VF21 said:
As more time goes by, I think it's becoming more likely THE TRADE was done not for flexibility, but because the town just wasn't big enough for Webber and Peja. And, IMHO, in the minds of the Maloofs, they considered Webber to be the riskier of the two players to keep around because of his injury history AND his humongous salary. I have maintained for quite a while and I reiterate here that I think Petrie was ordered to pull the trigger on the deal by the Maloofs. And if that is what they felt was the best for the team, then it was the right thing for them to do. I don't like it; I'm not convinced it was the right move; I don't know if Peja will ever validate all the faith and trust the Maloofs and Petrie apparently have in him. I certainly hope so... for the sake of the team I love.
I don't think Petrie got it wrong. I think he did what he was told to do; whether or not the Maloofs got it wrong might end up being something we debate for years, especially if Webber is able to continue with 20/10/5 and Peja continues to be just short of the player we want/need him to be.
Just my three cents, and only brought up to directly answer the question.
I miss Webber, but I've moved on.
GO KINGS!!!!!
I know that's your opinion and as big of a fan as you are (and well informed too) you certainly have a lot of backup for that opinion I'm sure -- but personally, I don't agree with that assesment. At least not the first part. I don't think the choice was ever Webber or Peja. For the most part, I think Petrie and the Maloofs are genuine in everything they've said about Webber before or since the trade. I don't see any huge inconsistencies in what they've said and done.
Here's my interpretation of what led to the Webber trade:
Going into the 2004-2005 season, there was kindof a "wait and see" approach because nobody really knew whether the team chemistry had been altered irreperably at the end of the 2003-2004 season. Certainly it appeared there were chemistry issues
on the court after Webber's return. But these guys had been playing together as a unit for years at that point. Why couldn't they go back to the great chemistry they had before? All of the business about Webber calling out certain teammates and Peja's trade demand being linked to that was speculation. You can believe what you want about their motives, and your opinion is just as valid as mine in that respect because neither of us knows what they were actually thinking. But when you look at what the players themselves said throughout that summer contrasted to what the Sacramento reporters insinuated, there's a definate contrast their. Webber never said he was calling out individual players, more the overall effort he didn't see. Peja never said it was about not getting along with Webb, he just wondered out loud if he would be better off starting over in a different city. My natural inclination is to take the players' at their word. And that's mainly because the journalists know about as much about these players' real motives as we do. In fact, I was really upset about all of the reporting coming from Sacramento about the Kings last summer. I would be happy to see the entire Sacbee Kings' coverage team fired and replaced because in my opinion they treated the subject like a gossip column and really disrespected the players on the team in a big way. Maybe that's why Peja wanted out, maybe that makes him a "baby", whatever. I don't care about that. I just think it's a negative reflection of Sacramento as a basketball city that we've got sportswriters there who'd rather write gossip columns spreading rumours and sensationalizing comments to the point where players start to resent the local media. Because that pushes people away from Sacramento and really we should want exactly the opposite.
That was a long paragraph. Let me start a new one. If you look at the roster moves Petrie made before last season, they were minor tweaks. Hole plugging moves to tidy up the ship without changing the status quo. He let the Lakers overpay for the tailend of Vlade's career thinking he had his replacement ready to step in after a year of on the job training -- ie Brad. Then he brought in a big shotblocking backup center to fill the spot vacated by Vlade with more of a defensive presence (or at least he thought he did, but that backfired - which to be fair, was partly the fault of a freak injury at the worst possible time). He brought in a young backup for Doug (who subsequently got injured himself and never played one game for the Kings -- Courtney Alexander) and he brought in a collection of longshots for training camp, two of which ended up playing much more significant roles on the team than expected - Matt Barnes and Mo Evans. He didn't try to move Doug, he may or may not have tried to move Webber. Looking back, I think he made a mistake by not being more proactive then about turning over the roster, but that's only in hindsight knowing that Doug was going to breakdown, OTag was going to contribute nothing and Alexander was going to disappear. Two of those were bad luck, the other maybe he should have seen coming but he at least acted fast to fix that problem later.
Alright so now halfway through the season, let's re-evaluate where the team is at. OTag and Alexander are MIA. Clearly Doug is breaking down in a big way (and in fact, he wouldn't be able to finish the season). Evans showed potential as a good backup SG but not really a replacement for Doug. And then there was the team chemistry issues which didn't resolve themselves neatly. And I'm talking here only of
on the court chemistry issues, not lockerroom issues. Webb clearly is not going to be the player he was pre-injury. Hopes of a full recovery were not rewarded. However, and this is significant, Webber did manage to will himself to another 20/10/5 season. And I give Webber all the credit in the world here. He worked hard on his shot while he was off and he adjusted to playing within his new capabilities. Webb said before the season he was going to take the team on his back and get himself back to the player he was and he lived up to those promises. But the problem is, the player he changed himself into was not the player he was before. He became a perimeter guy. He became a jumpshooter. Why is this such a big problem for the team? Because there's a classic inside-outside game that works in basketball. If you've got a beast to play the inside game and a marksman to play the outside game, you stretch the defense as much as possible which allows for all that fancy passing and cutting the Kings made a trademark out of for several years. Now if you take that inside beast and move him out to the perimeter, the defenders move a couple inches closer to the perimeter guys so no more wide open shots, no more open passing lanes. It makes the game a lot harder for everybody. That's what I saw during the first half of last season. And even though the team had a good stretch there, the matches were closer especially with the really good teams. Not to mention, the team as composed was never going to get any better. And with Webber eating up a large chunk of the payroll for a further three years, the future didn't have much promise for improvement. To restore that inside-outside game you need a strong inside presence and that wasn't going to be Webb or Brad. I really respect Webb for bringing himself back and taking on that leadership role. He was a guy who wanted that spotlight and made himself live up to that. You have to respect that. Even if his physical limitations made him a problem on the court. AND I think Petrie said just that when he wished Webber well and thanked him for everything. I hope he really excels in Philly. He just wasn't the best thing for the Kings anymore.
Sorry about these huge paragraphs, I just can't find a natural place to break them up. Anyway, to continue this essay, the Doug move was taking advantage of an opportunity to get his salary off the payroll because clearly he was already on the way out. This way we wouldn't have to pay him for another year - and Mobley was going to opt out anyway, so that's more flexibility on the payroll. It's not greedy owners cutting costs, it's just smart business. Trim the dead weight. I loved Doug too. He was my favorite player on the Kings while he was here, but he was becoming dead weight and in sports management you really have to be proactive when you see a player's value declining or soon you won't be able to get anything of value for them. So with Doug's salary gone, the rebuilding was already underway and that made the Webb move easier. His salary was simply too huge and the collection of players on the court was not working anymore. The inside presence was clearly the biggest need so it made the most sense to trade Webber. Skinner, Corliss, and K. Thomas didn't look like a very equal trade at the time, but first let's look at what Petrie
didn't do. He didn't bring in players that duplicate players we already have. All three of those guys fill useful roles on our roster. He didn't bring in any over-the-hill benchwarmers. (before anyone says it -- Corliss can still play people) he didn't get any expiring contracts, but one of them is two years, one is two years with a third
team option year (which is a good kind of option to have) and then Kenny Thomas who does have a bloated contract for several years, but he's also a potential double-double guy which makes him at least a viable fill-in starting PF for the rest of that season and in a worst case scenario for this upcoming season. I don't know what other GMs were offering, if anything, so we really can't judge whether it was possible for Petrie to get more value in return. I don't think based on those circumstances though that the trade could ever be considered a disaster.
(continued)
I hope GP gives me a reason to think it was all worth it. I want to believe this will happen but I'm starting to have my doubts.
