Bobby for Bonzi

The Kings traded Bobby Jackson to Memphis for Bonzi Wells last Friday. Greg Ostertag, Utah and a bunch of low-level players were involved too, for reasons that escape me. It must have had something to do with the salary cap. Bobby has one year to go on his contract at something like $3.3m. Wells has one year to go at something like $8m. I guess a bunch of other guys had to be thrown in to make the numbers work. As a Kings fan, you have to draw a real firm line between the emotional and basketball parts of this sucker.

Emotionally, this blows. Maybe more than any other player, Bobby Jackson is the guy that Kings fans love. Mike Bibby is a god and we love him, but he's cool like a jazz player (not a Jazz player -- Jerry Sloan teaches them to mug everyone). Peja has ungodly talent and makes shots that no one else does, but you wonder about his heart sometimes, although he played like crazy in the last couple of games against the Sonics. Bobby always, always, always gave it everything he had. He always left it out on the court and was pissed if he didn't get the chance to do that. I don't think that he ever said it publicly, but I don't think that he will ever forgive Rick Adelman for keeping him essentially on the bench during the overtime against the Lakers in Game 7 of the 2002 conference finals. It just must have killed him to watch Doug Christie front-rimming three's in that overtime. No way Bobby was going to front-rim anything in those circumstances. That's why people loved Bobby to the extent that, one time during the 2002 playoffs, he went flying into the crowd at ARCO after a ball and came to rest against a woman, who promptly bent over and kissed him on the forehead. It was one of the best things that I have ever seen in sports. I was at the playoff game in 2003 when Bobby received his Sixth Man of the Year award. It was absolutely deafening in ARCO. So we loved Bobby and now he's gone. That sucks. Maybe Brad Miller can take his place emotionally. He gets pretty fired up too.

The trade isn't great emotionally. No one should ever get suspended by his coach basically for insubordination before his team's playoff game the way that Bonzi Wells did last year. That's just unacceptable for a guy who's getting paid millions of bucks to play a game. It's not as bad as Scotty Pippen refusing to go into a game because the last shot wasn't called for him, but it's the same kind of thing. Hopefully, Wells appreciates into whose shoes he's stepping metaphorically, if not positionally.

OK, OK, so enough about the emotional side of this. I think that this is a good trade for basketball purposes. The reasons we loved Bobby were the reasons that he had to go. He was never able to slow down -- ever -- and so was constantly hurt. The Kings couldn't live with a backup point guard who might miss 30 games again next year. Moreover, because Peja tends to be a spot-up shooter, they needed more of a slasher/rebounder-type at 2 guard. Wells should fit that kind of role nicely. He's pretty big for a 2 guard (6' 5", I think), which should help with rebounding (please, God, let it help with rebounding). He can light it up and he has experience. The big question with him is how he is going to fit in. The Kings' offense is built on sharing the ball. Mobley couldn't quite get that, although he was only around part of a season. Adelman is going to have to get over to Wells that he will get his shots, plenty of them, in the offense. Whatever your disagreements with Adelman -- I have plenty -- he has been pretty good at managing touchy personalities, with Webber starting out basically refusing to come to Sac. and then doing very well until he got hurt as a prime example.

Where does that leave the rest of the roster?

First, Mo Evans is gone. That's unfortunate because he is going to be very good and seems like a good guy. The Kings simply don't need and can't use Wells, Evans, Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia all at the same position. Bye, Mo, good luck, try not to dunk on the Kings too much and don't go to the Spurs.

Second, the Kings still could use a bigger, Ben Wallace-type guy at power forward. Kenny Thomas is a very talented player, but his game is too much like the rest of the Kings. His rebounding seems a little soft and he gets a lot of his points through jumpshots. The Kings ideally could move him for a power forward whose game is based a little more on the block, both for defense/rebounding and back-to-the-basket offense. The offense part of that is almost optional. Maybe Darius Songalia still has the potential to be something like that. I would sure like to see the Kings hold on to him in any case.

Third, the Kings clearly need a backup point guard. Eddie House was a good shooter, but he wasn't a point guard and isn't going to be. They need someone like Damon Jones, although I would guess that he wouldn't be interested in being a backup anymore. Maybe Earl Watson, who isn't going to be needed in Memphis now that Bobby is there. One REAL interesting idea would be to sign Nick Van Exel on the cheap. His body won't take starter minutes anymore, but he might be a killer backup for Bibby. God knows it would be nice to have him make shots for, instead of against, the Kings. He would bring a nice killer instinct that the Kings often lack, too.

Fourth, the Kings are developing a nice bench, if Adelman will only use it. Assuming that they get a decent backup point guard, they could have the following bench: (1) the backup point guard; (2) Kevin Martin/Francisco Garcia at shooting guard; (3) Corliss Williamson at small forward; (4) Songalia at power forward; and (5) Brian Skinner at center. That group would be a little undersized, but could really be an effective energy group that would scrap, get on the boards and have a little low-post scoring in Williamson. Adelman could use them that way. He kind of used the "Bench Mob" that way five or six years ago. Of course, it would seem to go against his tendencies, which are to play the veterans major minutes all the time. Maybe he needs to change his tendencies.

It surely sucks to see Bobby Jackson go. He was great here (especially after he got rid of the hideous high socks). But this trade is another indication that Geoff Petrie knows what the hell he is doing. It reminds me of when Bill Walsh let Ronnie Lott and Roger Craig go from the 49ers. They were beloved and a big part of the 49ers' success, but were just about worn out. Walsh cut them loose to bring in younger players. That's the kind of cold-bloodedness that made Walsh great. If the Kings ever win a title (can they be healthy going into and through the playoffs one freakin' time?), Petrie will get the same kind of acclaim. Anyway, even if Bonzi Wells is a disaster, they're only stuck with him for one year. See, Petrie is smart.