RotoRob thinks so.
First of all, with Minnesota in a clear rebuilding mode following the Kevin Garnett trade, and the Clippers losing Elton Brand, Sacramento has a very good opportunity to make a run for the playoffs next year, so contrary to what most believe, the Kings are not absolutely in a rebuilding mode.
Having said that, if they were to be tempted into a full-scale rebuilding program, J-Will wouldn't exactly be the prize that would make them head in that direction. The reported offers from the Knicks (that involve expiring contracts in return for Artest) similarly wouldn't make the Kings budge.
There are two problems with this argument.
- Neither Minnesota nor the Clippers made the playoffs last year. They both finished ahead of Sacramento, and the resulting trades/injuries should drop them below Sacramento. But that doesn't really make the Kings -- who won 33 games, for Pete Chilcutt's sake -- any closer to postseason glory.
- The Kings are in rebuilding mode. Geoff Petrie has said so. I think the relevant quote would be: ""If we want to get into the situation here where you have real (salary) room, you have to curtail some of the team's spending and gather enough contracts expiring to create that room. ... Potentially, on a two-year horizon, we can naturally arrive there." Petrie is rebuilding, and he's said he'll use expiring contracts -- internal and external -- to get there.
(Some would argue Petrie doesn't really have a plan right now, but I don't buy it.)