More news!

Greene, the 20-year-old rookie small forward out of Syracuse acquired by the Kings in the summer trade with Houston for Ron Artest, hasn't seen the floor in seven of the last eight games and is itching to feel like a basketball player again. [...]

Greene - according to sources close to the team - will depart for the Kings' NBA Developmental League team in Reno on Saturday. Greene's departure may only be for a few games or perhaps longer, but his mere presence on the Bighorns' roster is historical because he is the first Kings player sent to its D-League team.

Minutes listening to Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Pete Carril will be the most important of Greene's year, but getting a little burn -- and confidence -- at the D-League level never hurt a soul. Quincy Douby should have gotten the opportunity two years ago, but there's no sense in fighting old battles. Good luck in Réno, D.G.

More good news from Natomas:

Kings rookie Jason Thompson will be given the nod tomorrow to replace Mikki Moore at power forward in the starting lineup. Kings interim coach Kenny Natt said he made the decision after watching Thompson's progress over the last two games.

"It's a great opportunity," Thompson said. "It's not really new to me. I kind of started earlier in the year when I had things going. It's a different position. I will play four rather than three. But, I'm going to just keep doing what I've been doing - give the coach a lot of energy."

And now for some analysis!

Kings offensive rebounding: 25.4% -- 23rd in the league

Kings defensive rebounding: 70.2% -- 29th in the league

Jason Thompson's rebounding: 16.0% -- #1 on team

Mikki Moore's rebounding: 12.1% -- #6 on team

This makes too much sense.

...

OK. Pete Carril is back. Jason Thompson is starting at power forward.

<waits for new arena to spring from ground>

<waits for Spencer Hawes to debut sky hook>

<waits for Donté Greene's show to get picked up by my58>

<waits for the Brad Miller-for-LeBron trade to be finalized>

Pinch me:

The Sacramento Kings today announced that former Kings' assistant coach Pete Carril will return to the organization as a Basketball Development Consultant according to Kings' President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie.

"We're really excited to have Pete come back and join us as a consultant to assist Kenny (Natt) in all areas of individual player and team development," said Petrie. "He's really excited about rejoining the club and adding some of his experience and understanding of the game. I look forward to seeing him back here." [...]

"Coach Carril brings a lot of winning experience and knowledge about basketball in general," explained Kings' Head Coach Kenny Natt. "As a young head coach, I will be able to utilize his experience and knowledge about getting the best out of our players. I'm looking forward to his input. It's exactly what I need at this point."

In case there had been any question as to what went wrong on the final Kings possession:

"Kevin knew that we were down three, and he decided to take the ball to the basket," [Kenny] Natt said. "For whatever reason, we thought that he had some looks but he drew some other guys in and it was just a situation where he just decided to go for the two. … Again, decision-making down the stretch has hurt us, and we have to continue to get better at it."

The only positive result -- because he wasn't looking at Brad Miller in the corner -- could have been an And-1. But Martin's not healthy yet, and he hasn't finished in traffic late in games well in his five games back.

I fail to register bursting anger because the Kings have had equally befuddling crunch time possessions all season. Because it happened at the buzzer during a bad road losing streak, and because it was the star, it will get more attention today. But again: this has happened all season. The team's a bit undisciplined, not terribly focused, and generally bad. Stuff like this is no surprise.

Martin's ball-handling all game long was a bigger downer. Seven of his roughly 30 possessions ended with a turnover. Too many. Brad Miller had three in 18 possessions, Simply brutal from the two top weapons on offense. The shooting and foul-drawing were fantastic, the defense was strong enough ... but turnovers destroyed the offense.

Some of that is the battle between Natt and Beno Udrih, who played less than 30 minutes despite good production. Kevin Martin's not a point guard. Neither is Francisco Garcia. We need Beno to play well, and we need Natt to play him in crunch time. John Salmons isn't exactly setting the world on fire in crunch time.

Hey, if it's an equally neurotic team you need ...

Chicago might have the only roster less happy than our own. Can't be a bad thing when all the good things create inexplicable fissure.

Game's at 5:30PM PST. Let's go Kings.

I should preface the following commentary by noting that Kenny Thomas has been given a chance by every Kings coach he has played under. Rick Adelman let him start the bulk of his games in Sacramento in 2004-05 and '05-06. Eric Musselman had Thomas as the starter for a while. Reggie Theus gave him two games to open the 2007-08 season. And now Kenny Natt offers up 24 minutes of playing time, including the closing moments of a tight game.

In this sense, then, Thomas has never been long for the only doghouse that matters. Musselman's firing gave K-9 a fresh shot. Ditto Theus. The only two doghouses we have here: the franchise management (the Maloofs, Geoff Petrie, Wayne Cooper, Jerry Reynolds) and the fans. Reynolds, the past year or two, has refused to gild K-9's lily. This is a bit remarkable when you consider all the mediocre talents (Sacramentan and opposing) Reynolds has treated like hoops royalty. I mean, Eric Gordon is already Mitch Richmond, Kevin Martin is Kobe, Scot Pollard was Bill Russell and Vlade Divac is the reincarnated spirit of Jesus Almighty. Reynolds sees the brightest side of everyone -- but his compliments last night extended to "That's the one thing Kenny has always been able to do: rebound." A far cry from the typical bleating, and a bit jarring considering K-9 was about the third best King.

And ... yeah, K-9 is not likely to escape the fans' doghouse for long. Thomas was terrific last night, but there's too much history there to allow him to sneak back into our good graces on four steals and a block. Fans are typically too hard on the players. In Thomas' case, our feelings are deserved.

All that said, the doghouse doesn't matter. If K-9 is a live body, he's helping everyone. He helped un-Mikki the game with some decent rebounding (in an otherwise disastrous rebounding performance). If he can provide enough activity to actually get himself traded, it's better for the management. If he can do enough to keep playing, it's better for him. If he can provide a semblance of interior defense, it can help win games, and that helps our plight. The only thing that's wrong with playing K-9 is crushing Shelden Williams ... but we're at the point where Shelden doesn't even feel like a member of the Tomorrow Brigade any longer.

So I guess this is my way of saying it's not all water under the bridge, but all arms of the Kings can use Kenny Thomas for good, and Kenny Thomas can use the Kings for good. Let's not imagine it as anything other than a mutually beneficial, hopefully short-term relationship. No need to get our spirits wet with grimness or glee, no need to pillory or tribute any actor involved. Kenny Thomas isn't good, Kenny Thomas isn't bad. Kenny Thomas just is, and we'll have to live with that for now.

Now isn't that something: the team's best player returns from injury, and instead of joy at the new competitive level the team's able to reach (two near-wins, yeah!), the best interim star ... grouses.

Asked about his declining production since [Kevin] Martin returned four games before, a frustrated [John] Salmons said it's up to the coaching staff to keep him involved.

"They call the plays, so it's up to them," said Salmons, who hit just 1 of 8 shots Monday and has made 18 of 58 since Martin returned from a left ankle injury that kept him out of 22 games. "There shouldn't be no reason why (he and Martin) shouldn't be able to play together … . That's on them, because it's proven (that he can produce)."

Last night seemed an anomaly: Salmons shot cold, and he took only 8 FGAs. In Indiana, he had 12 FGAs. In Martin's first two games, Salmons had 19 FGAs each. So either Martin completely took over the offense by the fourth game, or the coaching staff shifted the deck, content to watch Martin drop 30 every night instead of watching Salmons struggled to 25.

The complaint is foolish: does Salmons not understand hot streaks? Martin wouldn't be taking all these shots if he wasn't getting off to these ridiculously hot starts -- starts which have kept the Kings in the game, mind you. If the coaches are calling these plays, GOOD. The Kings won't win if Martin is relegated to pip status behind John Salmons.

Salmons has played with Martin for 2-1/2 years now. From Day One, Salmons has been behind Martin, first on the two-guard depth chart and now on the totem pole. I fail to see how John could be surprised he is getting fewer shots with Martin back.

That's on them, because it's proven (that he [John] can produce).

Then produce! Three points on eight FGAs? Come on.

(Am I taking crazy pills here? Salmons should not be complaining about Kevin Martin's scoring output, should he?)

How odd that Brad Miller has hit his stride as the Kings roll into the gym of the team against which Miller initially lost his stride. The Nets loss seems to be the point at which most Kings devotees (around here, at least) soured on B-52 to the point of trade pleas.

But Miller's been a beast since ... hmm ... Spencer Hawes went out with an injury to the abdomen. How odd that Miller and Hawes would both struggle so much in the Ivory Towers line-up. I mean, it makes sense: at this point, the players have similar strengths and weaknesses, with a couple important deviations. But it was still odd to see.

The question marks still hang on Beno Udrih like nooses, and Francisco Garcia seems trapped in 2006-07. More than any King, Garcia has actually looked frustrated and bothered and unsettled. The injury after the contract is said to have broken his heart, and the sacking of his mentor couldn't have helped. But Garcia's a man, man, and this cannot stand. He'll bounce back, hopefully soon.

Perhaps this is a discussion for tomorrow, but I'd like to make it known I am personally perfectly OK with Kevin Martin off the bench. Hell, he scored 45 points Saturday, and easily could have had 50 with a couple breaks (a foul call on the travel, a little more patience on the last possession). 46 off the bench. He'll get his shots any time, obviously. And Natt's giving him good minutes. He didn't get to play with Beno any in this model (rather, Beno doesn't get to play with Kevin), but the arrangement doesn't exactly seem broke.

Game's at 4:30PM. Enjoy, and go Kings.