Kings fans probably saw this day coming. While reporting that Jason Thompson was extended a qualifying offer earlier this week, we probably should have mentioned that no news was bad news for Donté Greene fans. The enigmatic forward out of Syracuse made it known (via twitter) that his days in Sacramento are officially over.
The 24-year-old combo-forward averaged 5.4 points per game in little under 15 minutes of action last season. He played in 53 of the team’s 66 games, starting seven times at either small or power forward. During his four seasons in Sacramento, Greene showed flashes of brilliance, but never found the consistency required to outright win the starting small forward position.
His best season came during the 2009-10 campaign when he averaged 8.5 points over 76 games, which included 50 starts. Coming into the 2010-11 season, Greene was scheduled to compete with Omri Casspi at small forward. But after coming into camp more than 20-pounds heavier than his previous season’s weight, he fell out of favor with then-coach Paul Westphal and found little traction in Keith Smart’s rotation this season.
While he had some major ups and downs during his tenure with the Kings, Greene became a fan favorite, even organizing a local charity game during the 2011 lockout and appearing in the documentary film Small Market, Big Heart.
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