question his free agent signings. Ostertag? That contract that Wells turned down? Aside from Vlade (and some minimum-level guys like Bobby Brown), I can’t think of many free agents he’s brought in who have been excellent values for their money.

But his trade record strikes me as impeccable. Some trades seem like a wash to me, getting rid of players we didn’t want anymore without getting us back anyone we particularly wanted (Skinner for Monia and Potapenko, the Bibby trade, the Webber trade, etc.). But I can’t think of a single trade he’s pulled off that we’ve clearly lost, and it seems easy to rattle off trades that we clearly won. Richmond for Webber. Williamson for Christie. Williams for Bibby. Ostertag and Jackson for Wells. Peja for Artest. Even Artest for Jackson (expiring), a promising prospect (Donté) and a pick that currently projects to be in the high teens. You said he waited too long on that one; was there ever a better offer than that on the table?

A lot of us here would love to see Miller and Salmons moved on by the deadline. But I think most of are glad that the trigger is in Petrie’s hand rather than our own. My understanding is that the Cleveland and Miami deals were both the suggestions of fans and pundits rather than actual offers on the table. The Cleveland deal, in particular, made no sense for the Cavs while they were rolling and before Z got hurt (which is when I heard it most talked about).

Yeah, the season has been frustrating. But no, Petrie hasn’t been passing up golden trade opportunities.

Regarding the rumours you refer to in the beginning of your post – Those particular trades never seemed like they were more than just rumours. Most of the proposed trades were all coming out of the Sacramento side and didn’t seem to have any credibility with media in the cities that were proposed trade partners. The trades work on ESPN’s trade machine, We and others perceive that Sac has a need to make some moves and then people start plugging in expiring contracts and filler into the trade machine and then presto you have a rumour. Geoff Petrie has never said that he wants to trade Brad Miller, we (the internet fan base) has said we want to trade Brad Miller. For all we know Petrie has every intention of keeping Brad through the end of his contract and then will try and resign him after his contract expires. As Otis29 said above, last night Brad played very well, same for the last game, when he and Kevin click, it’s a thing of beauty, it works.

Does it take GP too long to pull the trigger? – Shoot, I don’t know and neither does anybody else. When he gets a deal he likes he may have the fastest pen in the NBA. Now it does seem to me he is a very deliberate executive which is a good thing in my view. If the Maloofs were making the trades, players contracts would be getting shuffled like cards in Black Jack. My guess is that if a trade is made prior to the trade deadline it will be a trade we never saw coming, because for the most part the truth is despite all the rumours, we nevder see the trades coming. Patience Grasshopper.

to hear people’s view of the “showcasing” of Kenny Thomas vs New Jersey. I realize it has been discussed previously and probably belongs in another thread…..but i would like some of your takes. My first impression (and probably yours) was that there must be a trade being discussed, with a specific team wanting to make sure K9 can still get up and down the floor and maybe contribute. Surely Natt doesn’t play him for 24 minutes just so all of the other teams know he can still run….and then not play him at all the next game. This could have been achieved with 5 minutes on the floor, not 24??