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Pulling the right strings Kings' Petrie honored as Executive of the Year
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Thirty years after he received his first league honor, Geoff Petrie was given another Monday when the Sacramento Kings' vice president of operations was named NBA Executive of the Year. Petrie, 53, received nine votes for the award, announced in conjunction with The Sporting News. Billy King of the Philadelphia 76ers finished second with six votes in the selection by a panel of NBA executives. Petrie, who also won the award following the 1998-99 season, claimed the league's rookie of the year honors in 1971 and was the first person in league history to claim both awards. Despite the honor, Petrie soon will face perhaps the biggest challenge of his seven seasons in Sacramento -- negotiating with free agent power forward Chris Webber. Webber has led the team in scoring and rebounding for the past three seasons, but is free to negotiate with other teams following this season. His future in Sacramento has been discussed by fans and commentators on a nearly daily basis since the beginning of this season. Also, starting shooting guard Doug Christie is expected to choose the free-agent option of his contract negotiated as a member of the Toronto Raptors. "I want him [Webber] to be rewarded, and I will work toward that goal, whatever it takes," said Petrie. "But whether it's here or not, I'm not going to speculate. That's a July 1 question. I will leave the speculating to the speculators." For the first time in the Kings' 16-season Northern California history, the team advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs this season. The Kings compiled the league's fourth-best regular season record, 55-27. But after ousting the Phoenix Suns in the first round, Sacramento was eliminated from the playoffs at home Sunday, losing its fourth conesecutive game to be swept by the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. Petrie has orchestrated several major trades since 1994, including the acquisition of veterans Webber, Christie and Nick Anderson, and has signed free agents Scot Pollard, Bobby Jackson, Vlade Divac and Jon Barry. Petrie also has had international success, signing Predrag Stojakovic, the Kings' third-year Yugoslavian swingman, and rookie guard Hidayet Turkoglu of Turkey. Petrie, a two-time All-Star guard for the Portland Trail Blazers, shared the league's rookie honors in 1971 with Dave Cowens of the Boston Celtics. A knee injury in his sixth NBA season ended Petrie's playing career. He began his management career in 1984 with Portland, where he still holds several scoring records.
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