Sacramento Kings 2003/04
GM - Tweed Moore
Season
Overview
This was the year! Everyone in the NBA knew it. The Kings had
paid their dues and they finally were going to take it. The season started off
much like last year. with injuries! But the Kings are deep and can play through
the injuries. This year it was injuries to Bibby and Pollard. The injury to
Bibby showed us just how valuable Bobby Jackson was to the team. The injury to
Pollard may have resulted in the aging Divac playing more minutes than he was
conditioned to play.
Even with Mike and Scott out, the Kings got
off to a great start. Everyone who was physically able to play stepped their
game up a few notches, Bobby Jackson, Keon Clark and even both Damon Jones and
Gerald Wallace showed the promise and potential the Kings had to start the
season. The Kings were on their way.
In December the Kings signed Jimmy
Jackson - another one of Petrie's great decisions. JJ would play Hedo out of the
starting SF position. And in December the injury bug continued. Bibby finally
rejoined the team, but less than a week later, Bobby went down with a broken
hand. And Pollard got injured again after being back for only 2 days. Jury bug
had officially infected the Kings. They lost over 300 player days to injuries
this year, knowing that it is actually impressive that they finished the way
they did. No one played in all 82 games and only Christie, Vlade and Keon played
in 80 games
Despite the injuries and some slight evidence that these
Kings were not playing with the heart, defense and focus that we all saw against
the Lakers last year.they still had a 34-17 record at the All-Star break. But
the injury to Webber should have signaled to all of us that this year just wasn'
t going to be the one we hoped for.
BUT hope was still alive! Finally,
with only 20 games left in the season, the Kings looked like they were healthy
and at full strength. They got our hopes up again! Webber was looking like an
MVP and Jackson was clearly the leagues best 6th man. While Bibby and Divac
weren't playing their best.it didn't show much because others were stepping
up.
The season ended with a 59-23 record ( 35-6 at home and 24-17 on the
road). Good, but two games short. They didn't have home court advantage and that
proved very critical.
The Kings got by Utah quite easily (I was able to
attend the final game of Stockton at Arco Arena - These fans have class!). The
first game in the semi-finals versus Dallas looked like their roll would
continue. But then in a twist that shouldn't have surprised anyone this year
both Webber and Jackson went down. Bobby was able to keep playing with his
broken cheekbone but Webber was done for the season.
The Kings have a
huge hurdle to overcome next year, THEMSELVES! Can they complete a season
without being hindered by the injury bug? Can Bibby play like a 9.5 million a
year player? Can Divac pull out one more year of NBA quality center play? Can
Webber win in the big game? Can or will the Kings keep Clark and Jackson? Can
coach Adelman take a team beyond a very good regular season team to being a
championship team?
Players
Point Guard
Mike Bibby:
Season: 5th
Age: 25
2003/4 Salary:
$9.5M
Total Contract: $80.5M over 7 years, expiring
2008/9
Bobby Jackson:
Season: 6th
Age:
30
2003/4 Salary: $2.925M
Total Contract: $13.5M over 5 years,
expiring 2004/5
Damon Jones / Mateen Cleaves:
Both are
free agents in 2003/4. My guess is that they will both be gone.
Shooting
Guard
Doug Christie:
Season: 11th
Age:
33
2003/4 Salary: $6.5M
Total Contract: $32.5M over 5 years,
expiring 2005/6
Jim Jackson:
Season: 11th
Age:
32
2003/4 Salary: $791,000
Total Contract: Free Agent
Small
Forward
Peja Stojakovic:
Season: 5th
Age:
26
2003/4 Salary: $6.25M
Total Contract: $45.0M over 6 years,
expiring 2005/6 with a player option for 2006/7
Hedo
Turkoglu:
Season: 3rd
Age: 24
2003/4 Salary:
$1.996M
Total Contract: $5.64M over 4 years, expiring 2003/4 with a
qualifying offer option for 2004/5
Gerald Wallace:
Season:
2nd
Age: 21
2003/4 Salary: $765,000
Total Contract: $4.22M
over 4 years, expiring 2003/4 with a team option in 2004/5 and qualifying offer
option for 2004/5
Power Forward
Chris
Webber:
Season: 10th
Age: 30
2003/4 Salary:
$15.9M
Total Contract: $122.72M over 7 years, expiring 2007/8 with a
player option in 2006/7
Keon Clark:
Season: 5th
Age:
28
2003/4 Salary: $5.0M
Total Contract: $9.54M over 2 years,
expiring 2002/3 with a player option for 2003/4
Lawrence
Funderburke:
Season: 6th
Age: 32
2003/4 Salary:
$3.6M
Total Contract: $17.0M over 5 years, expiring
2003/4
Center
Vlade Divac:
Season: 525th
(no, it is his 14th)
Age: 35
2003/4 Salary: $12.1M
Total
Contract: $62.5M over 6 years, expiring 2003/4
Scot
Pollard:
Season: 6th
Age: 28
2003/4 Salary:
$5.3M
Total Contract: $30.7M over 6 years, expiring
2005/6
No Player
Pos Ht Wt B-day College
Exp
3 Gerald
Wallace ........ F 6-7 215 7/23/82 Alabama'04 2
4 Chris Webber ..........
F 6-10 245 3/1/73 Michigan'95 10
5 Hidayet Turkoglu ..... G-F 6-10 220
3/19/79 Turkey 3
7 Keon Clark ............ F 6-11 221 4/16/75 UNLV'98
5
8 Mateen Cleaves ........ G 6-2 210 9/7/77 Michigan State'00 3
9
Damon Jones ........... G 6-3 185 8/25/76 Houston'98 5
10 Mike Bibby
............ G 6-1 190 5/13/78 Arizona'00 5
13 Doug Christie .........
G-F 6-6 205 5/9/70 Pepperdine'92 11
16 Predrag Stojakovic .... G 6-10 229
6/9/77 Serbia 5
21 Vlade Divac ........... C 7-1 260 2/3/68 Serbia
14
22 Jim Jackson ........... G 6-6 220 10/14/70 Ohio State'93
11
24 Bobby Jackson ......... G 6-1 185 3/13/73 Minnesota'97 6
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 6
51 Lawrence Funderburke .. F
6-9 230 12/15/70 Ohio State'94 6
Head Coach: Rick Adelman (Loyola
Marymount'68)
Assistants: John Wetzel (Virginia Tech'66)
Elston
Turner (Mississippi'81)
Terry Porter (Wisconsin-Stevens
Point'85)
Trainer: Pete Youngman (Ithaca'86)
Scoring
Statistics
Player Pos G M/Gm FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTA PCT
AVG
1 webber,chris PF 67 39.1 661 1433 .461 5 21 .238 215 354 .607
23.0
2 stojakovic,predr SF 72 34.0 497 1034 .481 155 406 .382 231 264
.875 19.2
3 bibby,mike PG 55 33.4 329 700 .470 56 137 .409 161 187 .861
15.9
4 jackson,bobby PG 59 28.4 340 732 .464 89 235 .379 126 149 .846
15.2
5 divac,vlade C 80 29.8 305 655 .466 6 25 .240 179 251 .713
9.9
6 christie,doug SG 80 33.9 267 557 .479 73 185 .395 141 174 .810
9.3
7 jackson,jimmy SG 63 20.8 204 462 .442 32 71 .451 47 55 .855
7.7
8 clark,keon C 80 22.3 226 451 .501 0 4 .000 84 128 .656 6.7
9
turkoglu,hidaye SF 67 17.5 165 391 .422 29 78 .372 88 110 .800 6.7
10
wallace,gerald SF 47 12.1 90 183 .492 1 4 .250 39 74 .527 4.7
11
jones,damon PG 49 14.5 80 210 .381 44 121 .364 20 27 .741 4.6
12
pollard,scot C 23 14.1 40 87 .460 0 0 .000 23 38 .605 4.5
13
funderburke,lawr PF 27 8.5 32 72 .444 0 0 .000 10 17 .588 2.7
14
cleaves,mateen PG 12 4.6 6 23 .261 1 1 1.00 3 4 .750 1.3
Rebounding
Statistics
Player AS AS/g ST ST/G TO TO/g BK BK/g TND OR OR/g TR
TR/g
1 webber,chris 364 5.4 106 1.6 215 3.2 88 1.3 25.5 160 2.4 704
10.5
2 stojakovic,predr 141 2.0 72 1.0 101 1.4 5 0.1 19.1 61 0.8 397
5.5
3 bibby,mike 285 5.2 72 1.3 127 2.3 8 0.1 16.5 34 0.6 147
2.7
4 jackson,bobby 182 3.1 71 1.2 106 1.8 3 0.1 14.9 57 1.0 219
3.7
5 divac,vlade 274 3.4 83 1.0 152 1.9 105 1.3 15.2 157 2.0 574
7.2
6 christie,doug 376 4.7 180 2.2 144 1.8 37 0.5 16.0 61 0.8 342
4.3
7 jackson,jimmy 118 1.9 31 0.5 80 1.3 4 0.1 8.3 84 1.3 262
4.2
8 clark,keon 80 1.0 38 0.5 94 1.2 150 1.9 10.0 138 1.7 451
5.6
9 turkoglu,hidaye 87 1.3 25 0.4 50 0.7 12 0.2 6.5 35 0.5 188
2.8
10 wallace,gerald 23 0.5 23 0.5 44 0.9 15 0.3 4.7 38 0.8 128
2.7
11 jones,damon 80 1.6 18 0.4 23 0.5 4 0.1 5.2 11 0.2 70 1.4
12
pollard,scot 6 0.3 13 0.6 15 0.7 15 0.7 6.5 46 2.0 106 4.6
13
funderburke,lawr 8 0.3 1 0.0 6 0.2 11 0.4 3.1 17 0.6 55 2.0
14
cleaves,mateen 10 0.8 2 0.2 14 1.2 0 0.0 0.1 1 0.1 8 0.7
Team Scoring
Totals
Min FGm FGa PCT 3m 3a PCT FTm FTa PCT PTS TND AVG
Totals
19830 3242 6990 .464 491 1288 .381 1367 1832 .746 8342 119.95
101.7
Opponents 19830 2991 7125 .420 373 1166 .320 1454 1962 .741 7809
102.57 95.2
Team Rebounding Totals
AS PF ST TO BK TC EJ FF OR TR
AVG
Totals 2034 1666 735 1171 457 38 3 3 900 3651 44.5
Opponents
1758 1635 684 1195 351 40 3 4 1145 3759 45.8
Record 59 - 23 Home 35 - 6
Away 24 - 17
Scoring Statistics
Player Min Pts Tnd/48 TC EJ FF PF
DQ STA PTS/48
1 webber,chris 2622 1542 31.24 5 1 0 204 1 67
28.23
2 stojakovic,predr 2449 1380 26.90 2 1 0 143 1 72 27.05
3
bibby,mike 1835 875 23.78 4 0 1 93 0 55 22.89
4 jackson,bobby 1676 895
25.14 1 0 0 126 0 26 25.63
5 divac,vlade 2384 795 24.54 9 0 0 239 3 80
16.01
6 christie,doug 2711 748 22.65 0 0 0 186 1 80 13.24
7
jackson,jimmy 1309 487 19.08 5 0 1 132 0 0 17.86
8 clark,keon 1781 536
21.63 4 0 0 227 2 11 14.45
9 turkoglu,hidaye 1175 447 17.91 1 0 0 125 0
11 18.26
10 wallace,gerald 570 220 18.48 2 0 0 68 0 7 18.53
11
jones,damon 709 224 17.28 4 1 0 42 0 1 15.17
12 pollard,scot 325 103
22.08 0 0 0 50 0 0 15.21
13 funderburke,lawr 229 74 17.76 1 0 1 25 0 0
15.51
14 cleaves,mateen 55 16 1.31 0 0 0 6 0 0 13.96
Rebounding
Statistics
Player AS/48 ST/48 TO/48 BK/48 OR/48 TR/48
1
webber,chris 6.7 1.9 3.9 1.6 2.9 12.9
2 stojakovic,predr 2.8 1.4 2.0 0.1
1.2 7.8
3 bibby,mike 7.5 1.9 3.3 0.2 0.9 3.8
4 jackson,bobby 5.2
2.0 3.0 0.1 1.6 6.3
5 divac,vlade 5.5 1.7 3.1 2.1 3.2 11.6
6
christie,doug 6.7 3.2 2.5 0.7 1.1 6.1
7 jackson,jimmy 4.3 1.1 2.9 0.1 3.1
9.6
8 clark,keon 2.2 1.0 2.5 4.0 3.7 12.2
9 turkoglu,hidaye 3.6
1.0 2.0 0.5 1.4 7.7
10 wallace,gerald 1.9 1.9 3.7 1.3 3.2 10.8
11
jones,damon 5.4 1.2 1.6 0.3 0.7 4.7
12 pollard,scot 0.9 1.9 2.2 2.2 6.8
15.7
13 funderburke,lawr 1.7 0.2 1.3 2.3 3.6 11.5
14
cleaves,mateen 8.7 1.7 9.9 0.0 0.9 7.0
Draft
History
Players in parentheses are players the Kings could have picked at
that spot- Just for dreaming! This may make it appear as if the Kings make bad
draft choices, but in reality, they have done relatively well with 8-9 of their
1st rounders still playing in the NBA.
* 2002 Dan Dickau (28th overall) -
(Boozer)
* 2001: Gerald Wallace (25th overall) - (Tinsley, Parker,
Arenas)
* 2000: Hidayet Turkoglu (16th overall) - (D. Mason,
Magliore)
* 1999: Ryan Robertson (45th overall) - (Ginobili)
*
1998: Jason Williams (7th overall) - (Nowitski, Pierce, R. Davis)
* 1997:
Olivier Saint-Jean (11th overall)
* 1996: Predrag Stojakovic (14th
overall) - (Nash, J. O'Neal, Ilgauskus)
* 1995: Corliss Williamson (13th
overall) - (Finley)
* 1994: Brian Grant (8th overall) - (Jones,
Rose)
* 1993: Bobby Hurley (7th overall) - (Houston, Cassell)
*
1992: Walt Williams (7th overall) - (Sprewell, P.J. Brown)
* 1991: Billy
Owens(3rd overall), Pete Chilcutt (27th overall) -
(Mutumbo,
Brandon)
Team Needs
This draft is basically
meaningless, with their top choice in the second round at #56, whoever they pick
probably won't play and given the slim chance that they even make the team they
will probably serve as a bench warmer and cheerleader. But they do have pressing
needs.
C or PF who plays defense and rebounds - and to keep Jackson and
Clark in Free Agency
Now what team doesn't need these? The reality is
that Divac has 1 more year left. Pollard is serviceable but doesn't play defense
like the Kings need. Keon Clark may leave in free agency. And Webber likes to
play on the outside a lot and so the middle must be protected by a strong
center. In the Western Conference, you need someone to defend Wallace, Garnett,
Duncan, Shaq, and Ming. The Kings options are limited in the draft, but FREE
AGENCY will be key for the Kings this year. If they can again upgrade their
roster with a player like they did this past year in Jimmy Jackson and Keon
Clark, they can again compete for the championship in the tough Western
Conference.
Salary Exceptions - for Free Agents
Since the
Kings will surely be over the salary cap I thought I'd list the free-agent
exceptions that are available. In total there are 9
possible
exceptions:
* Larry Bird Exception (for Qualifying Veteran
Free Agents) - not usable in any current scenarios
* Early Bird Exception
(for Early Qualifying VFA) - again not usable
* Non Bird Exception (for
Non-Qualifying VFA) - they could use this for Jackson, the constraints are 120%
of previous season salary ($949,609) or 120% of minimum salary ($1,284,000)
whichever is greater with a 6-year limit on the contract term and a limit of a
10% increase per year.
* Mid-Level Salary Exception - another possibility
for Jackson if his demands are too high for the Non Bird Exception and the Kings
feel strongly about keeping him, the constraints are 108% of previous season
average salary (~$4.8M) with a 6-year limit on the contract term.
* $1M
Exception - another possibility for Jackson, this year the amount is
$1.5M
* Rookie Exception - to be used for signing first round draft picks
if the team is over the salary cap.
* Minimum Player Salary Exception -
they could use this to resign D. Jones, the constraints are based on the number
of years the player has been in the league with a 2-year limit on the contract,
for Jones it would be $688,679.
* Disabled Player Exception
*
Qualifying Offer
Possible selections
Ndubi Ebi (6-9, 240)
HS'er from TX, probably should have went to school for at least one year. It
looks like his game is more SF than PF.
Travis
Outlaw: (6-9, 210) A high
school player with some upside. The problem is that the Kings don't have a
roster spot for a player to sit for a couple years and learn.
James Lang
: (6-11, 300) Another high schooler that probably shouldn't have listened to the
hype. Could be a sleeper or a big weight problem. Either way, he's not a 1st
round pick.
Zaur Pachulia (6-10, 240) Either 19 or 21 year old from
Georgia (from the former USSR), who's been playing in Turkey. He is big, pretty
athletic for his size and has a good knack for shot blocking. He will probably
be a 1st rounder in the NBA draft.
Jerome
Beasley-PF-North Dakota :
(6-10, 235) Rising on many mock drafts. Ben Wallace wannabe. But even if he's a
poor copy of Wallace, the kings could find a use for him. Could be a 1st rounder
because of his workouts and pre-camp performances.
Slavko Vranes : (7-6,
250) It's not every day a decently coordinated 7-foot-6 player comes along. All
the talk about Pavel.and there is already a 7-6 center available in this years
draft!
Selection
With the 33rd pick in the Usenet Mock
draft, the Kings select:
Zaur
Pachulia, PF, 6'11", Georgia
Zaur was rated highly last
year and it seems people have forgotten him. I predict he will go in the first
round of the NBA draft. If the Kings thought there were any possibility he would
fall to them at the 56th pick, they would snag him up in a
heartbeat.
What will actually happen - (Has actually
happened!)
The Kings traded the #56 pick in the 2003/2004 Draft
for:
Darius Songaila 6-10 240 PF Wake Forest Sr. (picked #50 last year by
the Boston Celtics)
Big, strong Lithuanian who played a key role in the
Dream Team's 2 point scare from Lithuania. Plays with good intensity. Very
strong at crashing the glass and also has touch around the basket.
As I
was preparing to mail in my selection, I read that the Kings had traded their
only draft pick in this years draft. I guess they felt that Songaila was a
better choice than anything they were likely to be able to draft at the 56th
pick.
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