Geoff Petrie Approaching Self-Imposed Lame Duck Status

I think he is leaving the franchise in a better place if this is his curtain call. As the roster sits in a few weeks, the Kings have young talented bigs, a semi-star in Martin, a top 4 pick and oodles of cap-space. 17 wins is a failure but this team is almost rebuilt- a new coach, a little luck with the lottery and another Petrie mid-twenties miracle and this thing looks solid.

Recd.

Jason Levien’s expertise came in handy saving the Maloof’s money in the interim while the team was losing. Some of the savings came through Shareef Abdur-Rahim’s retirement to be sure, but hey, they still saved money in the Cassell, Solomon and Diogu deal’s. And, depending on how they approach Nocioni for the next few years, they could end up saving money in that vein as well.

I agree mo that this team needed to bottom out. It needs to be at the bottom, or near the bottom, to replenish some of it’s talent source. But, even with that said, you have Martin, Garcia (whose effect didn’t matter nearly as much on a losing team), Nocioni (ditto as Garcia), talented young players in Hawes and Thompson who have produced at a reasonable level, and Greene who might be the best player out of all of them by the time it’s all said and done.

The apocalypse is not here. The good stuff is just beginning I say.

recd

Missed it by one:

It’ll all depend on who we end up with, and whether we get boom or bust. But winning 15 more games this year wouldn’t have helped the franchise, or even those of us who live and die by them.

reluctance to go into full on rebuilding mode until this last year, but I don’t really understand what you would have Petrie do differently?

Although the last few years haven’t been stellar, this is the first completely horrendous season and Petrie responded by cutting 28 mill between the Miller, Salmons trade, the waiving of Moore (6 mill to 2 mill) and convincing SAR to call it a career (paid + we’ll give you a start in coaching with 2 big that have potential). Now the Kings walk into the greatest free agent class ever with 20+ million to spend, 4 first round picks over a two year window (JT, Donté + 2009 picks), Martin at 20 million less than what Philly paid for Iguodala and some nice quality pieces in Garcia, Noccioni and yes, even Beno, just not as a starter and at a higher dollar than you would like to pay. I see a reduction in MLE type salaries from a potential 4 or 5 to 3- Garcia, Udrih and Noccioni with Noccioni still having some value in a trade.

I don’t think I communicated my point well. All I’m saying here is that:

• Petrie rejected a contract extension last summer because he wasn’t sure he could do this again.

• Petrie said a few months he’d walk away if he failed, for the health of the franchise.

• Petrie indicated reaching “oblivion” would be failure.

• The Kings reached a consensus standard of “oblivion.”

• The Maloofs and Petrie haven’t worked out an extension.

• A rather wealthy, young agent joined the front office at Petrie’s behest, assumedly with his sights on a higher position some day.

• Petrie has one year to convince himself he can do the job again.

I’m saying Petrie talked about leaving if he couldn’t do it last summer, and that by his definition he’s not doing it … So we should be prepared for him to step away.

Are we really doing that much less than other teams right now?

We have one of the smallest scouting departments in the league. We are among the stragglers in D-League usage. We don’t have a dedicated quant analysis (read: stats) department (or person). …

The MLE guys seemed forced in order to keep the status quo. SAR and Beno fit needs but Salmons and Moore seemed like reaches at the time. Salmons was brought in at 20+ mill to be a back-up. Moore was a downgrade from Kenny Thomas on paper and in reality.