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Goodbye and Good Luck to Donté Greene

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By Aykis16
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March 24, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings small forward Donte Greene (20) reacts to a call against the Golden State Warriors during the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. Golden State won 111-108. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE
March 24, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings small forward Donte Greene (20) reacts to a call against the Golden State Warriors during the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. Golden State won 111-108. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

A couple days ago the Kings officially extended the Qualifying Offer to Jason Thompson, but not to Small Forward Donté Greene. The next day, Donté took to Twitter to say Goodbye.

I don't think the fact that the Kings aren't interested in bringing back Donté Greene is a surprise to anyone, but I'm sad nonetheless. When we traded for Greene back in 2008, there was a lot of hope that this super athletic, very tall wing could be our SF of the future, to take the reins from the player who he was traded for, Ron Artest.

Obviously it didn't work out that way. That first year in Sacramento was a complete disaster, both for Greene and the team, as they suffered a franchise worst 17-65 season and had the league's worst record. Then the Kings brought in Omri Casspi with the hope that Casspi and Greene would be able to duke it out for the spot. Again, it didn't work out, as neither player really was able to play consistently. Consistency is a luxury that Donté (or anybody who has been on this team for the past few years) never managed to get. Four coaches (Theus, Natt, Westphal, Smart) in four years, a myriad of roles (Spot-up shooter, defensive specialist, Power Forward, Small Forward, etc.) and bosses who have spent their recent time trying to leave this city. I hasn't been a very conducive environment for development to say the least.

While I won't necessarily miss Donté for what he did on the court, I will miss him for what he did off it. Over these past four years he became one of the Kings' more engaging personalities. He started a pre-game jumping ritual with the fans. He organized a charity game in Davis during the lockout after a fan tweeted him. He even helped one of our community members, kfipp, propose!

These are just a few of the good memories I'll have of Donté Greene. Best of luck to him wherever he goes and with whatever he plans to do with his futuré.

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