I think the entire logic of holding off on acquiring anything major until you see where the season takes you is precisely what Petrie is banking on in terms of moving Artest. We know collectively that there will be a tremendous amount of quality parity in the West next year. We know that a few of the teams that contribute to said parity will struggle. And we know a few of those teams are going to panic (for lack of a less melodramatic phrase) sometime in February and start making plays for available players. Sure Redd sounds good in theory. But in execution if Milwaukee moves him I think they can get more elsewhere. Honestly I just think Artest syncopates better with Houston than he does other rumored locales (with the obvious exception of the Lakers.) And I see Houston as being a still good but not great team in the late winter of ‘09.

Even if we ignore the salary issues, I can’t imagine any reason Houston would give us Jackson for K-9.

It always looks like teams will have cap room in 2-3 years, then they go and waste it on mediocre players. The herd of teams set to have available space will thin itself out, and NY and NJ only have eyes for LeBron, who would never come to Sacramento in the first place. I think trying for one major free agent and trying to land a couple good players through trade is the way to go.

People are acting like all will be ok in 2010. They forget that the biggest free agent signing Sacramento has managed is Vlade Divac (and don’t get me wrong, I love Vlade). Now, having cap space helps in terms of facilitating trades (notice how Seattle got hooked up with three first rounders for taking on, then trading, Kurt Thomas) but I’d be surprised if we net max-deal caliber player (that’s not saying Geoff will overpay a mediocre one!). I’d look more towards the draft and trade for assembling our talent, then using free agency in 2010 to add that final piece to the puzzle. But right now, we’re missing a lot of pieces, and K9 may have eaten some…

Moving up to 2009 could also be a sneaky move, if certain things fall into place. If extension negotiations break down with the Bobcats, Okafor could take a one-year deal to become an unrestricted next year. Boozer, too, could opt out next summer, and we all know he won’t hesitate to follow the $$.

Artest’s comments seems to make it clear he’s not in the Kings long-term plans, but Petrie’s followup to Ron’s first email seems to counter that and leave retaining Ron and even signing him to a multi-year deal an option. There may be a lot of teams playing a wait-and-see game, and any Artest deal could come before the February deadline instead of this summer.

I have to think at some point some middle ground might be found with Ron inking a four-year contract (or maybe even a 2-3 year deal) in the $40 million range. Less years is better for the Kings and maybe better for Ron as well, and $10 million a year beats MLE money.

Perhaps your pessimism will return. :)

If Spencer Hawes turns out to be a minor star, Beno turns into an 18 and 6 guy who shoots 40% from three, Jason Thompson turns into a good player – if the Kings really look like they’re going somewhere – it’s not impossible.