Let him stay. A new GM at this point could be a boon or a bust. Because the fact of the matter is, if we want a new GM, there’s probably not anyone out there that’s better. Also, Geoff is one of the best drafting GMs in this league, and we figure to need assets from the draft for the next couple years. He’s had some pretty great trades earlier in the decade as well. His weakness is by far free agent acquisitions.

I sat and stared at the poll for a full minute before finally voting to keep GP. And even then, I think it was more because I’m afraid of the stupid decisions the Maloofs might make if he is gone. Letting Adelman go was probably a bad move, although it might have been time. Hiring Muss and Theus were the real bone-headed moves. Do we want the Gm we know, or the GM the maloofs might hire?

The other thing the Kings need is consistancy. Players and fans need to feel like we know where we are going. Four coaches and two GMs in three years doesn’t say that.

But I recall an interview with Petrie shortly into the offseason, and it sounded like he was still enthusiastic about working for the foreseeable future.

My guess is he goes another year or two and ends up being moved into a more ceremonial position with the organization.

If Petrie wants to continue to be the GM for this team, I think you keep him. He’s established himself, despite his weaknesses, to be one of the best GM’s in the league. Unless you’ve got another top GM lined up, why create the sudden instability?

A new GM would (likely) have a new vision of rebuilding this team, which would most likely be detrimental to the rebuilding efforts thus far. Consistency is something the Kings have lacked on the court, I’d hate to see it spill over into the front office. And yes, I’m fully prepared for the backlash for calling the current front office consistent.

Ultimately, I don’t want to end up with a sad retread like Kahn, and I don’t want Bill Simmons to suddenly be campaigning for the Sacramento GM spot.

this is simple.

There is no way we should let GP go. The bottom line is that the Maloof’s have become cheap. (For understandable reasons) So if you fire GP, who do you put in his place?

As a life long Kings fan, I would absolutely lose my mind if they let him walk and then hired some Chump GM on the cheap. Levien MAY be pretty good, but why not let GP finish the rebuild and see if his 3rd is as good as the first 2?

People always find things to gripe about when a team is losing but if you think about it, this isn’t GP’s fault. He rebuilt this team when the Maloof’s came in. We won. GP didn’t miss the free throws. He shuffled the deck after the Webber trade and we started winning at a crazy rate following the Artest deal. The Maloof’s interfered, and forced the firing of Adleman. They then continued to interfere by forcing the Muss and Theus hirings. Again, none of those moves were GP’s fault either.

IMO, Petrie has always done a good job, with the one exception being WHAT we got in return for Webber. I thought we should have took all expiring contracts, or at the very least, a bunch of draft picks… Instead we got Thomas, Williamson, and Skinner????

But if all I can really complain about is one trade and everything else appears to be due to people (Maloofs) not letting the guy do his job, I feel pretty good about the job he’s done.

I guess what I’m saying is that I would prefer to see the Maloof’s sell the Kings then watch them fire the one good thing that’s ever happened to my team.

The true rebuild has finally begun and you give him another two years to see how it goes.

It’s going to take me at least another two years to get my nose out of his arse.

We all know that since the magic of the late 90’s and early 00’s, Petrie has made some mistakes. The first “rebuild on the fly” I understood and supported, since we still had a good chunk of talent around. However, the writing was on the wall with this team many years ago and he didn’t rebuild. He waited until a lot of players were at their lowest value before trading them. He acquired and signed a lot of cap-killing deals on older veterans that crippled our flexibility. Let’s not forget that last season he did it again with Beno.

All that said, I am willing to give him a couple more years to see if he has learned some lessons from the mess that he created. Let’s see how his plan plays out.

I know that this is all coulda-woulda-shoulda, but if the Kings make a free throw or two (or some other things happen) they win a championship in ‘02. They may have followed that up with another championship the following year if Webber’s knee doesn’t give out. A healthy Webber, teamed with a supporting role Brad Miller might have hung another banner or two.

Had this team won even one championship, would our patience level be different right now? I mean, could the difference between the KIngs and the Spurs be as simple as the difference between C-Webb’s and Duncan’s knees?

I think Petrie gets stuck in one mode and takes too long to switch gears. when he built the championship-caliber team, everything fell into place. A great trade for Webber, a masterful signing in Divac, the drafting of J-Will (to become Bibby) and Peja. Then just filling around that core with savvy moves (Christie, Jackson, etc). Since then, he’s been overpaying players to stay, overpaying to bring in players, and trading away talented guys for role players. this salary issue is because of Petrie, because of a realistic view of the talent-dry roster. I say let him try to do something now that salary cap relief is almost here, but if he can’t get some star talent here in the next two years, he’s gotta go.

Petrie has the experience, the connections, and the basketball intellect. What he needs help with is a supporting cast that can cover his weaknesses, which include over-rating low-talent veterans and over-paying them. But I think the Maloofs are a positive force for keeping costs low, currently. Having Levien around may be useful for that as well, since he has the background on dealing and negotiating with current players.

We will see if Houston’s GM Morey and his stat-driven approach to examining players and how to use them is actually the future of basketball. Without McGrady and Yao this year, if the play well enough to get near the playoffs or even make it, then Petrie and the Kings need to readjust the old view of players.

Fire Jerry Reynolds from his front office job instead? If I have to hear one more time how blocked shots (aka INTERIOR DEFENSE) is overrated…

How can you say keep him after all the stupid and ill-conceived trades, giving away of talent for nothing in return, inability to get a coach who can coach, and signing huge contract for players who are marginal.

The faster we lose Petrie the SOONER we will make a come back. Not longer!

I am tired of people making excuses for this GM. He sucks so bad. It is his fault we lost so many games last season. He can pick young talent and that is it. He can’t manage this team at all and has repeatedly shown his inability. He can’t figure out what pieces are missing and go out to get them.

FIRE HIM NOW!

The Maloofs are not going to fire Petrie. Retirement on the other hand is not unlikely. I like the semi-retirement to talent-evaluator-at-large idea.

He has earned that. He built the great team of the early decade and if it wasn’t for a couple bad breaks this conversation probably wouldn’t even be taking place. Yes, he is also to blame for where this team is right now (the worst in the league) but IMO he has earned the chance to prove that he can build a contender again.

Petrie has had many mistakes but I honestly don’t see how, aside from taking too long to rebuild (which he is to blame ALONG with others, including of course the Maloofs), they have set this team back or have deeply hurt the organization. Yes, Beno’s contract looks horrible now, Mikki’s was probably pretty bad too, and signing Shareef with bad knees was pretty questionable, but how much did those things really hurt us. Are those signings (or the Webber trade for that matter) the reason why we are not championship cpntenders right now??

The Kings are FINALLY rebuilding so let the man rebuild this team. It’s very tough to stay consistently good for a great number of years; this league has its ups and downs, and it is this team’s turn to go through that bad (horrible) stretch. His time to go will come (maybe in the next couple years) but if he feels that he can still build a contender, I say let him.

Of the “Top” GMs out there today, most of them have taken over a bad team, used high draft picks, trades and FA signings to raise the team to contender status. GP has done that.

Now, how many of those “Top” GMs have been able to bridge the gap from contender through the loss of their franchise player, because of retirement or injury, through a rebuilding phase and on to contender again with a new cast?

I can’t think of any. Jerry West decided to skip the getting bad part and he still had Kobe and then failed at the building up part in Memphis, yet he’s still a genius?

San Antonio has been a model and no doubt they are one of the, if not the top, front office in the game, but what’s going to happen when TD finally retires.

IMO, The Kings are just now getting to the point where a GM could take over the team with no downside, elevate them and become a legend. I see no reason why GP can’t do it again.

I know I have taken an unpopular position and ticked some of you off. How about this question.

How many games do the Kings have to win for Geoff Petrie’s job to be safe?

20 games? 25? 35?

Let’s hear it. Then next year when this comes up we can all look back. Anyone willing to make a commitment here?

I think Petrie is still a good evaluator of talent … but I worry about his use + knowledge of the salary cap.

I greatly dislike the three salaries — Garcia + Nocioni + Udrih — tying up $18-19 million off cap space for the next 3-4 years. That could be the difference between being able to sign another star player or not … and that consequently could be the difference between developing a good team or a great team.

I don’t feel like Petrie has given enough weight to the damages of these contracts and how they’ve cut off some of his options. For a team in the early stages of a full blown rebuilding process, it’s damaging to start cutting off your options. Especially for mediocre (or worse) talents like those three.

I’d be tempted to fire Petrie at this stage. My confidence in him has fallen harshly over the last 24 months.