Fall from Royalty, Part Two: The Decline of the Sacramento Kings

1. Bonzi's injuries in '05-'06 allowed Kevin Martin to start 41 games.
2. His playoff performance against the Spurs (23-12-61 FG%-63 3FG%) put the Kings a Brent Barry three in Game Two from putting the first-ranked Spurs in a 3-1 game hole.  How the Kings could not resign him after that effort and...
3. His contribution to the run the Kings made with Artest (see more in Step 9), the Kings were 19-26 when he returned from injury a few days after Artest arrived and were 25-12 with Wells and Artest in the lineup.

As for Jackson?  He hasn't shot over 40 percent since he left Sacramento.  A steep fall for a guy who shot over 43 percent in each of his five years as a King.

Again, Petrie seems to have timed another player's demise.

Then Petrie offered Bonzi a reasonable extension to which Bonzi's agent said no.  Bonzi fired his agent for making incompetent decisions and for the fact that it cost him an opportunity to stay with the Kings.

So, in the end, it's not Petrie's fault that Bonzi didn't stick around to battle guys for the last two years.

Edge: Petrie.

Step 8: Sign Shareef Abdur-Rahim (August 2005)

A botched knee exam during the summer of 2005 cost the Blazers and Nets a deal that would have paid SAR $39 million for six seasons.  At the time he was 28, had career averages of 20 and eight and seemed like a huge bargain for the Kings at the mid-level exception for five seasons.

Well, given that the Nets wouldn't take him in exchange for a trade exception, one has to wonder.  But SAR played well in '05-'06 before starting a steep decline that has him buried on Reggie Theus' bench alongside his one-time rival Kenny Thomas. 

With $12.8 million to pay over the next two years and SAR "earning" $5.8 million this year while shooting 21percent (!!) from the field, this deal looks awful in hindsight.  

While the Maloofs pay out $13 million to Thomas and SAR, Theus gives most of his PF time to career journeyman Mikki Moore or goes with SFs Artest and Garcia in small-ball lineups.

Step 9: Trade Peja Stojakovic for Ron Artest (January 2006)

With the once-mighty Kings holding onto an 18-24 record, Petrie and the Maloofs made a controversial deal to get Ron Artest from the Pacers.  Despite receiving huge criticism for dealing for the focus of "the Brawl" and a guy who seemed as interested in selling records as playing his trademark lock-down defense, this deal has been positive for the Kings.

Peja has moved on from Indiana for $12 million per, while Artest continues to do everything right (on the court at least).  Now, let's admit that Artest is not the greatest person in the world, but the guy is a "Tru Warier" on the basketball court.

Artest's arrival (coupled with the return of Bonzi) led the Kings to a 26-14 record in the second half of '05-'06 and got them to the playoffs. 

Artest started every game that season and played 40 minutes.  If he had played at all during the first half of the season for the Pacers and somehow erased the Palace memories, Artest would have been considered an MVP candidate for the absolute transformation he orchestrated that season.

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