I've seen that timeline mentioned before, but actually not true -- he put up the huge numbers in the last month BEFORE Webb was traded (Feb) -- 26.0pts 5.1ast 6.3reb on .494 shooting. After Webb was moved his shooting percentages crumbled -- 19.9pts 3.4rebs 7.8ast on .403 shooting.
Thing with Mike is he needs a big man to play the two man game with. Webb was perfect for that role, and we all saw how potent that duo could be back in the WCF. Without Webb, and then without Brad for the last 1/3 of the season, the basic structure of Mike's game was broken down a bit. He is NOT Steve Nash, does not have amazing quickness, spectacular ballhandling etc. He's a shooter and smart pick and roll PG. The two guys on the current Kings team he can run his offense through are Shareef, and to a lesser degree, Brad. But both guys have been largely absent preseason, and have rarely had the ball in their hands even when on court.
Now all of that said, regardless of preferences and tendencies, Mike has pretty much just sucked this preseason. Think it goes beyond having a legit big to work with -- he just looks horribly uncomfortable out there. Kind of odd because I thought as the guy with the ball in his hands he would be most immune to the inevitable early chaos, but the opposite seems true. The team is not a team right now, and Mike is both contributing to that and being thrown for a loop by it. He thrives on structure I think.