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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12315139p-13179950c.html
Ailene Voisin: 'A King for life': Petrie receives extension
By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Saturday, February 12, 2005
This was the slam dunk of the season, an obvious call to make. There would be no need to consult the official replays Friday night (yes, that was a goaltend). Signing Geoff Petrie to a four-year extension - "making him a King for life," as Gavin Maloof quipped during a late-afternoon press conference - was both a goodwill gesture and shrewd investment, minus the high-end risk. Were he to pursue free agency when his contract would have expired following the 2005-2006 season, Petrie, one of the most respected executives in the NBA, could have named his price. Were he inclined toward the bright lights and the big cities, he would been presented his choice of markets. Were he less committed to the community and the franchise he has boldly and brilliantly transformed these past 11 years, he would have skipped town and escaped all this state-of-the-arena wrangling.
But Petrie feels he can win here, feels at home here, feels he can finish what he started here.
http://ads.sacbee.com/RealMedia/ads...l/64313865323634663432306534343830?_RM_EMPTY_ "Geoff asked my advice when the Maloofs approached him a couple of weeks ago," said Kings assistant Pete Carril, Petrie's former college coach and mentor, "and I asked him two questions. I said, "Are you happy?' And he said, 'Yes.' And then I asked, "Do you think you can get the job done here in spite of the significant challenges ahead?' And he said, 'Yes,' again. That was all I needed to hear."
Though the timing even surprised Petrie, the Maloofs have been plotting this latest move for months. Almost from the moment their ownership became finalized in July 1999, they formed a bond with the team's soft-spoken basketball president, trusting him implicitly and liking him immediately. This is their guy. They cling to his words like schoolboys in the company of an action hero, reciting his reasoning - often verbatim - for virtually every personnel move. Depending upon the amount of caffeine consumed on a particular day, Petrie is either Jerry West, the next Jerry West or better than Jerry West.
This isn't to suggest there haven't been spats. The Maloofs are an emotional bunch, known to exhaust their cell-phone minutes during the course of a game. Every defeat is excruciating. Every postseason elimination is the end of the world. Every player and coach has been traded or fired a zillion times.
"We start to panic after three or four straight losses," Joe Maloof acknowledged, laughing, "though fortunately, that hasn't happened too often. And while we haven't won the whole thing yet, we've had a great run, and that's mostly because of Geoff."
Before Petrie was hired by former owner Jim Thomas in 1994 at the behest of player personnel director Jerry Reynolds, the Kings had reached the playoffs in only one of their nine seasons in Sacramento. Since, they have qualified for the postseason in seven of 10 seasons and come within a Robert Horry three-pointer of reaching the NBA Finals in 2002. And Petrie, who lives with his wife, Anne-Marie, in a vineyard in Clarksburg, has proven equally adept at managing the salary cap and assembling talent, as well as maneuvering Kings pieces around the NBA board like a chess master.
Repeatedly, he has drafted players and then swapped for superior players, his best transactions including the acquisition of Mike Bibby (for Jason Williams), Doug Christie (for Corliss Williamson), Chris Webber (for Mitch Richmond), and the drafting of Peja Stojakovic and Hedo Turkoglu. And had he not been so quietly aggressive in his pursuit of free agent Vlade Divac back in 1998? Of Bobby Jackson in 2000? The Kings would have been a quality team, not a special team.
While many legitimately question whether the current squad is championship caliber - and Petrie himself candidly has addressed the rebounding and defensive shortcomings, as well as the uncertainty of Webber's ability to withstand an 82-game regular season on a surgically repaired left knee - there is every reason to believe he will successfully retool and reconfigure the Kings' roster at his earliest convenience. Translation: as soon as possible.
This is a man who never sleeps, who in that sense, resembles most sports executive. Yet in many other respects, he is atypical of his peers. He is driven to succeed, to win a title, and intent on doing so in a small market. He isn't out there lobbying for the next coveted job in Los Angeles, New York or Chicago, but rather is consumed by finding the next great player and bringing him here, then doing it all over again, until he achieves the ultimate goal.
"This franchise has become as good a destination as there is in the NBA," Petrie said intently, his face flushed. "There is a real sense of community, of belonging. As turbulent as it can be in this business, there really is no other place I would choose to live. This is home."
Extended stays
Recent contract extensions signed by Kings coaches and front-office personnel: • Feb. 1: Head coach Rick Adelman, team option for one year, $3 million.
• Thursday: Assistant coaches Elston Turner and T.R. Dunn, team options for one year, details not disclosed; Pete Carril and Bubba Burrage, one-year extensions.
• Friday: President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie (shown), four-year extension through the 2009-10 season, details not disclosed.
Ailene Voisin: 'A King for life': Petrie receives extension
By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Saturday, February 12, 2005
This was the slam dunk of the season, an obvious call to make. There would be no need to consult the official replays Friday night (yes, that was a goaltend). Signing Geoff Petrie to a four-year extension - "making him a King for life," as Gavin Maloof quipped during a late-afternoon press conference - was both a goodwill gesture and shrewd investment, minus the high-end risk. Were he to pursue free agency when his contract would have expired following the 2005-2006 season, Petrie, one of the most respected executives in the NBA, could have named his price. Were he inclined toward the bright lights and the big cities, he would been presented his choice of markets. Were he less committed to the community and the franchise he has boldly and brilliantly transformed these past 11 years, he would have skipped town and escaped all this state-of-the-arena wrangling.
But Petrie feels he can win here, feels at home here, feels he can finish what he started here.
http://ads.sacbee.com/RealMedia/ads...l/64313865323634663432306534343830?_RM_EMPTY_ "Geoff asked my advice when the Maloofs approached him a couple of weeks ago," said Kings assistant Pete Carril, Petrie's former college coach and mentor, "and I asked him two questions. I said, "Are you happy?' And he said, 'Yes.' And then I asked, "Do you think you can get the job done here in spite of the significant challenges ahead?' And he said, 'Yes,' again. That was all I needed to hear."
Though the timing even surprised Petrie, the Maloofs have been plotting this latest move for months. Almost from the moment their ownership became finalized in July 1999, they formed a bond with the team's soft-spoken basketball president, trusting him implicitly and liking him immediately. This is their guy. They cling to his words like schoolboys in the company of an action hero, reciting his reasoning - often verbatim - for virtually every personnel move. Depending upon the amount of caffeine consumed on a particular day, Petrie is either Jerry West, the next Jerry West or better than Jerry West.
This isn't to suggest there haven't been spats. The Maloofs are an emotional bunch, known to exhaust their cell-phone minutes during the course of a game. Every defeat is excruciating. Every postseason elimination is the end of the world. Every player and coach has been traded or fired a zillion times.
"We start to panic after three or four straight losses," Joe Maloof acknowledged, laughing, "though fortunately, that hasn't happened too often. And while we haven't won the whole thing yet, we've had a great run, and that's mostly because of Geoff."
Before Petrie was hired by former owner Jim Thomas in 1994 at the behest of player personnel director Jerry Reynolds, the Kings had reached the playoffs in only one of their nine seasons in Sacramento. Since, they have qualified for the postseason in seven of 10 seasons and come within a Robert Horry three-pointer of reaching the NBA Finals in 2002. And Petrie, who lives with his wife, Anne-Marie, in a vineyard in Clarksburg, has proven equally adept at managing the salary cap and assembling talent, as well as maneuvering Kings pieces around the NBA board like a chess master.
Repeatedly, he has drafted players and then swapped for superior players, his best transactions including the acquisition of Mike Bibby (for Jason Williams), Doug Christie (for Corliss Williamson), Chris Webber (for Mitch Richmond), and the drafting of Peja Stojakovic and Hedo Turkoglu. And had he not been so quietly aggressive in his pursuit of free agent Vlade Divac back in 1998? Of Bobby Jackson in 2000? The Kings would have been a quality team, not a special team.
While many legitimately question whether the current squad is championship caliber - and Petrie himself candidly has addressed the rebounding and defensive shortcomings, as well as the uncertainty of Webber's ability to withstand an 82-game regular season on a surgically repaired left knee - there is every reason to believe he will successfully retool and reconfigure the Kings' roster at his earliest convenience. Translation: as soon as possible.
This is a man who never sleeps, who in that sense, resembles most sports executive. Yet in many other respects, he is atypical of his peers. He is driven to succeed, to win a title, and intent on doing so in a small market. He isn't out there lobbying for the next coveted job in Los Angeles, New York or Chicago, but rather is consumed by finding the next great player and bringing him here, then doing it all over again, until he achieves the ultimate goal.
"This franchise has become as good a destination as there is in the NBA," Petrie said intently, his face flushed. "There is a real sense of community, of belonging. As turbulent as it can be in this business, there really is no other place I would choose to live. This is home."
Extended stays
Recent contract extensions signed by Kings coaches and front-office personnel: • Feb. 1: Head coach Rick Adelman, team option for one year, $3 million.
• Thursday: Assistant coaches Elston Turner and T.R. Dunn, team options for one year, details not disclosed; Pete Carril and Bubba Burrage, one-year extensions.
• Friday: President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie (shown), four-year extension through the 2009-10 season, details not disclosed.
About the writer:
- Reach Ailene Voisin at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/voisin.
