Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

by Ziller on Mar 8, 2007 12:57 PM PST in News

In his weekly TNT Overtime segment for SI.com, respected NBA reporter David Alridge talks about Geoff Petrie's future with the team. (Click on 'TNT Video' for the segment; no transcript exists.)

Aldridge said some things we have glossed over a bit: the Maloofs are taking greater control over the personnel. Aldridge says Petrie wanted to find a different swap for Peja Stojakovic than Ron Artest last year, but the Maloofs insisted on Ron-Ron. We all know the Maloofs' action in the coaching switch and in calling off that Mike Bibby to the Lakers deal, as well.

Aldridge suggests Petrie might look to jump ship when he can, and possibly slide into the GM or president role in Portland, his longtime home as a player and executive.

And all this makes me sick to my stomach.

I know some will point the finger at Petrie for not retaining Bonzi Wells, for not finding a deal for Bibby or Artest at the deadline, for failing to deliver a young effective big save Brad Miller his entire tenue in Sacramento.

But listen: Petrie is the best GM this franchise has ever had by far. Over the last 25 years, there are only two or three executives you can put in his class. The Maloofs are not going to go out there and find an equal replacement, it's just far too unlikely. Losing Petrie because of a control struggle would be the biggest mistake the Maloofs could ever make.

I am sick to my stomach.

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Re: Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

I trust Aldridge more than most of the talking heads reporting on the NBA. And if this is true, it does not bode well for the franchise's future.

Question is, if this is true, why did Petrie sign the long-term contract extension at the beginning of '05? Did the Maloof's suddenly decide after renewing the contract to screw with the player personnel decisions?

Honestly, I'd love to know all the nuances of the relationship between Petrie and the Maloofs, but it's highly unlikely we ever will.

The Maloofs have every right to sign off on any moves that the franchise makes, just like any ownership group in any line of business. But if they are consistently overriding the decision making process of one of the best GM's in the sport, they are just plain stupid.

by otis29 on Mar 8, 2007 1:07 PM PST 0 recs

Re: Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

It could be a gradual thing. The more the Maloofs believe they know about basketball, the more they are prone to get involved in the day to day running of the team. This tendency becomes even stronger when the team doesn't perform up to their expectations like this year. I don't think Petrie is the type to put up with too much of it before pulling up stakes. If that is the case, the long range prospects do not bode well. If the Maloofs think they know as much as Petrie about running a team, they will probably hire a yes man to replace him. One area I think both Petrie and Musselman could improve is community relations. Neither goes out of their way to be involved with the community or promote the team in the community.

by Observer on Mar 8, 2007 1:53 PM PST 0 recs

Re: Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

If the stories about the Maloofs pulling strings are true, then Petrie SHOULD leave the Kings. If the Maloofs think they know what they're doing, then THEY should run the team. This team has made bad move after bad move in the last few years and it's wrecking Petrie's reputation no matter whose fault it is.

by Carl on Mar 8, 2007 2:05 PM PST 0 recs

Re: Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

I'm really having trouble believing that Petrie was vehemently opposed to the C-Webb trade or the Artest deal.

Again, it's this kind of genuflecting at Petrie's alter that drives me crazy. He's a very good GM, probably one of the best in the NBA, but he's not infallible. Assuming that any bad move the team makes is the Maloofs fault is unfathomable.

Petrie has worked with the Maloofs for quite a few years now. He signed the contract extension in February 2005 - if he had any apprehension about the Maloof's involvement in the decision making process, he certainly didn't express it.

This roster and coaching staff is his responsibility...if he has no input in the decisions that are being made, he needs to come out and say so. The paying customers should know who's calling the shots here.

by otis29 on Mar 8, 2007 2:51 PM PST up 0 recs

Re: Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

Petrie is no dummy. By not revealing who is actually running the show, he can pretty much have it both ways. There is a large fan base that thinks he can do no wrong who are going to assume the Maloofs are the ones fouling up and that probably suits Petrie just fine. On the other hand the Maloofs may go with whatever he says but we don't know that and assume the worst.
The one thing that makes me think Petrie still calls most of the shots is the fact that there were no big changes after Adelman left. I think they might have been more of a house cleaning if it were left to the Maloofs.

by Observer on Mar 8, 2007 3:20 PM PST up 0 recs

Re: Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

I wholeheartedly agree with you. Not only would there have been a cleaning of the house, but I think the new coach would have done things much differently. I don't think Muss has the free reign of decisions that we give him credit for.

by dccamp on Mar 9, 2007 9:19 AM PST up 0 recs

Re: Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

I never thought Petrie wanted to trade Peja for Artest or Webber for Thomas, Williamson and Skinner.

I thought LA's offer of Kwame Brown, Jordan Farmar, Chris Mihm and a 1st round pick was a deal that would have been perfect for this team.

Hopefully if the Kings try to trade Bibby for Cleveland again, they include Varejao in the package as part of a sign and trade. Varejao would have looked mighty nice in a Kings Jersey backing Brad and Shareef up and playing in crunch time situations.

Time to Break 'em up.

by kingme18 on Mar 8, 2007 2:16 PM PST 0 recs

Re: Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

The Webber trade was all Petrie. That contract was a serious millstone after his injury, so he took the best offer he could find.

I agree that the Lakers deal would have been killer. Kwame is exactly what the Kings need (I can't believe I just said that), and Farmar is going to be better than average.

by SJP on Mar 8, 2007 3:29 PM PST up 0 recs

Re: Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

This would be an off-season coup for the Kings:

Draft a big man (PF or C)
Trade Artest for James Posey b4 July 1st to save 7 million dollars.
Trade Bibby to the Cavs for Varejao (20M/3yr deal), Wesley/Gibson/Brown (Wesley could be waived for an extra million dollars in cap space) and Newble (expiring deal)
Sign Maurice Williams in the offseason for mid-level or more than the mid-level like 36million for 5 yrs like Bonzi.
Get a back up swing man like Barnes,Walton. Or a center like Doleac/Ely or a PG like Diener
An A+ offseason would include trading Kenny Thomas etc. Which could perhaps be done if we got rid of him with Bibby in the Cavs deal.

Time to Break 'em up.

by kingme18 on Mar 8, 2007 2:31 PM PST 0 recs

Re: Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

Maybe you should re-read your plan. We would be the worst team in the NBA if we traded Bibby and Artest and replaced them with Varejao and Williams and Matt Barnes. If your plan for clearing cap space is to sign Williams I am totally confused.

I once had a neighbor who spent all of his money rebuilding a 1976 Ford Maverick. He gave it a paint job, air shocks in the rear, fat tires. When he was done; it still looked like a Ford Maverick.

Unless your 6 point off-season plan involves purging Miller, Reef, Thomas, Bibby and Artest; there will be no A+ and we will still be looking at a really expensive Ford Maverick.

We are slipping into the NBA abyss.

by jjham15 on Mar 8, 2007 5:32 PM PST up 0 recs

Re: Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

No im fine with my plan. You should read my signature

Time to Break 'em up.

by kingme18 on Mar 8, 2007 10:34 PM PST up 0 recs

Re: Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

Sports ownership has changed the way it does business over the years. Years ago, sports teams were owned by old money, Wrigley, Yawkey,etc and as such were a mere hobby. A passing interest to people that had money to burn. Then there was a shift. One of the first of a new breed of owners was Charley Finley of the Kansas City A's. Not only was the team an expensive hobby, it was something to make money with. Finley felt that since he had been so successful in the insurance business, it would only follow that he could be successful in the baseball business. So he really got involved in the day to day operation of the team. That trend has continued to this day with the likes of Steinbrenner, Cuban, etc. These guys are convinced that since they are sucessful business people they can't help but be sucessful club owners. They pick the brains of good g.m.'s like Petrie, feel they have learned all there is to know and they start calling the shots. It is their God granted right as owners. Some turn out to be pretty good at it and some don't. Who knows, Gavin Maloof may be better than Jerry West at running a team. Doubtful but could be.

by Observer on Mar 8, 2007 2:36 PM PST 0 recs

Re: Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

I have a difficult time believing that the Maloof Bros. think they can do a better job with the Kings than Geoff Petrie. Despite their recent missteps, Joe and Gavin aren't retards; I'm not sure there were any better owners in the NBA for their first six or seven years in Sacramento (Cuban, maybe).

We should watch the Artest situation very carefully for the next few weeks, because it'll indicate whether the Maloofs have learned their lesson and will stop countermanding Petrie's authority, or if they still think they have all the answers. Artest's helpless lurch towards self-immolation should be the ultimate wakeup call for these guys.

by SJP on Mar 8, 2007 2:52 PM PST 0 recs

Re: Aldridge: Petrie Could Be On His Way Out

Wow im impressed @ the collective knowledge of kings fans on this site. But i too ,of the not watching shit but trying to figure this team out from other sources (including this site), have opinions on this aldridge piece.

1st off if anyone remembers back to 2005 aldridge soundly criticized the kings for dealing webber. He routinely pointed out that the kings were below 500 (without acknowleding brad millers injury) with the reason being webber no longer in sac. When david alridge says stuff i tend to take it at less than face value. He's an east coast guy who never cared much about the kings franchise to ever really figure out much about them. However pointing out that petrie has ties to portland is obvious. This came up before in 2004 too.

I find that saying Petrie is a quality GM (which he is) and saying that he's perfect 2 different things. First off he isnt perfect. Nobody is. He makes plenty of mistakes. 1 thing that separates geoff from many GM's in this league though, in my opinion anyway, is his sound money management. Whether or not its been discussed or not, I'm extremely sure that Kevin Martin is clearly the perfect example of a bargain basement. It doesnt get any better than what kevin is producing for what he's making. Sure Bibby & Miller are overpaid but Martin is so far underpaid that it somewhat balances it out. Salmons is making about what he's worth also.

I tend to believe that the maloofs are making new time ownership mistakes that they didnt have the luxury of making the first go around at the end of jim thomas' tenure. I'm not even sure they recognized the luxury jim thomas had after hiring 4 coaches while he was majority owner. He started to get it. Even if he was cheap. You cant bullshit your way around. Talent wins in the nba. Period end of story. The Maloofs simply believe that because they signed these checks all these years they know how to run a team. Well they dont. They still handle negotiations poorly (re-signing bonzi wells?????). I know bonzi played well last yr vs the spurs but with kevin around was it worth it? In my estimation no.

If the maloofs knew much about basketball they wouldnt have fired rick adelman in the first place. I'm not going to use this forum to bash musselman (which i will later on over the weekend do trust on that)but i will say this season has been kinder to muss than rick last year. Much much kinder. Also it's not muss's fault the maloof's fired adelman for the wrong reasons. When you base a coach's ability based on unreasonable aspirations (playing better defense with mike bibby is impossible) and shoddy personal expectations (who gives a shit if rick stayed home after games...you dont pay any coach to kiss your fan's ass after the games while he's drinking...you pay him to win games...PERIOD!).

What i do think is that the maloofs have desperately tried to make sac like vegas or LA. That will never fly as noone from anywhere else cares to think sac can make that transistion. What's worse for the maloof's is that not everyone in this area cares about that ambition. They talk about being a first class operation (which they may or may not be) but seem to be interested on getting cameo's on sportscenter. They like the spotlight, or maybe more accurately, they crave it .

When your basketball people run the franchise (if they're quality basketball people...not everybody in every franchise is a quality basketball expert) it tends to lead to better success on the court anyway. Winning in sports takes money. Much of the problems i think lately for the maloofs ,as they have tried to desperately extort an arena from a city council afraid to succumb to a couple of billionare playboys who dont even live in the same county. The council succumbed but anybody who wanted a new arena saw it wasnt coming. It was a stupid proposal anyway. The maloofs think that writing checks for basketball players equates to helping the city of sacramento. Well i gotta say that dont mean shit to me. I like being a kings fan but whether they make some tall black dude a millionaire or not..well not to be rude but i just dont give a shit.

The problem is that they dont get it. As long as they dont get it they wont understand that bad business decisions (signing webber to a 123 million deal or bibby to the roughly 80 mil deal??) will lead to more problems down the road. I dont think they realize that trading webber was a lucky trade in of itself. The kings got some value back for an overpaid volume scorer/rebounder. I consider that lucky all in all. I guess the point is that the smart decisions have been made by petrie but the maloofs want/need to make the glamorous decisions. Had they realized the nature of nba contract negotiations and how they really work they might not find themselves in this spot. Then again nobody stays on top forever. Its impossible.

My point is that petrie at this point is a known quantity. The maloofs clearly have a ways to go before they become reliable owners. I truthfully would prefer if they did a mark cuban & just started acting a fool. At least cuban has made a point to say david stern's reign is far from perfect. But thats a dream that ill never get to dream. The maloof's are party boys @ heart who aim to please. Hard to be quality owners if you trying to make everybody happy.

by pookeyguru on Mar 8, 2007 11:18 PM PST 0 recs