 |
| |
|
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
|||
EVENTS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|
 |
Cloudy skies Webber's decision looms over Kings' bright future
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Let the guessing games begin: Will Chris Webber turn his back on the Sacramento Kings? Even after the Kings' most successful season since moving to Northern California in 1985, their fans won't be able to rest this summer until Webber, Sacramento's top scorer and rebounder the past three seasons, decides his fate in free agency. If Webber leaves, as most expect, the Kings still will have a young, talented roster with plenty of potential -- but they'll be forced to rebuild a remarkable team that took the NBA by storm three years ago with a high-scoring, slick-passing style that transformed Sacramento's image and dazzled basketball fans worldwide. Webber, stung by brushes with the law and fearful for his basketball future, unwillingly arrived from Washington in 1999. Now, after proving himself to be one of the NBA's premiere power forwards and a genuinely nice guy, Webber said he will wait until late summer to begin planning his future. "If I had to close the book right now, [Sacramento] would have been the perfect thing," Webber said Sunday after the Kings were eliminated from the playoffs by the Lakers. "My biggest thing when I came here was to get back to the level where I was respected on the court by my peers. I feel good about myself again. I'm no fool as to what God did when he let me come here." Webber may always be grateful to Sacramento, but most think he'll leave for brighter lights and greener pastures. That's why Sacramento vice president of basketball operation Geoff Petrie, who was named the NBA's top executive Monday for the second time in three years, will get the chance to try for the award again this summer. "I want him [Webber] to be rewarded, and I will work toward that goal, whatever it takes," Petrie said. "But whether it's here or not, I'm not going to speculate. I will leave the speculating to the speculators." The Kings' most improbably successful season in decades finished on a down note after Los Angeles swept them out of the Western Conference semifinals. Two losses at Arco Arena, where the Kings built one of the NBA's most formidable home-court advantages this season, were an unlikely end for a team that matched San Antonio (33-8) for the league's best home record. But the finish couldn't erase three seasons of excitement. The Kings' rebirth began in the strike-shortened 1999 season, when Webber joined free agent Vlade Divac, rookie Jason Williams, unknown Serbian scorer Peja Stojakovic and new coach Rick Adelman in Sacramento. This spring, they finished with the NBA's fourth-best record at 55-27, losing the Pacific Division title to the Lakers by one game, then made the playoffs' second round for the first time since 1981 -- but in the Lakers, they "ran into a buzzsaw," as Adelman put it. Even in their final defeat, the Kings saw glimpses of a bright future. Rookie Hedo Turkoglu, who was drafted 16th overall last summer and immediately taken under Webber's wing, scored 22 points and drew rave reviews from both teams. Along with Stojakovic, who scored 26 points in the final game of his impressive breakout season, Sacramento has two of the game's top young European talents. Under NBA rules, if Webber decides to leave, he won't be able to earn the maximum amount possible -- seven years at $121 million -- unless Sacramento works a sign-and-trade deal with another team. Such a move likely would bring at least two talented players into the Kings' mix. Doug Christie, who was acquired by Petrie from Toronto last summer, became the Kings' defensive stopper and a consistent scorer. He'll also be a free agent in July, but Sacramento expects to sign him. The Kings also must deal with Williams, whose painfully inconsistent play this season was just as disappointing as his four run-ins with NBA discipline. On Sunday, angry at playing just 19 minutes in the Kings' final loss, Williams intimated he might be done in Sacramento as well. "I don't know if being here is best for me," he said. "I want what's best for me. I'm worried about myself now. ... It's time to look out for me. You get told two different things sometimes. It's just a lot of stuff. It's a bunch of B.S. around here, that's all I think." Whether his starting power forward and point guard return, Adelman said he won't make large changes to the style that made Sacramento the NBA's highest-scoring team the past three seasons. The Kings will still be the Kings -- and they don't plan to regress into their mediocre history. "We've got a special team here, and this isn't the end," Adelman said. "I think this is just another part of the story."
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
