that's kinduva tricky poll question. i am excited for this coming nba season just like i'm excited for every coming nba season. however, it would be a serious overstatement to say that, as of right now, i am excited about the kings basketball team that will be stepping out on the court. i will watch whatever games i can. i might even have the opportunity to go to one or two. i will certainly annoy the **** out of my friends with basketball talk. i will cheer incessantly and i will invariably scream at the tv a whole lot. all this comes with every nba season for me.
however, this will be the first time that its accompanied without any feelings of hope. even early on during those mediocre "rebuild on the fly" post-webber-trade years, i had a sense that something could still happen. starting in 1998, geoff petrie created an amazing team out of absolutely nothing. it ain't the same guy behind the desk this time around. either he's been neutered by the penny-pinching, loyalty-shunning owners, or he's just getting softer as he gets older. either way, nothing begets nothing. geoff was extremely active in 1998 and the years that would follow, and a championship caliber team eventually took the floor. in 2007, he's as passive as a gm can be with a passive, unexciting roster full of overpriced, undersized veterans. there's little investment in youth and, seemingly, little investment in any kind of plan or direction whatsoever. kevin martin and spencer hawes are nice pieces, but they're hardly a foundation for the future.
and let's not talk about free agency in 2010. it's one thing to let contracts expire. it's another thing entirely to refuse to actively shop the few assets you have. if geoff were unable to trade bibby and/or artest and/or miller, then i'd be fine with letting them all walk as the ends of their contracts dictate. but he's not even trying. these are the words of the man himself. he has said in interviews that he is not actively shopping any player on the roster. until he says otherwise, or better yet, does otherwise, i'm dissatisfied with his efforts this offseason. i'll root for the team on the court, but the excitement and hope of, say, '98-'99 is long gone...
