Chet Kammerer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, it looks like Louis will defeinately be back for camp that's awesome!!!
And also looks like Bonzi's agent is trying to whore himself to the last team with money to spare. I think Bonzi's potential suitors have all backed off with the moves they've made. Hopefully Toronto doesn't want him.
and the link:
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/14276163p-15085604c.html
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