DETROIT – If the Kenny Thomas revival is to start somewhere, then it doesn't get any more poetic than this.
The Kings forward was in a Natomas gym last week, far from his teammates, taking passes in the paint and experiencing the kind of playing time that is nowhere to be seen with the team signing his monstrous paychecks.
It wasn't just any defender planting his knee in Thomas' backside as they banged bodies down low. It was the man with whom he'd crossed paths before, both of them pieces in a trade that forever changed the landscape of the Kings and ultimately left Thomas in the basketball purgatory that is closer to hoops hell these days than anywhere near a middle ground. It was Chris Webber.
Away from the action, renowned shooting coach Buzz Braman watched Webber, his longtime client, and his newest project go at each other with unleashed intensity.
"When I told Chris that Kenny was out here and we wanted to do some stuff, Chris' first reaction was that (Thomas) is one of the hardest dudes to keep out of the paint – ever. That was coming from Chris," said Braman, whose session took place at the fitness center of former Kings strength coach Al Biancani. "And when I was on the court watching Kenny and Chris, (Thomas') athleticism and his quickness and his first step (are) something to marvel at.
"As I was sitting there watching him, I'm thinking, Oh man, when I get done with this dude, he's going to be frightening. I think he's going to be a monster."
Thomas comes to work every day, bringing his "I have to be professional" approach; the only monster he resembles – at least from his current team's perspective – is something from "Night of the Living Dead."
To his credit, he has acted like a pro all season, during which he was handed three courtesy starts at the outset but since has become a castoff. Now, pursuing a regimen that is eight days old and expected to continue in Sacramento through the summer, he works with Braman.
The Orlando, Fla.-based coach was an assistant with Philadelphia, Orlando and Washington before he became a famed shot-fixer. The cases of his free-throw work with Webber and Miami's Shaquille O'Neal are the best known fixer-uppers. Braman helped Webber make a league-high leap from 45.4 percent shooting in the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season to 75.1 percent in 1999-2000. He had O'Neal burying free throws while with the Lakers before Shaq inexplicably went away from the coach.
In that regard, Braman certainly could help Thomas, a career 70 percent free-throw shooter who has missed all five of his attempts this season. But as was the case with Webber in 2003 – when the then-Kings forward was seeking an offensive revival of his own – Braman has been hired to bring new life to Thomas' offensive repertoire.
"I'm in the process now of redoing his shot, kind of building it from ground zero, not too much unlike what I did with Chris five years ago," Braman said.
When they're done, Thomas' jumper "will be like butter," Braman boasts.
And maybe then Thomas can get on with his career.
Three months ago, Thomas was telling his hometown folks in Albuquerque, N.M., that he had six or seven NBA years left. He recently turned 30, his "prime" that is being spent, in part, handcuffed by his own wealth.
His contract, courtesy of since-fired 76ers president Billy King, runs through 2010, with Thomas being paid a combined $24.9 million from this season until the deal's end. Thomas has an early termination option that would allow him to be a free agent this summer, but the notion of opting out and kissing off considerable money seems unlikely. Between the hefty contract and the team pieces the Kings are coveting in possible trades, Thomas being traded on his own is improbable.
The amount Thomas is owed makes a possible buyout problematic, too, although a compromise could become a last-ditch move for both sides. Thus, any escape from Sacramento in the near future likely would require Thomas to be part of a trade package involving the long-available Mike Bibby or Ron Artest.
Call The Bee's Sam Amick, (916) 326-5582. Read his blog at www.sacbee.com/blogs.
