Is this bye bye, Bibby?
The trade deadline is today, and the Kings still are shopping their point guard
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PST Thursday, February 22, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
Print |
E-Mail |
Comments (0)
Geoff Petrie was discussing the past, when the absence of cell phones meant the days before the NBA's trading deadline were spent holed up in an old-fashioned office by an old-fashioned phone.
Unless, of course, his team wasn't involved in any serious talks, in which case an appearance at the headquarters wasn't always necessary.
"Sometimes there are certain years when you just know that you don't have anything going on and you're not going to get anything going on of substance," the Kings' basketball president said.
This, however, is not one of those years. Speaking from his office late Wednesday afternoon, Petrie said there had been plenty of chatter but no deals intriguing enough to sign off on as yet.
With the trading deadline at noon PST today, the Kings have been actively trying to exchange point guard Mike Bibby for the right building pieces, and Cleveland continues to appear the most likely option. The Cavaliers have been aggressively trying to acquire Bibby in what they see as a vital piece toward a title run. Trades have been discussed involving three or more teams, though a Kings official said none of the talks had reached the point where deals were being turned down.
And should Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry wake up this morning willing to offer the Kings the right mix of youth, draft picks and/or expiring contracts they want, an 11th-hour deal might be made. (Ferry and Bibby share the same agent, David Falk.) A trade is unlikely, however, without involving another team.
"I've talked to Cleveland, (but) it's just conversation," Petrie said from his office before he left at approximately 5 p.m. "In general, it's not right now realistic that there's some sort of magic bullet out there for us, I think, in terms of some immediacy. I think if we do anything, it would be more geared toward the future and some combination of things that give us some flexibility potentially and hopefully some talent, too. It still remains to be seen. Right now, there's nothing of any substance to really talk about."
Yet even if the deadline comes and goes without a deal, recent days have revealed what is a deliberate plan on the part of Kings management. In essence, it is the decision to build for the long term rather than hold out for short-term hopes.
"It comes down to what makes sense to you and is part of some general plan going forward from where you are what you're trying to do," Petrie said. "If things come along now that fit into that, then we'd be inclined to do them. If we don't, then we won't. We'll wait for the opportunity that does."
It is the very sort of leverage that might pay off today. The mainstay in the Kings-Cavaliers discussions has been Drew Gooden, the forward who has two seasons and $13.5 million left on his contract. That's less than half of Bibby's deal (two seasons, $28 million), leaving plenty of room for discussion of how to fill the gap.
Acquiring point guard Eric Snow would work financially, but his age (33) and contract (two years remaining, $14 million) are not the direction the Kings would like to go. The expiring contract of former Kings center Scot Pollard ($2.2 million), according to sources unauthorized to talk, was discussed as, essentially, an aid to the numbers cause.
And, as Petrie noted, there is more to be discussed than Bibby. A source said Monday that Chicago was interested in Kings forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim, but Petrie said, "We have nothing going with Chicago."
"I know there's a certain amount of buzz out there about Mike, but it still doesn't preclude the possibility that someone else could get traded at some point, too," Petrie said. "If we don't do anything, we're going to go forward with the guys we have, continue to evaluate that and gear up for what you can do at the draft and in July."