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Coming back Webber to stay in Sacramento for $123 million
Updated: Thursday July 19, 2001 8:02 AM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Chris Webber, the biggest prize in the NBA's free agent sweepstakes, will re-sign with the Sacramento Kings, his agent said. Webber will receive the largest possible contract under league rules, $123 million over seven years, and will sign the deal Friday or Saturday, agent Fallasha Erwin said Wednesday night. "He's going back to Sacramento. He always wanted to go back with the Kings," Erwin said. "They had to do something to drive him away rather than someone else win him over." Owner Joe Maloof's ear-to-ear grin at Sacramento's training complex spoke volumes about the final stages of the Kings' exhaustive courtship of their star. "We're very pleased and excited that Chris decided to stay," Maloof said. "We'll be able to build a team that will be very successful for years to come." Webber's decision ends a year of speculation on the talented power forward's future. After examining many options and seriously considering Indiana and Detroit, Webber apparently determined that a return to Sacramento -- which seemed improbable when the regular season ended -- was the best decision. "He has a lot of respect for Joe Dumars, he's always idolized Isiah Thomas, but from the very beginning I think his mind was set on going back to the Kings," Erwin said. "It wasn't a difficult negotiation at all. The Maloofs wanted to make Chris happy, and we wanted to make sure we got everything we could." The Kings have said since last fall that they would offer Webber the maximum contract allowable. He will make $12.75 million next season. Last season, Webber became the first Kings player in a quarter-century to make the All-NBA team. He finished sixth in scoring (27.1), seventh in rebounding (11.1) and 10th in minutes per game (40.5), shooting 48 percent from the field as the first option on the NBA's highest-scoring team. The Kings began heavily recruiting Webber last season, with everything from a huge banner on Arco Arena reading "C-Webb's House!" to a billboard from owners Joe and Gavin Maloof, telling Webber that the millionaire casino magnates would mow his lawn if he stayed in Sacramento. But Webber stuck to his decision to test the free-agent market, and most observers thought Webber's reticence to talk about his future in Sacramento meant he was determined to play elsewhere. The Kings' season ended with a second-round playoff loss to the Lakers in which Webber played poorly and seemed distant to his teammates. Earlier this month, 12 to 15 teams made pitches to Webber, but few could meet the criteria necessary to land his services. Webber said he wanted to play in a larger city than Sacramento with a team that had a chance to contend for a title. The New York Knicks -- reportedly Webber's first choice -- had neither the cap room nor the players to make a sign-and-trade deal feasible. Other teams, including Orlando, pulled out of the sweepstakes after signing other free agents. Faced with a rapidly narrowing set of options, Webber chose to return to a winning team with fans, coaches and owners who desperately wanted to keep him in town. "We hope he'll choose to come back," owner Gavin Maloof said. "We've been working on this for a long time, and we hope he agrees with us and what we're all trying to do. It's like the old adage: Whatever is worth having is worth fighting for." Three years ago, it was almost impossible to imagine Webber enjoying a future in Sacramento. Webber was acquired by Sacramento from Washington in a trade for Mitch Richmond in 1998, and Webber nearly didn't report to his new team in the hinterlands of Northern California. After cajoling from his father, Webber joined the Kings -- and almost immediately, he helped to lead a perennially losing team steadily up the Western Conference's standings. With Webber as their leading scorer and rebounder, the Kings made the playoffs in each of the past three seasons. He seemed comfortable in head coach Rick Adelman's run-and-gun style, and he quickly bonded with his teammates. In 2000-01, Sacramento posted the league's fourth-best record at 55-27 -- easily the team's best mark since moving to Northern California in 1985 -- and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in two decades. With Webber on their roster, the Kings must be considered one of the NBA's elite teams again next season. Sacramento, which re-signed guard Doug Christie on Wednesday, also added point guard Mike Bibby in a trade with the Grizzlies last month. "He puts us back in the upper echelon of all the teams out there," Christie said. "If he doesn't come back, we'll have to find other ways. We can do that, but I really think he would be best off coming back here and winning a championship with us."
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