gunks
Hall of Famer
Pretty much what we've been discussing on this site for months now. The media finally caught up to us foward thinkers at kingsfans.com! 
Now maybe Petrie and the Maloofs will wise up.
http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/130265.html
Time had passed them by too, just like these Kings, some victims of unforeseen circumstance but most simply lost to the calendar.
Death and taxes and all that, NBA style.
Every successful roster that doesn't dissolve on its own has to be broken apart at some point. Rebuilding on the run is the third rail of sports, a risk few take and fewer survive when a more-proven route exists. It's just that grabbing a sledgehammer and swinging away from the inside is not pleasant.
The Kings of the 2000s know that. They tried to hold it together last season, trading Peja Stojakovic to Indiana for Ron Artest rather than finding a deal that would have brought a package of multiple prospects and/or draft picks and possibly expiring contracts. In other words, making the very trade management attempted to get this month in exchange for Mike Bibby.
Breaking up is hard to do. But try being the team stuck in the middle, good enough to reach the playoffs and lose in the first round every year, and not bad enough to clear salary cap space to rebuild and get a high lottery pick with the best chance of drafting an impact player.
"That's not a great place to be, for any team," said Memphis Grizzlies president Jerry West, who faced the predicament while running the Los Angeles Lakers. "And that's where we were. You cannot bring a Band-Aid to cover gaping wounds."
West wasn't referring specifically to the Kings, but to the dilemma: How long does a franchise hold on to being decent, with a chance to make the playoffs, and when is it time to swallow hard and begin tearing down from within?
"Those are very hard decisions to make for an organization that's used to winning because you know you're going to give up good players with a lot of experience, and you know they will still be good for someone else," West said. "It's painful and it takes a lot of intestinal fortitude to withstand the tough time.
"I don't know if there's a magic formula. But you at least have to have a plan. And (Kings basketball president) Geoff Petrie has been great, so I'm sure he has a plan."
Many in the same situation as the Kings have rebuilt rather than cling to the past.
The Milwaukee Bucks of the late 1980s had come off a run of seven consecutive division titles. Then they spent four seasons hanging on -- reaching the playoffs each time, losing in the first round three of the years and drafting in the teens all three years they had a first-round pick. Not good enough to be a real playoff threat, not bad enough to commit to rebuilding.
The Detroit Pistons of the mid-1990s were beyond the Bad Boys' championship generation. In six years they made the playoffs five times, losing in the first round each time and getting swept three times.
The change finally came in the summer of 2000. Joe Dumars took over as president of basketball operations and used the free agency of Grant Hill as the impetus for an overhaul. He dumped salaries by moving Hill to Orlando in a sign-and-trade that brought Ben Wallace, and got rid of more big money by trading Christian Laettner and Loy Vaught. Three years later -- after dipping to 32-50 and then replenishing with Chauncey Billups (free agent), Clifford Robinson and Corliss Williamson (trades) and Tayshaun Prince (draft) -- Detroit was back in the Eastern Conference final.
The Utah Jazz of the early 2000s were fading to black, with Jeff Hornacek retiring before John Stockton, and Karl Malone leaving as a free agent. Holding on beyond the ordinary timeline was by design -- Jazz owner Larry Miller had told Stockton and Malone that no serious youth movement would commence as long as the historic pair still wanted to be in Salt Lake City.
Utah's final two seasons with Stockton and Malone ended in first-round playoff losses to the Kings and no draft pick better than the teens. It continued after the breakup of the familiar Jazz, with a stretch of five of six years when the first-round selections were at 19, 19, 14, 16, 21 and 14. The exception was 2005, when it had No. 6, traded up to 3 and got Deron Williams, an emerging star.
The money that eventually became available with the notable departures was invested in two free agents, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur. Two years later, the two signings, the development of Williams and retaining Andrei Kirilenko had become the cornerstone of the team that is running away with the 2006-07 Northwest Division
"Everyone says you have to face the inevitable," Jazz vice president of basketball operations Kevin O'Connor said of Malone and Stockton leaving on their schedule, in deference to the years of service. "We were handed the inevitable."
Indeed, it's not always by preferred plan. The Lakers were forced into rebuilding mode when Magic Johnson announced in 1991 that he had tested HIV-positive and would retire, some five months after L.A. had been in the Finals. It went through two losing seasons and a flurry of roster moves for an organization that had ordinarily known stability before the course of NBA history was changed in the summer of 1996, when Shaquille O'Neal was signed as a free agent and Vlade Divac was traded for Kobe Bryant.
Now there are the Kings, once good enough to be minutes, if not seconds, away from a trip to the Finals and a probable victory against overmatched New Jersey, but within years unable to get out of the first round and now struggling for a ninth consecutive playoff spot. They have conceded the roster renovation needs to begin.
Getting there has become the hard part. All they need to do next is survive it and come out on the other side.
About the writer:
The Bee's Scott Howard-Cooper can be reached at showard- cooper@sacbee.com.
Now maybe Petrie and the Maloofs will wise up.
http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/130265.html
Time had passed them by too, just like these Kings, some victims of unforeseen circumstance but most simply lost to the calendar.
Death and taxes and all that, NBA style.
Every successful roster that doesn't dissolve on its own has to be broken apart at some point. Rebuilding on the run is the third rail of sports, a risk few take and fewer survive when a more-proven route exists. It's just that grabbing a sledgehammer and swinging away from the inside is not pleasant.
The Kings of the 2000s know that. They tried to hold it together last season, trading Peja Stojakovic to Indiana for Ron Artest rather than finding a deal that would have brought a package of multiple prospects and/or draft picks and possibly expiring contracts. In other words, making the very trade management attempted to get this month in exchange for Mike Bibby.
Breaking up is hard to do. But try being the team stuck in the middle, good enough to reach the playoffs and lose in the first round every year, and not bad enough to clear salary cap space to rebuild and get a high lottery pick with the best chance of drafting an impact player.
"That's not a great place to be, for any team," said Memphis Grizzlies president Jerry West, who faced the predicament while running the Los Angeles Lakers. "And that's where we were. You cannot bring a Band-Aid to cover gaping wounds."
West wasn't referring specifically to the Kings, but to the dilemma: How long does a franchise hold on to being decent, with a chance to make the playoffs, and when is it time to swallow hard and begin tearing down from within?
"Those are very hard decisions to make for an organization that's used to winning because you know you're going to give up good players with a lot of experience, and you know they will still be good for someone else," West said. "It's painful and it takes a lot of intestinal fortitude to withstand the tough time.
"I don't know if there's a magic formula. But you at least have to have a plan. And (Kings basketball president) Geoff Petrie has been great, so I'm sure he has a plan."
Many in the same situation as the Kings have rebuilt rather than cling to the past.
The Milwaukee Bucks of the late 1980s had come off a run of seven consecutive division titles. Then they spent four seasons hanging on -- reaching the playoffs each time, losing in the first round three of the years and drafting in the teens all three years they had a first-round pick. Not good enough to be a real playoff threat, not bad enough to commit to rebuilding.
The Detroit Pistons of the mid-1990s were beyond the Bad Boys' championship generation. In six years they made the playoffs five times, losing in the first round each time and getting swept three times.
The change finally came in the summer of 2000. Joe Dumars took over as president of basketball operations and used the free agency of Grant Hill as the impetus for an overhaul. He dumped salaries by moving Hill to Orlando in a sign-and-trade that brought Ben Wallace, and got rid of more big money by trading Christian Laettner and Loy Vaught. Three years later -- after dipping to 32-50 and then replenishing with Chauncey Billups (free agent), Clifford Robinson and Corliss Williamson (trades) and Tayshaun Prince (draft) -- Detroit was back in the Eastern Conference final.
The Utah Jazz of the early 2000s were fading to black, with Jeff Hornacek retiring before John Stockton, and Karl Malone leaving as a free agent. Holding on beyond the ordinary timeline was by design -- Jazz owner Larry Miller had told Stockton and Malone that no serious youth movement would commence as long as the historic pair still wanted to be in Salt Lake City.
Utah's final two seasons with Stockton and Malone ended in first-round playoff losses to the Kings and no draft pick better than the teens. It continued after the breakup of the familiar Jazz, with a stretch of five of six years when the first-round selections were at 19, 19, 14, 16, 21 and 14. The exception was 2005, when it had No. 6, traded up to 3 and got Deron Williams, an emerging star.
The money that eventually became available with the notable departures was invested in two free agents, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur. Two years later, the two signings, the development of Williams and retaining Andrei Kirilenko had become the cornerstone of the team that is running away with the 2006-07 Northwest Division
"Everyone says you have to face the inevitable," Jazz vice president of basketball operations Kevin O'Connor said of Malone and Stockton leaving on their schedule, in deference to the years of service. "We were handed the inevitable."
Indeed, it's not always by preferred plan. The Lakers were forced into rebuilding mode when Magic Johnson announced in 1991 that he had tested HIV-positive and would retire, some five months after L.A. had been in the Finals. It went through two losing seasons and a flurry of roster moves for an organization that had ordinarily known stability before the course of NBA history was changed in the summer of 1996, when Shaquille O'Neal was signed as a free agent and Vlade Divac was traded for Kobe Bryant.
Now there are the Kings, once good enough to be minutes, if not seconds, away from a trip to the Finals and a probable victory against overmatched New Jersey, but within years unable to get out of the first round and now struggling for a ninth consecutive playoff spot. They have conceded the roster renovation needs to begin.
Getting there has become the hard part. All they need to do next is survive it and come out on the other side.
About the writer:
The Bee's Scott Howard-Cooper can be reached at showard- cooper@sacbee.com.
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