I. Introduction

Oh so close. So very close. Those words best describe the 2001 - 2002 NBA season for the Sacramento Kings. To look at the 2001-2002 Kings, one must first start with the end of the 2000-2001 season. To be honest, it looked like the Kings had peaked. They had a shot at the best record in the Western Division but faded at the end. They were then easily swept aside by the Los Angeles Lakers on their way to the NBA championship. Then came the expected doom of the almost guaranteed departure of Chris Webber.

However, a funny thing happened on the way back to the bottom. The Kings got better. A mind boggling great trade of Jason Williams brought in Mike Bibby from the Grizzlies. A very lukewarm reception for Webber in the free agent market brought him back (although grudgingly) to the Kings and 2001-2002 season started to look a lot brighter. Bibby brought much improved play at the point (i.e. "consistent play at the point") and the team quickly gelled. They even started to play defense.

The Kings gained a good deal of confidence after starting the season with Webber on the injured list, they posted a very good record (15-5) with Scott Pollard replacing Webber in the starting lineup. They carried that momentum on to the best record in the league. Still entering the playoffs, questions remained. Could Sacramento handle the up and coming Dallas Mavericks? If so, could they then find some way to stop Shaquille O'Neal and the Lakers. The Mavericks turned out not to be that big of a problem. Sacramento won the series in five games and looked great doing it. Next came the Lakers. Would the Kings have a chance at all? The sports world conceded that it was unlikely, especially after Pregrag Stojakovic, one of the top small forwards in the league went down with an ankle injury. The Kings lost the first game at home and another sweep seemed likely. However the Kings won the second game, then the third (in L.A.) and then had a 20 point lead in the fourth. A last second three by Robert Horry won the game for the Lakers. Still the Kings won the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead in the series. What happened next is just too painful for Kings fans to deal with. The Refs, er, Lakers won the 6th game and then the 7th game was a thrilling overtime game that went to the Lakers. The Kings were left wondering about what could have been. A very weak Eastern Conference produced a New Jersey team that would have been no match for the Kings (and as it turned out, the Lakers). The season over, the team crushed.

So what does the future hold? Well, it holds quite a bit. Each good team has a window of a few years to be good. Sometimes your window comes at the wrong time (Portland with Drexler caught the Pistons and then the Bulls, Seattle had the Bulls and Utah also had the Bulls). Sacramento has caught the Lakers. The question is, can they keep getting better while the Lakers start to slow down (much like the Pistons and the Celtics/Lakers). I think that they can. First, though, they must (and I can not say this enough), must sign Mike Bibby who is a restrict Free Agent. Bibby is the only potential loss off of the current roster. They also must resist the urges of their owners to cut payroll. The Kings payroll was eighth in the league at $54million, which puts them in Luxury Tax Land. However, A chance like this might never happen again for the Kings, it would be a local tragedy if the owners made the team cut players to save some money. The next thing for the Kings to do would be to send O'Neal to the same foot doctor as the Cleveland Cavs Zyrunas Ilgauskas. No one thing has more to do with the future of the Kings then the feet of Shaquille O'Neal.

II. Roster/Stats/Salaries

The stats and rosters are taken from Patricia Bender's web site (http://www.dfw.net/~patricia) . In my opinion this is the best site for NBA information on the web.

No  Player                  Pos  Ht  Wt    B-day   College               Exp
 3  Gerald Wallace ........  F  6-7  215  7/23/82  Alabama'04             1 
 4  Chris Webber ..........  F  6-10 245   3/1/73  Michigan'95            9 
 5  Hidayet Turkoglu ...... G-F 6-8  220  3/19/79  Turkey                 2 
 8  Mateen Cleaves ........  G  6-2  210   9/7/77  Michigan State'00      2 
10  Mike Bibby ............  G  6-1  190  5/13/78  Arizona'00             4 
13  Doug Christie ......... G-F 6-6  205   5/9/70  Pepperdine'92         10 
16  Predrag Stojakovic .... F-G 6-9  229   6/9/77  Serbia                 4 
21  Vlade Divac ...........  C  7-1  260   2/3/68  Serbia                13 
24  Bobby Jackson .........  G  6-1  185  3/13/73  Minnesota'97           5 
25  Brent Price ...........  G  6-1  185  12/9/68  Oklahoma'92            9 
31  Scot Pollard ..........  C  6-11 265  2/12/75  Kansas'97              5 
51  Lawrence Funderburke ..  F  6-9  230 12/15/70  Ohio State'94          5 
52  Chucky Brown ..........  F  6-8  215  2/29/68  N.C. State'89         13

Sacramento Kings          Date    # of      total 
Player                   signed   years     salary     misc          FA
Mike Bibby ............  1/22/99    4    $13,452,098    rc          '02
Chucky Brown ..........  2/26/02    1      minimum                  '02
Vlade Divac ...........  1/22/99    6    $62.5 million        p-opt '03
Brent Price ...........  7/15/96    7    $18.2 million              '03
Lawrence Funderburke ..   8/4/99    5    $17 million                '04
Mateen Cleaves ........   9/6/00    4     $6,177,093    rc    t-opt '04
Hidayet Turkoglu ......   8/4/00    4     $5,643,851    rc    t-opt '04
Gerald Wallace ........   7/6/01    4     $4,225,614    rc    t-opt '05
Doug Christie .........  7/18/01    5    $32.5 million              '06
Bobby Jackson .........   8/1/00    5    $13.5 million        t-opt '06
Scot Pollard ..........   8/1/00    6    $30.7 million              '06
Predrag Stojakovic .... 6/8/98,8/16/00  3+6  $3.9 + $45 mill  p-opt '06
Chris Webber ..........  7/21/01    7    $122,718,750         p-opt '06

Sacramento Kings        Total: $54,921,012
  Chris Webber ............... $12,750,000
  Vlade Divac ................ $10,444,642
  Doug Christie ..............  $5,200,000
  Predrag Stojakovic .........  $5,000,000
  Scot Pollard ...............  $4,344,187
  Mike Bibby .................  $4,174,893
  Brent Price ................  $3,680,000
  Lawrence Funderburke .......  $3,025,000
  Bobby Jackson ..............  $2,475,000
  Mateen Cleaves .............  $1,347,480
  Hidayet Turkoglu ...........  $1,216,080
  Gerald Wallace .............    $797,880
  Jabari Smith ...............    $465,850

III. Player Analysis

Center

Vlade Divic
The human flop. Actually, I really like Vlade. I got to see him play a lot when he played for the Hornets. A very good passer and shooter he has actually gotten a little better as a defender and low post player. Divic is signed until 2003 and gives the Kings a solid center.

Scot Pollard
It is hard to image why the Pistons gave up on him so quickly. Certainly the interior starved Pistons would have welcomed his defense and rebounding. Pollard has become a very solid backup center and power forward. He started in place of Webber at the beginning of the year and did a fine job. Not much of a scorer, on this team that is fine. He knows his role and plays it well.

Power Forward

Chris Webber
Has there ever been a big name player so afraid to take a big shot? Ok, that might be a bit harsh and Webber did do better this year but for a guy with this much talent it just seems that he is scared of the big moment. Whatch Webber and Kobe Bryant near the end of a big game. Tell me which one wants to win the game versus just being on the team that wins. Even still, Webber resigning with the Kings saved this franchise from returning to Lottery Hell. It was just the Kings luck that no other team really showed Webber that they were willing to spend that much money on him.

Lawrence Funderburke, Chucky Brown
Funderburke and Brown do not really back up Webber, Pollard does. Still they are good guys to have on the end of your bench. They don't complain about playing time and are good "rooters".

Small Forward

Pregrag Stojakovic
Stojakovic is one of my favorite players in the league. A great jump shot and good slasher, he plays hard and competes well. Stojakovic really came into his own this year (averaging 21.2 pts and 5.3 rebounds a game) and he made the all star team. The only sour note to a great year was him injuring his ankle before the Lakers series. He gamely came back in the game five but was not near 100%. It is hard to imagine that the Kings fans booed his selection in 1996.

Hidayet Turkoglu
Another one of the great young foreign players in the NBA. He would be a starter on almost every other team. He is the first Turkish born player to make the NBA. He has got a nice shot and is a good rebounder. He is also a great dibbler and could see time at the point. He is signed until 2004.

Gerald Wallace
Almost declared for the NBA right out of high school, then had a disappointing freshman year at Alabama. Still got drafted on potential alone. Not in the least bit polished as a player, the Kings have the luxury of keeping him around to see what develops.

Shooting Guard

Doug Christie
Once a great defensive player, Christie has lost a step or two. He still is a very good player who knows his role and serves as a veteran voice on the team. His points per game has hovered around 12 since coming to Sacramento and he is usually in the top 5 in steals. There is talk that Sacramento may try to dump Christie to help free up money to sign Bibby.

Bobby Jackson
Jackson backs up both Christie and Bibby. A solid "combo" guard that is perfect for a player coming off the bench. Not really tall enough to start at shooting guard and not a good enough ball handler to start at the point. He can compete at both spots. A very good athlete, he has good quickness and showed that in the playoffs. Jackson is signed until 2006

Point Guard

Mike Bibby
The playoffs made a lot of folks believers (myself included). Bibby was brought in for one reason, to not screw up and make really dumb plays like Jason Williams. The Kings however, got much more than that. A solid playmaker, Bibby showed that he could step up against the best and make clutch plays. His game winning shot against the Lakers was the biggest play in Kings history. His play has helped him get to a level where the Kings will have to pay him a maximum contract to get him to stay. Things are looking promising at this time and it looks like the Kings will be keeping him. Bibby resigning will determine just how long that window stays open for the Kings.

Mateen Cleaves
Cleaves does not really back up Bibby, Jackson does. Cleaves was acquired from Detroit for Jon Barry in a cost cutting trade (the Kings also got a future Pistons #1 pick). Cleaves spent most of the year being head cheerleader on the bench.

IV. Coach/Front Office

Rick Adelman is a perfect coach for this team. More of a laid back type of coach that a veteran team needs. Took a lot of heat in Portland for not being a good X and O's coach and he probably still is not.

GM Geoff Petrie has done what most thought impossible, make Sacramento a constant NBA playoff team. He has made big trades (Webber for Richmond) and got a good mix of players (unlike Portland for example which just seems to try to find stars at the expense of team chemistry). Anyway, I would have loved to have heard his reaction to the Bibby trade ("you want to take Jason Williams???? And give me Mike Bibby???? HAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAA"). I'm not sure if the Webber signing will not hurt them in the future. No one could come close to paying him $120 million, so why did the Kings go that high?

V. Team Needs

Absolutely Nothing except for Shaq's feet to keep getting worse and worse (and for O'Neal to keep getting heavier and heavier - a great combination for the Kings).

VI. Previous Drafts

• 2001: Gerald Wallace (25th overall)
• 2000: Hidayet Turkoglu (16th overall), Jabari Smith (45th overall)
• 1999: Ryan Robertson (45th overall)
• 1998: Jason Williams (7th overall), Jerome James (36th overall)
• 1997: Olivier Saint-Jean
• 1996: Predrag Stojakovic
• 1995: Corliss Williamson
• 1994: Brian Grant
• 1993: Bobby Hurley
• 1992: Walt Williams
• 1991: Billy Owens, Pete Chilcutt

VII. My selection

Carlos Boozer, PF, 6'9", Duke

This was a really tough call because Boozer does not fit a need on the team. The player that most fit a need was Dan Gadzuric but Boozer is just to good a player to pass up. To be honest, there is no one at this stage of the draft that has a chance in hell of cracking the top 8 of the Kings. Boozer has been moving up. They say his weight is down and he looks a lot quicker.

VII. Others Considered

Dan Gadzuric, UCLA - Best center on the board. Never hurts to have to many good big people and Gadzuric has some potential. He has also not lived up to expectations. That is why I went with Boozer

Nenad Krstic, Partizan - Most mock drafts have the Kings taking him and keeping him in Europe for a few years to develop. He is also a good friend to Vlade Divic.

Lenny Cooke/DeAngelo Collins - Could the Kings dump them in college for 4 years?

Pass the pick - I would have done this but as the Commissioner of this draft I would have been really, really mad at myself and would not have let me GM again.

VII. What should the team do

If they are serious about keeping the cap total down, they should trade this pick. Good young players are there in the second round and the Kings would not have to pay more the NBA minimum.