SACRAMENTO, CA, Tuesday, August 28, 2007 --- The Sacramento Kings and Kevin Martin today have reached an agreement in principle on a contract extension, it was announced by Kings’ President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie.

"We're really excited to reach an agreement in principle with Kevin," said Petrie. "We expect to finalize the contract in the very near future. He's one of the most exciting young players in the NBA. We look forward to watching him play for many years to come."

Martin, who is currently entering his fourth NBA season, had a breakout year during the 2006-07 campaign, averaging a career-high and team-leading 20.2 points (.443 FGs, career-high .381 3FGs, .844 FTs) per game. He also registered career bests per game averages in rebounds (4.3), assists (2.2), steals (1.23) and minutes (35.2) while starting all 80 games in which he played.

Martin finished second to Golden State’s Monta Ellis for the 2006-07 NBA Most Improved Player Award in the closest voting for the honor since its inception in 1986. He increased his scoring average by 9.4 points after posting a 10.8 mark in 2005-06. Martin set a new Sacramento-era single-season record with 481 free throws made, passing Otis Thorpe’s mark of 460, set in 1987-88. He finished 19th in the NBA in scoring and ranked sixth among NBA guards in field goal percentage. Martin also ranked first in the NBA in scoring among players averaging 15 or less field goal attempts per game, while joining Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire as the only players to average at least 20 points or more while attempting fewer than 14 shots per game.

Selected by Sacramento as an undergraduate out of Western Carolina with the 26th overall pick of the 2004 NBA Draft, Martin has amassed career averages of 12.8 points (.469 FGs, .369 3FGs, .832 FTs), 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.86 steals per game in 197 career outings (started 121) through three seasons with the Kings. Martin averaged 23.3 points (.462 FGs, .346 3FGs, .841 FTs), 4.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.70 steals in 79 games (started 77) through his three seasons at Western Carolina, becoming the first Western Carolina athlete selected in the first round of any professional draft.