The Kings futures of small forward Ron Artest and basketball president Geoff Petrie appear likely to be extended.
Artest, who can control his free-agency fate this summer, indicated via e-mail late Thursday night he's not planning to leave Sacramento. Also Thursday, Kings co-owner Joe Maloof said he intends to pick up the 2009-10 contract option for basketball president Geoff Petrie.
Artest - who has until June 30 to exercise an early termination option in his contract for the 2008-09 season - said he and his agent are not plotting to explore free agency.
Although his agent, Mark Stevens, did not return numerous calls for comment, his last public stance has been that Artest is "not likely" to opt out.
"My agent is on a business trip," Artest wrote. "We have not talked about opting out at all."
Although Petrie's contract has one season remaining with a team option for the following campaign, Maloof told The Bee by phone Friday he remains loyal to Petrie and doesn't want him to go anywhere.
"We're picking that (option) up," Maloof said. "Put that in the paper. Whatever his option is, we're going to pick it up. We think he's the best."
According to a league source, Petrie, who has been with the organization in a front-office position since 1994, proved his loyalty to the Kings last week. Atlanta Hawks officials inquired if Petrie was interested in filling the Hawks' vacant general manager position, but Petrie rejected the overtures. The source requested anonymity because of the private nature of the talks.
Since late last season, Artest has spoken as if he will remain with the Kings for the final year of his contract, worth $7.4 million. In the e-mail, he said the Kings' numerous injuries kept them from making strides beyond their five-game improvement from the 2006-07 campaign.
"The (ongoing) playoffs just got me thinking that if me and Kev (Martin) (played) the majority (of last season) and Mike (Bibby) doesn't miss all those games, we could have piled on 12 or 18 more wins," Artest wrote. "That would have put us at 56 wins, and that is still a failure."
Artest, of course, deemed last season a failure and has taken the general stance that anything less than a championship is a lost cause.
He continues to affiliate himself with the Kings in ways even beyond the NBA team. Tonight at Arco Arena, Artest is scheduled to be an analyst for the Maloof-owned WNBA Monarchs as they host San Antonio in the regular-season opener. Artest will provide color commentary for radio and handle television duties in the second quarter.
Read Sam Amick's Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/blogs.
