Just my 4 cents:
Rebounding and defense-
Guys I just don't see it. I don't see how Thomas, Skinner and Corliss bring that to the team, or at the very least enough to significantly impact the team. Everyone keeps saying that Chris was a defensive liability, newsflash, everyone on the team is pretty much a defensive liability. Are those three guys going to make Mike a better defender? Brad? Cat? If you think so, please help me understand.
Offensively-
You know if we had somehow gotten a guard out of this, then maybe things would look brighter, but Mike and Cat are going to have to play even bigger and more important min. the rest of the way in order for the Kings to win. "The Kings" as we know it are dead as is gone, no more in existence. The Kings team that the whole world fell in love with, the Kings team that was special because they were unlike everyone else, the Kings team that others have tried to imitate is no more. Now, we're just like any other team. Mike is going to have to be more of a PG and Brad is now our only (slightly) above average passer for a big man.
The intangibles-
This year, Chris was a leader. He talked the talk and he walked the walk. He made things happen in crunch time. He was a presence that cannot be replaced.
Are the Kings better without Webber?
Right now, a resounding NO
I have given Petrie the benefit of the doubt, and 1 year to make everyone see the light in this trade. Chris had a big contract, yes that is a fact. He is a question mark when it comes to health, yes that is a fact. Three smaller contracts are easier to move, yes that is a fact as well. So in that aspect alone you can perhaps see where Petire is coming from. As mentioned somewhere else, he just singed a 5 year extension, meaning he has plans for this team and needed some sort of flexibility (albeit small right now) going forward. Yet, that does not take away from the fact that I am a fan and as a fan you can't (don't want to) think farther ahead than this season and this season alone....well unless you are just a bad team and the "future" is the only thing that gives you hope and keeps you sane. But, getting back to the subject matter. We will not go farther this season than we would have with Webb still in purple and black. I still believed in that team. To me there was only one team better than Kings, the Spurs. And even at that they weren't head and shoulders better. IMHO, you could have put PHX, SEA , DAL and the Kings all in one bunch and in the playoffs, and in 29 games to go, anything could have happened. It was a chance I believe was still worth taking.