SB Nation: Petrie may be relieved of duties

[ICMTM]

Petrie is not the problem. He's a 2 time executive of the year that built the best team Sac's ever seen from the ground up. His draft choices have been fine. The problem is our ownership group doesn't have the resources to compete. The Maloofs will be gone in 2 years max. They're out of money and simply can not compete.

I agree.

[OGSactownballer]

Petrie is not the problem. He's a 2 time executive of the year that built the best team Sac's ever seen from the ground up. His draft choices have been fine. The problem is our ownership group doesn't have the resources to compete. The Maloofs will be gone in 2 years max. They're out of money and simply can not compete.

THIS /\!!!!!!!!

I've been saying for some time now. If you are stupid enough to sell a PROFITABLE LIQUOR DISTRIBUTORSHIP, then you are too dumb to hang on to big boys toys like a professional sports franchise!

They need to bow out before anything and everything they did is forgotten or they stupidly make a move like Anaheim so that a REAL businessman can basically STEAl the team out from under them. Let a Burkle type buy his way in and start providing inside funding to allow the team to have the means to compete on a more level playing field.

[floppymoose]

Petrie may or may not be any good. I don't really know. He's had high picks in awful drafts. I can't beat him up too much on ending up with Tyreke or Cousins. The Kings need to have a high pick in a talented draft in order for their fortunes to change.

[deNIEd]

Petrie is not the problem. He's a 2 time executive of the year that built the best team Sac's ever seen from the ground up. His draft choices have been fine. The problem is our ownership group doesn't have the resources to compete. The Maloofs will be gone in 2 years max. They're out of money and simply can not compete.

I agree.

I've always said, at what point do we acknowledge that Petrie is THE problem?

Now, I'm not saying he is. Don't get me wrong. Even with my complete disapproval over most moves over the past few years, I still agree that Petrie can be one of the top GM's in the game at times.

But at a certain point, we can no longer make the excuse of "it's the Maloofs fault for that bad trade/signing/pick/hiring" and we have the face the reality that perhaps it is Petrie's fault.

So when is that going to happen? One year? Two years? Five years? Ten years? How long of this terribleness before Petrie becomes the problem?

[Call Me Geoff]

Petrie is not the problem. He's a 2 time executive of the year that built the best team Sac's ever seen from the ground up. His draft choices have been fine. The problem is our ownership group doesn't have the resources to compete. The Maloofs will be gone in 2 years max. They're out of money and simply can not compete.

I agree.

I've always said, at what point do we acknowledge that Petrie is THE problem?

Now, I'm not saying he is. Don't get me wrong. Even with my complete disapproval over most moves over the past few years, I still agree that Petrie can be one of the top GM's in the game at times.

But at a certain point, we can no longer make the excuse of "it's the Maloofs fault for that bad trade/signing/pick/hiring" and we have the face the reality that perhaps it is Petrie's fault.

So when is that going to happen? One year? Two years? Five years? Ten years? How long of this terribleness before Petrie becomes the problem?

What was Petrie supposed to do? The K Mart deal was OK, the Beno deal hasn't worked but I'd rather be bad without Beno than almost mediocre with him. The Webber deal HAD to be made. All these deals were made because the Kings were strapped by the cap and the players they traded didn't have a lot of value. An over the hill Peja, an injured Webber, a headcase in Artest, a soft Martin all had average to below average value in a trade. We weren't getting much in return for any of them. As for the draft, the only questionable picks have been Douby over Rondo (it happens), Hawes (we really wanted Noah) and Abdul-Wahad. Otherwise Petrie's draft history is great. If the Kings fired Petrie he would have 10 teams calling him within 10 minutes.

[SacKingZZZ]

Petrie may or may not be any good. I don't really know. He's had high picks in awful drafts. I can't beat him up too much on ending up with Tyreke or Cousins. The Kings need to have a high pick in a talented draft in order for their fortunes to change.

Ha! Don't know who your team took, but I'd say Cousins and Evans were in the "talent" portion of the drafts they were in.

[SacKingZZZ]

What was Petrie supposed to do? The K Mart deal was OK, the Beno deal hasn't worked but I'd rather be bad without Beno than almost mediocre with him. The Webber deal HAD to be made. All these deals were made because the Kings were strapped by the cap and the players they traded didn't have a lot of value. An over the hill Peja, an injured Webber, a headcase in Artest, a soft Martin all had average to below average value in a trade. We weren't getting much in return for any of them. As for the draft, the only questionable picks have been Douby over Rondo (it happens), Hawes (we really wanted Noah) and Abdul-Wahad. Otherwise Petrie's draft history is great. If the Kings fired Petrie he would have 10 teams calling him within 10 minutes.

Hindsight being what it is, that Webber deal was a huge mistake. Once again, it's all about follow through. That Webber deal was made with the intent of ensuing moves, and they didn't happen. I guess it kind of did with the Bonzi/Artest situation and that's when Geoff would have been in a position to start making those moves, but we didn't get to see it. When he shipped out Miller and Salmons it was about ensuing moves as well, and they didn't happen. Although that's good IMO because this team needed some high picks and the ability to pick up a Tyreke Evans and a Demarcus Cousins because the only place you can get that kind of talent is that high in the draft. Sometimes the best move you can make is no move. However, he needs to start putting in the right pieces by this summer and I really think he did a little of it last summer by drafting Honeycutt, Jimmer, re-signing Thornton, and signing Hayes. It's all about who the right guy to lead them is and the only person that can in the way they need it is the COACH. I will judge the Maloofs and Petrie on that basis should Smart not work. If he goes out and scrapes the bottom of the barrel again, or gets a guy totally not in tune with the core of this team, then see ya!

[Call Me Geoff]

What was Petrie supposed to do? The K Mart deal was OK, the Beno deal hasn't worked but I'd rather be bad without Beno than almost mediocre with him. The Webber deal HAD to be made. All these deals were made because the Kings were strapped by the cap and the players they traded didn't have a lot of value. An over the hill Peja, an injured Webber, a headcase in Artest, a soft Martin all had average to below average value in a trade. We weren't getting much in return for any of them. As for the draft, the only questionable picks have been Douby over Rondo (it happens), Hawes (we really wanted Noah) and Abdul-Wahad. Otherwise Petrie's draft history is great. If the Kings fired Petrie he would have 10 teams calling him within 10 minutes.

Hindsight being what it is, that Webber deal was a huge mistake. Once again, it's all about follow through. That Webber deal was made with the intent of ensuing moves, and they didn't happen. I guess it kind of did with the Bonzi/Artest situation and that's when Geoff would have been in a position to start making those moves, but we didn't get to see it. When he shipped out Miller and Salmons it was about ensuing moves as well, and they didn't happen. Although that's good IMO because this team needed some high picks and the ability to pick up a Tyreke Evans and a Demarcus Cousins because the only place you can get that kind of talent is that high in the draft. Sometimes the best move you can make is no move. However, he needs to start putting in the right pieces by this summer and I really think he did a little of it last summer by drafting Honeycutt, Jimmer, re-signing Thornton, and signing Hayes. It's all about who the right guy to lead them is and the only person that can in the way they need it is the COACH. I will judge the Maloofs and Petrie on that basis should Smart not work. If he goes out and scrapes the bottom of the barrel again, or gets a guy totally not in tune with the core of this team, then see ya!

How was the Webber deal a HUGE mistake? Webber was washed up with a destroyed knee making $20 + million/yr. . It was obvious the team needed to move forward without him and Petrie got what the owners wanted, less salary. Petrie did the right thing in blowing up the team and positioning the franchise to draft high. Now we're in a position where we'll be picking high again and REALLY need the ability to acquire FA's to build around our young players.

[deNIEd]

What was Petrie supposed to do? The K Mart deal was OK, the Beno deal hasn't worked but I'd rather be bad without Beno than almost mediocre with him. The Webber deal HAD to be made. All these deals were made because the Kings were strapped by the cap and the players they traded didn't have a lot of value. An over the hill Peja, an injured Webber, a headcase in Artest, a soft Martin all had average to below average value in a trade. We weren't getting much in return for any of them. As for the draft, the only questionable picks have been Douby over Rondo (it happens), Hawes (we really wanted Noah) and Abdul-Wahad. Otherwise Petrie's draft history is great. If the Kings fired Petrie he would have 10 teams calling him within 10 minutes.

Homer.

Let's start with everything since Webber was dealt.

Draft

2005 - #23 - Francisco Garcia Good pick. Although we needed a PF more at the time, it was still a good pick simply because only 3-4 players drafted after Garcia ended up being better.

2006 - #19 - Quincy Douby God Awful pick. Every PG drafted after Douby would have been a better selection. Literally could not have done a worse job on this pick.

*Also traded #50 for Jason Hart. Also worthless

2007 - #10 - Spencer Hawes If you remember, Petrie was debating between Hawes and Aaron Brooks. Petrie made the wrong decision.

2008 - #12 - Jason Thompson
#42 - Sean Singletary
#43 - Patrick Ewing Jr.
We needed a big, so we selected Jason Thompson. While Thompson turned out to being average, you cannot say Thompson was a good pick simply because of the amount of better bigs drafted after him. (Darrell Arthur, Roy Hibbert, JaVale McGee, JJ Hickson, Ryan Anderson, Serge Ibaka)...Thompson is on the same level as Speights, Randolph, and Robin Lopez. Not too impressive. The second round picks were also useless.

2009 - #4 - Tyreke Evans
#23 - Omri Caspi
#31 traded into #38 - Jon Brockman
Now in 2009 it was Tyreke or Rubio. That was the decision. While in 2009 we all thought we made the right decision...three years after we can tell perhaps not. We would be a better team with Rubio. He is the exact type of "floor general" or "true point guard" that we need and we needed. I remember at the time, everyone would bag on Rubio because of his poor shooting, well is still a better shooter than Tyreke. A much better passer. Better at steals. Equal/better at defense. And an equal at rebounding.

-Casspi was a good pick.

-Brockman was a failed pick simply because we had the chance to draft DeJuan Blair and we didnt.

2010 - #5 - DeMarcus Cousins
#33 - Hassan Whiteside
In 2010 it was between Cousins or Monroe. Both have been good so far. However, it's clear already that Monroe has a personality/attitude that is far easier to deal with than DeMarcus. It's still too early to determine whether this pick was a success or not.

2011 - #7 --> #10 - Jimmer Fredette
While its far too early to determine if Jimmer is a failure or a success, it's clear that as of today, between Knight, Walker, and Jimmer...we drafted the worst player.

Overall in trades...in 2005 it was a success. Total failure in 2006. Meh in 2007. Semi-failure in 2008. Average in 2009. Too early for 2010 or 2011.

So where is this "amazing" drafting record?



Trades
1/25/2006 - Peja for Ron Artest
1/23/2006 - Brian Skinner for Sergei Monia & Vitaly Potapenko
2/16/2008 - Mike Bibby for Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Sheldon Williams, Lorenzon Wright, 2008 2nd (Sean Singletary)
8/14/2008 - Ron Artest, Patrick Ewing, Sean Singletary for Donte Greene, Bobby Jackson, 2009 1st (Omri Casspi)
2/18/2009 - Brad Miller, John Salmons for Drew Gooden, Andres Nocioni, Michael Ruffin, Cedric Simmons
2/18/2009 - Michael Ruffin for Ike Diogu
2/19/2009 - Bobby Brown, Shelden Williams for Calvin Booth, Rashad McCants
2/18/2010 - Kevin Martin, Sergio Rodriguez, Hilton Armstrong for Joey Dorsey, Carl Landry, Larry Hughes
6/20/2010 - Spencer Hawes, Andres Nocioni - Samuel Dalembert
2/23/2011 - Carl Landry for Marcus Thornton
6/22/2011 - #7, Beno Udrih for #10, John Salmons

Look at the trade record. How many of those trades were successful? Almost every single trade made us worse (either immediately or in the long run) or was absolutely pointless.

Free Agency
Good Signings
John Salmons (his old contract was good)
Dahntay Jones
Ime Udoka
Chuck Hayes
Marcus Thornton???

Bad Signings
Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Mikki Moore
Beno Udrih (2nd Contract)
Travis Outlaw
Marcus Thornton??

Who Cares
Ronnie Price
Jamal Sampson
Louis Amundson
Justin Williams
Loren Woods
Maurice Taylor
Orein Greene
Darryl Watkins
Bobby Brown
Sean May
Desmond Mason
Antoine Wright
Eugene Jeter
Luthor Head
Marcus Landry
J.R. Giddens
Pooh Jeter

Amazing record

[VeeJay24]

I will not sit here and defend Petrie to the fullest since I have been on record here for his dismissal but that was years ago. What would be the point of removing him now when it appears to me that this team is at the cusp of getting it.

Can you really judge Petrie? When the Maloofs have had such a big hand in all his moves? We all know it was them that wanted Fredette. How about Westphal damaging the growth of this team. Didn't he have a big part in Hawes and Martin being shipped out?

So he didn't sign a big name FA; well he couldn't force Lebron, Wade, Bosh, Boozer, Stoudamire to sign here. To me they were the only FA class worth talking about. If you can't get them then you have to draft correctly and for the most part he has. As far as trades; it would be simple to trade for a guy who will not resign with you. I know he was in discussion with Utah about Deron Williams but ultimately Petrie is only one side of these things. Utah just decided to go with the Nets' deal.

and for the record I don't think Rubio is better than Reke and in the long run I think we will be happy Petrie took Reke over Rubio

Hawes wasn't a bad pick although I would've taken Hibbert (I am a little biased) but the main thing is he parlayed Hawes into Dalembert.

Casspi was a bad pick especially when he could've taken Gibson, Beaubois, Buddinger or a few more guys but again he recovered and traded for a better player

Cousins was the pick that should've been made; being a Georgetown fan and employee I know their players and Monroe didn't have the drive or killer instinct you'd like but both appear to be good picks.

I think as mentioned above the Maloofs are in over their head now and need to bite the bullet and sell this team so it can thrive.

[deNIEd]

I will not sit here and defend Petrie to the fullest since I have been on record here for his dismissal but that was years ago. What would be the point of removing him now when it appears to me that this team is at the cusp of getting it.

Can you really judge Petrie? When the Maloofs have had such a big hand in all his moves?

What is frustrating to me, is it does not appear this team has had any real planning or continuity. While we have talented players, our talented players do not really mesh with one and another. We have some strengths that are redundant and other weaknesses in which we have nothing at all.

Now, it could be Petrie has a "master plan" and we are only one to two pieces away from everything fitting in perfectly, or it could be simply this team has just been trying to make due with each specific move and does not have any real focus.


Now we can blame the Maloofs all we want, only that won't be helpful. Unless the Maloofs decide to sell (which is highly unlikely), we are stuck with them. You can alter any part of your organization except the ownership. That said, Petrie has to have responsibility over some of the moves we've made. I don't believe that every failed move was forced down Petrie's throat by the Maloofs.

[Call Me Geoff]

What was Petrie supposed to do? The K Mart deal was OK, the Beno deal hasn't worked but I'd rather be bad without Beno than almost mediocre with him. The Webber deal HAD to be made. All these deals were made because the Kings were strapped by the cap and the players they traded didn't have a lot of value. An over the hill Peja, an injured Webber, a headcase in Artest, a soft Martin all had average to below average value in a trade. We weren't getting much in return for any of them. As for the draft, the only questionable picks have been Douby over Rondo (it happens), Hawes (we really wanted Noah) and Abdul-Wahad. Otherwise Petrie's draft history is great. If the Kings fired Petrie he would have 10 teams calling him within 10 minutes.

Homer.

Let's start with everything since Webber was dealt.

Draft

2005 - #23 - Francisco Garcia Good pick. Although we needed a PF more at the time, it was still a good pick simply because only 3-4 players drafted after Garcia ended up being better.

2006 - #19 - Quincy Douby God Awful pick. Every PG drafted after Douby would have been a better selection. Literally could not have done a worse job on this pick.

*Also traded #50 for Jason Hart. Also worthless

2007 - #10 - Spencer Hawes If you remember, Petrie was debating between Hawes and Aaron Brooks. Petrie made the wrong decision.

2008 - #12 - Jason Thompson
#42 - Sean Singletary
#43 - Patrick Ewing Jr.
We needed a big, so we selected Jason Thompson. While Thompson turned out to being average, you cannot say Thompson was a good pick simply because of the amount of better bigs drafted after him. (Darrell Arthur, Roy Hibbert, JaVale McGee, JJ Hickson, Ryan Anderson, Serge Ibaka)...Thompson is on the same level as Speights, Randolph, and Robin Lopez. Not too impressive. The second round picks were also useless.

2009 - #4 - Tyreke Evans
#23 - Omri Caspi
#31 traded into #38 - Jon Brockman
Now in 2009 it was Tyreke or Rubio. That was the decision. While in 2009 we all thought we made the right decision...three years after we can tell perhaps not. We would be a better team with Rubio. He is the exact type of "floor general" or "true point guard" that we need and we needed. I remember at the time, everyone would bag on Rubio because of his poor shooting, well is still a better shooter than Tyreke. A much better passer. Better at steals. Equal/better at defense. And an equal at rebounding.

-Casspi was a good pick.

-Brockman was a failed pick simply because we had the chance to draft DeJuan Blair and we didnt.

2010 - #5 - DeMarcus Cousins
#33 - Hassan Whiteside
In 2010 it was between Cousins or Monroe. Both have been good so far. However, it's clear already that Monroe has a personality/attitude that is far easier to deal with than DeMarcus. It's still too early to determine whether this pick was a success or not.

2011 - #7 --> #10 - Jimmer Fredette
While its far too early to determine if Jimmer is a failure or a success, it's clear that as of today, between Knight, Walker, and Jimmer...we drafted the worst player.

Overall in trades...in 2005 it was a success. Total failure in 2006. Meh in 2007. Semi-failure in 2008. Average in 2009. Too early for 2010 or 2011.

So where is this "amazing" drafting record?



Trades
1/25/2006 - Peja for Ron Artest
1/23/2006 - Brian Skinner for Sergei Monia & Vitaly Potapenko
2/16/2008 - Mike Bibby for Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Sheldon Williams, Lorenzon Wright, 2008 2nd (Sean Singletary)
8/14/2008 - Ron Artest, Patrick Ewing, Sean Singletary for Donte Greene, Bobby Jackson, 2009 1st (Omri Casspi)
2/18/2009 - Brad Miller, John Salmons for Drew Gooden, Andres Nocioni, Michael Ruffin, Cedric Simmons
2/18/2009 - Michael Ruffin for Ike Diogu
2/19/2009 - Bobby Brown, Shelden Williams for Calvin Booth, Rashad McCants
2/18/2010 - Kevin Martin, Sergio Rodriguez, Hilton Armstrong for Joey Dorsey, Carl Landry, Larry Hughes
6/20/2010 - Spencer Hawes, Andres Nocioni - Samuel Dalembert
2/23/2011 - Carl Landry for Marcus Thornton
6/22/2011 - #7, Beno Udrih for #10, John Salmons

Look at the trade record. How many of those trades were successful? Almost every single trade made us worse (either immediately or in the long run) or was absolutely pointless.

Free Agency
Good Signings
John Salmons (his old contract was good)
Dahntay Jones
Ime Udoka
Chuck Hayes
Marcus Thornton???

Bad Signings
Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Mikki Moore
Beno Udrih (2nd Contract)
Travis Outlaw
Marcus Thornton??

Who Cares
Ronnie Price
Jamal Sampson
Louis Amundson
Justin Williams
Loren Woods
Maurice Taylor
Orein Greene
Darryl Watkins
Bobby Brown
Sean May
Desmond Mason
Antoine Wright
Eugene Jeter
Luthor Head
Marcus Landry
J.R. Giddens
Pooh Jeter



Amazing record

Thanks for mapping that out for me. As if all of us have forgotton. I totally disagree on the Hawes over Brooks pick. Taking Douby was obviously a mistake but you won't find a GM in the league that hasn't missed on a draft pick. Cousins>>Monroe IMO and I'll still take Tyreke over Rubio (so will you in a few years). As for the trades, look at all the garbage we traded. What exactly do you think an insane Artest is worth? Or a one dimensional Martin carrying a hefty contract? Petrie did his job and cleared the cap space. Now the Maloofs need to pony up the cash and chase a FA.

[deNIEd]

Thanks for mapping that out for me. As if all of us have forgotton. I totally disagree on the Hawes over Brooks pick. Taking Douby was obviously a mistake but you won't find a GM in the league that hasn't missed on a draft pick. Cousins>>Monroe IMO and I'll still take Tyreke over Rubio (so will you in a few years). As for the trades, look at all the garbage we traded. What exactly do you think an insane Artest is worth? Or a one dimensional Martin carrying a hefty contract? Petrie did his job and cleared the cap space. Now the Maloofs need to pony up the cash and chase a FA.

My point with the drafting is, he's made plenty of mistakes (Douby, Thompson, Casspi, Brockman) and many questionable picks that as of today isn't looking in his favor (Hawes, Tyreke, Cousins).

You can't argue that the pieces Petrie traded were all "garbage." How did we get that "garbage?" We traded for an insane Artest. We drafted and wanted to build around a one dimensional Martin. The cap space Petrie cleared up, was only full because of trades and signings HE made. You talk about Petrie doing the "best" he can with the "garbage" we've had...well...the fact is all that garbage has been the only trading pieces Petrie has had...because those are the pieces Petrie went out and obtained himself.

[VeeJay24]

Thanks for mapping that out for me. As if all of us have forgotton. I totally disagree on the Hawes over Brooks pick. Taking Douby was obviously a mistake but you won't find a GM in the league that hasn't missed on a draft pick. Cousins>>Monroe IMO and I'll still take Tyreke over Rubio (so will you in a few years). As for the trades, look at all the garbage we traded. What exactly do you think an insane Artest is worth? Or a one dimensional Martin carrying a hefty contract? Petrie did his job and cleared the cap space. Now the Maloofs need to pony up the cash and chase a FA.

My point with the drafting is, he's made plenty of mistakes (Douby, Thompson, Casspi, Brockman) and many questionable picks that as of today isn't looking in his favor (Hawes, Tyreke, Cousins).

You can't argue that the pieces Petrie traded were all "garbage." How did we get that "garbage?" We traded for an insane Artest. We drafted and wanted to build around a one dimensional Martin. The cap space Petrie cleared up, was only full because of trades and signings HE made. You talk about Petrie doing the "best" he can with the "garbage" we've had...well...the fact is all that garbage has been the only trading pieces Petrie has had...because those are the pieces Petrie went out and obtained himself.

Why do you continually say that Thompson is a mistake? He is not a mistake especially when you look at what was available. Sure Hibbert was available but he had already taken Hawes; it would've been great if he picked higher but he had to pick where the lottery slotted him and he drafted the best player available. Thompson is now starting to get it and produce. He just needed a coach to define his role and believe in him.

And you are way too fast on judging these guys. Reke & Cousins are not questionable picks; their talents make them the right picks, for other reasons they are risky but they were the proper picks. If things continue to go the way they are; you will see that they were exactly who Petrie should've picked.

And I find it interesting that you didn't mention Fredette as a questionable pick. He is the one pick that you should have listed as questionable for sure especially with the players who were still on the board but I will not put that one on Petrie.

[deNIEd]

And you are way too fast on judging these guys. Reke & Cousins are not questionable picks; their talents make them the right picks, for other reasons they are risky but they were the proper picks. If things continue to go the way they are; you will see that they were exactly who Petrie should've picked.

And I find it interesting that you didn't mention Fredette as a questionable pick. He is the one pick that you should have listed as questionable for sure especially with the players who were still on the board but I will not put that one on Petrie.

Because, even though I'm predicting Fredette will turn out the worst among Knight/Walker/Jimmer, it's way "too early" to make a decision on Fredette. If you say its too fast to judge Reke and Cousins, then we shouldn't even begin discussions regarding Jimmer.

I guess I should rephrase the Thompson selection. While he wasn't necessarily a "mistake," the Thompson selection did not showcase any "great" drafting ability at all. My point was simply, there were a handful of bigs that Sacramento could have selected from, and we selected one that is average/mediocre among that group.


Of course, if everything falls together, then Petrie is a genius. However, this roster has little to no direction or continuity, each transaction this organization makes appears as if it has very little relevance to prior moves, and this franchise as a whole doesn't appear to have any idea what it is doing.

But like I said, perhaps Petrie is some wizard and has every planned out...or perhaps not. I'm just not willing to wait for more than one to two more years to find out if he truly had a "plan" or not.

[VeeJay24]

And you are way too fast on judging these guys. Reke & Cousins are not questionable picks; their talents make them the right picks, for other reasons they are risky but they were the proper picks. If things continue to go the way they are; you will see that they were exactly who Petrie should've picked.

And I find it interesting that you didn't mention Fredette as a questionable pick. He is the one pick that you should have listed as questionable for sure especially with the players who were still on the board but I will not put that one on Petrie.

Because, even though I'm predicting Fredette will turn out the worst among Knight/Walker/Jimmer, it's way "too early" to make a decision on Fredette. If you say its too fast to judge Reke and Cousins, then we shouldn't even begin discussions regarding Jimmer.

I guess I should rephrase the Thompson selection. While he wasn't necessarily a "mistake," the Thompson selection did not showcase any "great" drafting ability at all. My point was simply, there were a handful of bigs that Sacramento could have selected from, and we selected one that is average/mediocre among that group.


Of course, if everything falls together, then Petrie is a genius. However, this roster has little to no direction or continuity, each transaction this organization makes appears as if it has very little relevance to prior moves, and this franchise as a whole doesn't appear to have any idea what it is doing.

But like I said, perhaps Petrie is some wizard and has every planned out...or perhaps not. I'm just not willing to wait for more than one to two more years to find out if he truly had a "plan" or not.

I guess you are right about that but it doesn't look good. Still, Fredette was questionable because no other team had him rated to go where the Kings picked him and that was because of his talent and potential

All the guys you mentioned were graded higher than Fredette and all were available, but in the case of Cousins and Reke; their talents and potential had them rated where they were picked or higher. Other circumstances made them risky.

What other big men? Randolph? Anderson? I mentioned Hibbert but we know why he wasn't taken. Anderson has performed excellent this year but I don't think he was the type of big man Petrie wanted and quite frankly JT had a higher grade. Did you want Speights or Arhur? 2 smallish PF that would never be able to hold up against quality big PFs. At least in JT you have a legit sized PF who can reasonably score and rebound with the best of them. If he had better hands he'd probably be 2nd tier or better. The only guy in hindsight he could have taken over JT is Ibaka but like I say that's in hindsight. Still, JT is more skilled offensively than Ibaka and he is certainly a better rebounder.

Like I said before, JT, now has a clear picture of what his coach wants from him and he is just playing with more confidence and getting the job done.

I don't think you guys realize how much Westphal screw up the development of this team. Smart has showed how much in just a few weeks..........

[Call Me Geoff]

Thanks for mapping that out for me. As if all of us have forgotton. I totally disagree on the Hawes over Brooks pick. Taking Douby was obviously a mistake but you won't find a GM in the league that hasn't missed on a draft pick. Cousins>>Monroe IMO and I'll still take Tyreke over Rubio (so will you in a few years). As for the trades, look at all the garbage we traded. What exactly do you think an insane Artest is worth? Or a one dimensional Martin carrying a hefty contract? Petrie did his job and cleared the cap space. Now the Maloofs need to pony up the cash and chase a FA.

My point with the drafting is, he's made plenty of mistakes (Douby, Thompson, Casspi, Brockman) and many questionable picks that as of today isn't looking in his favor (Hawes, Tyreke, Cousins).

You can't argue that the pieces Petrie traded were all "garbage." How did we get that "garbage?" We traded for an insane Artest. We drafted and wanted to build around a one dimensional Martin. The cap space Petrie cleared up, was only full because of trades and signings HE made. You talk about Petrie doing the "best" he can with the "garbage" we've had...well...the fact is all that garbage has been the only trading pieces Petrie has had...because those are the pieces Petrie went out and obtained himself.

Brockman was a 2nd rounder and Casspi was a late 1st. Thompson is currently our starting PF who I actually value. He's shown he can produce when given opportunity. Reke and Cousins questionable? Cousins has an incredible rebound rate and continues to get better. If he keeps his head straight he will be a franchise big. Reke is a superior talent. If he ever learns how to shoot he has a legitimate chance to be a top guard in the league. You are WAY too quick to judge 2 extremely talented 21 year olds. There was nothing Petrie could have done to prevent the downfall of the Kings. Webber blew out his knee, Vlade got old, so did Bibby, Christie and Miller. Petrie made a lot of really good trades in our glory days. J Will for Bibby, Corliss for Christie, Scott Pollard, Hedo for Miller and the list goes on. That's what happens when you're fortunate enough to have elite guys like Peja (hand picked by Petrie), Webber (Petrie trade) and Vlade (Petrie FA signing). You put decent players around them and great players make them better. We don't have the great players right now but Cousins and Reke could be. Petrie did what he could with what he had.

[Ballings7]

I think Petrie's still had an influence on this team being allergic to semi-allergic to a defensive committment. Obviously other factors have played into it with team situation and rebuilding - but still, he has a bias for skill-skill players over more balanced or gritty players.

Not going much of anywhere until the defense starts to improve.

[Call Me Geoff]

I think Petrie's still had an influence on this team being allergic to semi-allergic to a defensive committment. Obviously other factors have played into it with team situation and rebuilding - but still, he has a bias for skill-skill players over more balanced or gritty players.

Not going much of anywhere until the defense starts to improve.

This I just do not understand. Defense in the NBA is strictly based on effort and desire. When the Kings were good we had ONE and only ONE great one on one defender in Christie. Everyone else (Webber, Divac, Bibby and Peja) could be labeled as average to sub standard man defenders and they were pretty good. The bottom line is the current roster needs to grow up and put forth a consistent effort on defense every night. Mainly defending the 3 point line. Petrie has drafted the athletes to defend and defend well, at some point the players are going to have to be accountable. We have a young roster and there will be some growing pains. I promise that Petrie is not the problem, we get rid of him and we regret it for a looooong time.

[SacKingZZZ]

I think Petrie's still had an influence on this team being allergic to semi-allergic to a defensive committment. Obviously other factors have played into it with team situation and rebuilding - but still, he has a bias for skill-skill players over more balanced or gritty players.

Not going much of anywhere until the defense starts to improve.

Yet, he goes out and targets Chuck Hayes, who is the definition of both those things. The problem is that he isn't being used to those strengths, or in a capacity to where those strengths will be highlighted. His defensive impact is clear and now I know what Rockets fans saw, problem is it's hard to see it at backup center with a unit that can't score to the point where it looks to Hayes for production. The one thing Westphal had right was the frontline. Early in the year the team showed the kind of defense that they were capable of, the ideals offensively just weren't in place at that point. Hayes needs to play with Cousins more period. JT as well but especially Cousins, that's who he was brought in to compliment, and who he will compliment.