By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:01 am PDT Sunday, September 3, 2006
The Bee's Martin McNeal can be reached at mmcneal@sacbee.com.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14316578p-15231524c.html
Things have been quiet around the Kings these days, but there have been talks within the organization about free-agent swingman Bonzi Wells' renewed interest in rejoining the team.
Wells, who dazzled during last season's first-round playoff loss to the San Antonio Spurs, has been unable to find the lucrative deal he sought this summer and has made it known to the Kings that he would like to return.
But as far as Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie is concerned, his team has moved on.
"There's nothing to that beyond the fact that Bonzi still has legitimate interests about wanting to play for us," Petrie said while interrupting a brief vacation. "The dynamics we've talked about before are still there.
"The tax issue still is there, and we've assembled a roster. We've basically moved on. We've made commitments. There's nothing that's changed, nothing that involves us."
The renewed interest comes after Wells and agent William Phillips failed to take a reported five-year deal extended by the Kings that would have paid him about $8 million annually. The offer was the largest made to Wells and eventually was pulled off the table by the Kings.
Then Sacramento signed free-agent swingman John Salmons, bringing the Kings just below the luxury-tax level of $65.42 million.
Signing Wells -- or virtually anyone else -- would force the Kings to pay luxury tax, which they have resisted.
Wells said throughout last season that he wanted to stay with the Kings, although he was intent on a big free-agent payday. He said he liked the organization, his teammates and the community.
Neither Wells nor Phillips could be reached for comment. Petrie said he has not spoken with Phillips in the past two weeks.
"I talked to William about two or three days before the (Al) Harrington deal went through with Indiana (and Atlanta) because he seemed to think something might happen for Bonzi if that didn't work out," Petrie said of the trade consummated Aug. 22.
One way the Kings might be able to clear cap space to sign Wells is to trade one of the three players with expiring contracts -- Corliss Williamson, Vitaly Potapenko and Jason Hart -- and not take back salary.
Bad trip -- Kings center Brad Miller is known for not wanting to travel abroad. That could mean he didn't get much for his experience this summer with the United States men's basketball team that won the bronze medal in Japan in the world championships.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski clearly saw little he liked from Miller. Miller played a team-low 50 minutes, seeing action in four of nine games on a team that had difficulty making perimeter shots.
Then again, by the time the tournament had ended, Krzyzewski looked as if he had been watching Don Nelson films by the way he was playing small ball and keeping power forwards and centers Elton Brand, Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh on the bench.
Published 12:01 am PDT Sunday, September 3, 2006
The Bee's Martin McNeal can be reached at mmcneal@sacbee.com.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14316578p-15231524c.html
Things have been quiet around the Kings these days, but there have been talks within the organization about free-agent swingman Bonzi Wells' renewed interest in rejoining the team.
Wells, who dazzled during last season's first-round playoff loss to the San Antonio Spurs, has been unable to find the lucrative deal he sought this summer and has made it known to the Kings that he would like to return.
But as far as Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie is concerned, his team has moved on.
"There's nothing to that beyond the fact that Bonzi still has legitimate interests about wanting to play for us," Petrie said while interrupting a brief vacation. "The dynamics we've talked about before are still there.
"The tax issue still is there, and we've assembled a roster. We've basically moved on. We've made commitments. There's nothing that's changed, nothing that involves us."
The renewed interest comes after Wells and agent William Phillips failed to take a reported five-year deal extended by the Kings that would have paid him about $8 million annually. The offer was the largest made to Wells and eventually was pulled off the table by the Kings.
Then Sacramento signed free-agent swingman John Salmons, bringing the Kings just below the luxury-tax level of $65.42 million.
Signing Wells -- or virtually anyone else -- would force the Kings to pay luxury tax, which they have resisted.
Wells said throughout last season that he wanted to stay with the Kings, although he was intent on a big free-agent payday. He said he liked the organization, his teammates and the community.
Neither Wells nor Phillips could be reached for comment. Petrie said he has not spoken with Phillips in the past two weeks.
"I talked to William about two or three days before the (Al) Harrington deal went through with Indiana (and Atlanta) because he seemed to think something might happen for Bonzi if that didn't work out," Petrie said of the trade consummated Aug. 22.
One way the Kings might be able to clear cap space to sign Wells is to trade one of the three players with expiring contracts -- Corliss Williamson, Vitaly Potapenko and Jason Hart -- and not take back salary.
Bad trip -- Kings center Brad Miller is known for not wanting to travel abroad. That could mean he didn't get much for his experience this summer with the United States men's basketball team that won the bronze medal in Japan in the world championships.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski clearly saw little he liked from Miller. Miller played a team-low 50 minutes, seeing action in four of nine games on a team that had difficulty making perimeter shots.
Then again, by the time the tournament had ended, Krzyzewski looked as if he had been watching Don Nelson films by the way he was playing small ball and keeping power forwards and centers Elton Brand, Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh on the bench.
Last edited by a moderator:
So true. I would be all for dumping Corliss and not taking back salary and signing Bonzi. It sucks things worked the way they did this offseason with Bonzi not accepting our offer which was the best....but I think the time he has spent kicking himself is enough for him to come back to us and be the player we need and loved last season and in the playoffs against SA. The bottom line is, Corliss is not going to do anything for us and while we get value for him with his expiring deal next year, I rather have it this year with us signing Bonzi who should now realize that he overvalued himself and hopefully is humble enough to take a pay cut and prove his worth. I'd be all for a 1 year deal, or multi year deal like 3 years or so for under $7M/yr or whatever works to keep us under the tax and still get Bonzi's rebounding and tenacousness.
