When the smoke clears, presumably sometime between now and training camp, this is what you will see: Ron Artest on the trade market. Beno Udrih at point guard. Geoff Petrie and the wheeling, dealing – and still-spending – Maloofs engaged in an active offseason intended to accelerate the Kings' return to respectability.
But it starts in the backcourt, with Beno.
Signing Udrih was costly, significant, imperative. He is young (26) and healthy and skilled. He also is an opportunist – a point guard who can pass and score, and whose potential offsets a razor-thin résumé. Whether he can lead a franchise revival and stay healthy remains to be seen. That's where his reputation will be altered or enhanced.
But the Kings made a wise decision here. Failing to outduel the Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat and New York Knicks for Udrih, the soft-spoken Slovenian who emerged as a quality performer during his 51 starts, would have slowed progress to a grinding halt; Arco Arena would have resembled the Interstate 5 downtown corridor at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
The Kings would have entered the 2008-09 season much as they did a year ago, laboring to advance the ball with the pass or the dribble, and with little chance of establishing a style or an identity. And the prospect of winning more games? Without an established ballhandler and playmaker? Don't touch the stuff.
Though Petrie overspent in recent years for free-agent forwards Shareef Abdur-Rahim, John Salmons and Mikki Moore, Udrih's presence solidifies arguably the most important position on the court. The others were role players whose contributions would be of greater value to established or contending teams, not a rebuilding club such as the Kings. This move also enables the Kings to retain an asset, and assets come with a caveat: They can always be traded.
As the Baron Davis and Elton Brand defections again demonstrated, free agency can be treacherous. Losing key players without compensation is to be avoided at almost any cost. In that sense alone, the Kings have progressed, though the extent of these latest maneuvers ultimately will be determined by a.) what Petrie obtains in an inevitable swap involving Artest and b.) the degree of Udrih's development.
For five years and $32.7 million, Udrih can become more of a distributor, certainly more generous with the passes to Kevin Martin. Reggie Theus theorized that Udrih, who produced career-best stats last season of 12.8 points, 4.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds, could double his assists without so much as straining an elbow.
"It's about developing the ability, when he turns the corner on the pick-and-roll, to see that somebody else is open," Theus said. "I thought we saw Beno getting more confident at that later in the year. But I think he can take his game to another level, and I'm going to be pushing him."
Udrih, who became increasingly vocal and often engaged Theus in animated sideline chats, offers an intriguing combination of skills. He converts the mid-range jumper and penetrates the seams of the defense, often scoring on deceptive reverse spin moves. At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, he is quicker and stronger than he appears and an adequate on-ball defender. He also appreciates the value of passing ahead and scoring easy baskets, an offensive element that disappeared with Doug Christie.
So the tools and the talent are there. The only question is whether Udrih evolves into a durable, forceful leader who influences the team's personality and dictates the style that currently – and increasingly – affects Petrie's personnel decisions.
Petrie detests that one-on-one, isolation ball, too; he just forgot for a while. Just a hunch, but his days of acquiring ball-stoppers are over.
"Whatever real or imagined imperfections people may have," the relaxed, relieved Petrie said, "you have to look at the total package and what it means to your team. Beno was just the best guy out there for us."
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