Since we are spending a considerable amount of time on the progress of such teams as the Utah Jazz (Ted - your wife is calling; Dead Ted, tell your wife to stop calling), and the Philadelphia 76'ers (Rick, it is simple, get bigger and more athletic in your front line), I have decided you are all ready to help Geoff Petrie with his problems - namely, to make the Kings more competive.
First off, draft picks are next to useless. Unless you are getting a truly bonifide superstar our of college, a Foreign League, or high school (HS superstars not going to happen any longer), that lottery pick has a fifty-fifty chance of giving you nothing but lack of cap space to go after a free agent who REALLY might help your team.
That said, Petrie has been fairly successful in drafting useful NBA players out of either Europe or lesser known programs, and that is even with the harder task of having to chose AFTER the "bonifide" lottery players are all gone. Guys like Jason Williams, Gerald Wallace, Peja Stojakovich, Hedo Turkoglu, Kevin Martin, and more recently Francisco Garcia, Quincy Douby, and Spencer Hawes have shown that he certainly knows what he is doing there, because none of these players looked likely to succeed immediately on the NBA scene...and none did... but later they all had something to offer or appear they might some day.
The problem is, Petrie is not getting that bonifide superstar from his picks. Martin is the closest, but unless he morphs into the modern version of Reggie Miller (same build), that hidden gem of an NBA player that comes along after the tenth pick is just a dream. So while the Kings are loaded with potential, it does not appear to be happening via the draft.
Another unfortunate problem for the Kings is that they make way too much use of the injured list. Every year, at least one significant player is out for weeks, but usually it is more like three or four players. Mike Bibby and Sharif Abdur-Rahim have yet to play this year, and SAR is unlikely to. Martin will be out a month with a strained groin. So the Kings are once again looking at February on to have at least most of their players healthy, just like in any of the last ten years or so.
So we are looking at how Petrie fills out his squad in a typical year. He waits. He watches. Things tend to clear up after the season starts, or right before. He notices that a Beno Udrith is on the outs in San Antonio, waits for them to dump him off on the Wolves, who don't even bother to look at him before cutting him, and bingo, the Kings have a terrific fill-in point guard until Bibby gets back. Then what? Well, the trade deadline in February is likely to see Bibby traded. But who, and for what, will be willing to deal for him? Udrith clearly can handle the point for now, so Bibby could bring in some relief elsewhere.
The other trade bait has always been Artest, but with his current level of play, I do not see Petrie moving him any longer before the end of the season. Sure, he can opt out of his contract after this year, and certainly plans to, but he is a nightmare for opposing players to deal with. As a small forward, he simply overpowers anyone put in front of him. And this year, he is doing everything better then he did before, so Petrie is not so interested in trading him. Unless......he gets what he really wants in return.
While Mikki Moore is decent, and Brad Miller certainly did himself no harm in getting in terrific shape in the off-season (losing twenty pounds and adding strength), the big man gap (can you say rebounding help?) between the Kings and everyone else is huge. Along with a lack of overall team athletism, the Kings are doomed for a long season regardless of the success Theus has actually brought to this team. I know, there are skeptics out there about how well Reggie Theus would do, but at least on that point, the Kings have greatly improved. Theus actually has done more then just say the team had to improve defensely - it has, incredibly, accomplished just that. And the team ball movement is getting better and better, so we are seeing less and less of the isolation plays, even by Artest, which is simply amazing.
But how would all this work out if Theus had some bonifide talent spread out on the team, especially help at the four position, which is not looking good yet, though Hawes may be the long term answer there? Spencer has a high basketball IQ, but questionable knees. Still, he looks like he will eventually belong.
Trades and free agency. Those look like how best to fix what ails this team. We are loaded at the two spot, with our last three draft picks before Hawes all natural shooting guards, or "swingmen" (I hate that term). Needed - rebounders/shotblocker and athletism.
