Reynolds Discusses NBA Draft Combine

Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie along with members of his scouting staff, including Wayne Cooper, Mike Petrie and Bobby Jackson, are in Chicago late this week to meet with NBA prospects at the 2010 NBA Draft Combine.

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Petrie Contract Extention Press Conference Quotes

Kings Co-Owner Gavin Maloof

“We are all proud to say that Geoff Petrie has remained a King. We have given him a multi-year contract extension. We are so excited about where this club is heading for the future. Eighty to ninety percent of our team right now is draft picks, and that falls onto Geoff Petrie. We are honored to have him as a part of our family. He has been with the Kings organization for 16 years, after this year. He is one of the longest tenured, if not the longest tenured of any General Manager in sports. We are really proud and excited about the way the team is playing and the direction the team is heading. We all feel that we have a great young squad. A squad that beat an elite team in Denver last night. They have taken two other elite teams to overtime. The team has definitely improved 100 percent from last year. We are very impressed with their accomplishments and where the team is going. I would also like to recognize our coach, Paul Westphal. He is here today for support. He has done a terrific job along with his staff. People have something to look forward to as far as the Kings organization. There is hope for the future. I certainly believe that there will be multiple championships with this team the way that they grow. I don’t know if it is going to be next year or the year after, but in the future. When you have the second youngest starting five to ever suit up at an NBA game, that says something. The way that we are competing on the floor and proving every day, it is amazing what is going on. It’s great to be a King and to have you (Geoff) as our King.”

Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie

“I just want to start by saying how deeply appreciative I am of the opportunity to continue to grow this team. Obviously, when you have had this much tenure here as I have at this point, you feel a part of the organization for one and number two, you are getting a chance to continue to live out a childhood dream. I am now doing it in what has become my hometown. I can only echo Gavin’s comments about how much excitement we all have for the significance of room there is to grow and for the team we are seeing compete now during the first part of this season. I want to personally thank Paul (Westphal) for the professionalism and the leadership that he has brought to the team and the group of players that we have now. I have had an incredible staff for the longest time. There are so many factors that are involved for me, and we want to continue to get it back to where we can compete again at a championship level. We are moving in the right direction. I think that everyone can see that. I want to thank all of you, who have also been together here for a long time and the interaction that we have had over the years. We are going to move forward here and do the best that we can. Hopefully we will have a lot more fun, not just this season, but the ones to come. There is one other person that I want to acknowledge, if you haven’t seen her, you have probably heard her. That is the lovely Anne Marie, my wife, who gets to come home some nights and watch me count troubles and not sheep when I am trying to go to bed.”

Questions from the media

On the previous decisions that shaped where they are today
Petrie - “If you go back six months that would be the Draft. A little bit prior to that would have been the hiring of Paul (Westphal). We felt when we hired Paul that we all felt the same thing. He is someone with great knowledge, tremendous experience and some inner strength, which led right into the Draft. What we wanted to accomplish there was to get some more talent. Also, we wanted to get physically and mentally tougher for the way that our players approach the game. We needed to try to get bigger and longer at certain positions. I think this is one of those drafts that was close to being proven to be true. It’s a lot more than just that. It is the attitude of the group. You can see that in Donte (Greene) and see improvement in Jason (Thompson), he has come back and had a fabulous year. When everyone, including Beno (Udrih), said that he didn’t have a very productive year for him a year ago. I don’t think there is a lot to be gained from talking about the past… We are past that, and we are moving ahead.”

On the people Petrie works with
Geoff - “I think as you get older one of the most precious commodities you have is your time. Like I said earlier, I am still living that boyhood dream. I happen to be in a group of people who think the opportunity to work at this level in the NBA is a real honor and a real privilege. The group of people that I have had around me for so long is so confident, loyal and trustworthy. That counts as a lot with me. This is a home for me, too. I would not want to leave on a down note.”

On being a family and having a good environment
Gavin - “We are more friends than we are co-workers, or he works for us, we are his bosses. We have always considered him part of the family. It may be a little different, but we have forged a wonderful bond with Geoff and his family, of course Anne Marie and Mike, his son. We just have a fine affection for his family. It is great to keep this consistency and continuity. We talked about it early on when we bought the Kings. Now that we have a coach that is on the same page as Geoff and Geoff is on the same page as us and we are on the same page as the coach. It is a wonderful situation and it is a special environment that we are proud of. We can now take this forward and keep everything positive.”

On Mike Petrie’s promotion to Kings Assistant Vice President of Basketball Operations
Geoff - “Beyond the fact that we have the same name, he has grown up in the game. He has been here the better part of 11 years. He has all of the qualities that are important in my sense of what is valuable from the people in your organization. He has experience and he has a history of performance. He is loyal, trustworthy and at his age is a much better person than I was. He has always been a part of the inner circle, and he has grown. He was the video coordinator for some of the best teams that we had, when Rick Adeleman was here. He spent four years in scouting and organizing the Draft. He is just very confident.”

Rosters Set for Oakland Draft Workouts

The Kings will be among 15-20 NBA teams participating in a series of multi-player pre-Draft workouts in Oakland this coming Monday (June 1) and Tuesday (June 2). This is the second year the Kings have participated in the multi-team workouts at the Warriors’ practice facility.

President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie will lead Read more