Hindsight is 20/20.
Petrie's made his share of mistakes over the decade that he's been GM. He's still shown incredible judgment of talent, an ability to acquire key pieces to a team that's already established, and let's not forget that he built the contender Kings from the ground up, practically. Made all the moves that got us into the picture and kept us in the picture for several seasons. I think he's capable of rebuilding the team.
The question isn't about Petrie's ability, if you ask me. I wonder more about the authority he has to make basketball decisions with this franchise. It was GP who had to plead with the Maloofs to pass on Whisenant last summer; we were all thrilled that he won that argument, even if we got stuck with Eric Musselman. He pulled off the trade for Chris Webber, moving over the hill Mitch Richmond for one of the best big men in the League, in his prime. Also orchestrated the deal that brought Brad Miller to the Kings, and at a time when we would desperately need a player with his skills since Webber was hurt. Drafted Peja, in the face of constant criticism. Got Vlade here, got Doug Christie here. Traded Jason Williams for Mike Bibby, straight up, which paid off immediately.
The man's resume is chock full of great moves over the past 10 years. He also has some glaring oversights that probably warrant an explanation. The Gerald Wallace deal still makes no sense, but there are probably a ton of other factors that played into that whole mess. For instance, a second year option may have been a stipulation that Peeler wouldn't do without. I'm still convinced that the Webber for "moveable pieces" deal was forced by the Maloofs, and wasn't Petrie's decision. Same with the Rick Adelman debacle last season. And I'm sure Musselman wasn't Petrie's first choice. He was his miracle save from having a man who had no high-level coaching experience trying to win us a championship - who was all but inked, by the way.
Bottom line, whether GP has the ability to rebuild this team doesn't concern me. I'm more concerned with whether the Maloofs will let him do what needs to be done in order to land us some players that can make a difference, as opposed to signing guys like Jason Hart and Vitaly Potapenko. If Petrie is calling the shots, I'm good with it.