With the Sacramento Kings entering what may be the early stages of a rebuild, many fans are wondering whether this would be the first rebuild of the Sacramento era.
It would not.
It’s understandable that fans and media alike would have forgotten the first one. It was so swift and successful, it didn’t feel like a rebuild at all. And given the circumstances, it was downright miraculous that the team pulled it off.
Geoff Petrie had been hired to be the General Manager of the Sacramento Kings in 1994, and along with Coach Garry St. Jean, guided them to 39 wins in each of his first two seasons, including a playoff trip in ’96. But by the time the 98-’99 season came around, the Kings had slipped back to also-ran status.
SACRAMENTO, CA - APRIL 26: Sacramento Kings general manager Geoff Petrie watches his team face off against the Los Angeles Lakers on April 26, 2012 at Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2012 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
Eddie Jordan had taken over as head Coach, and Mitch Richmond was still a productive star, but the Kings were going nowhere fast.
It was time for an overhaul. But there was a big, fat complication in the way that made the always tricky process even trickier..
On July 1st, 1998, NBA owners, desperate to curb rising salaries, initiated the third lockout in league history. The lockout lasted until January 20th, 1999. Teams were barred from making player transactions or holding workouts. How could the Kings rebuild when they couldn’t add players?
Fortunately, Petrie and the Sacramento Kings pulled off two major rebuilding moves before the lockout went into effect. In May of 1998, the Kings traded Mitch Richmond to Washington for Chris Webber.
About six weeks later, they used the seventh pick in the draft on a Florida point guard by the name of Jason Williams. Nobody knew it yet, but the team that Sports Illustrated would call “The Greatest Show On Court” was already under construction.
The next big move came in September, when Petrie replaced the dismissed Eddie Jordan with his friend and former teammate, Rick Adelman. (It should also be noted that Coach Adelman inherited one member of his predecessor’s staff: Petrie’s old Princeton coach and future Hall of Famer, Pete Carril.)
Coach Adelman spoke about the challenges of taking over a team during a lockout at his introductory press conference.
“This is not an easy situation, but we’ll have to get things going quickly. Everyone knows we don’t have a lot of time to get organized, and we don’t know what will happen.”
What happened was that labor talks stalled, and training camps were postponed while preseason games were cancelled. There wasn’t much the Kings — or any other team — could do about their roster until the lockout was settled, which it finally was when players and ownership ratified a new labor agreement on January 7th. The season would be reduced to 50 games, and it would tip off in less than a month.
With very little time left to assemble a complete roster, the Sacramento Kings got busy. 13 days before the start of the season, on January 22nd, Geoff Petrie signed 3 free agents: Jon Barry. Vernon Maxwell. And Vlade Divac.
The thinking on Barry and Maxwell was that the Kings needed depth at the 2 guard, and that one of the two would likely play well enough to help. In fact, both did. And Divac, of course, became a fixture in Sacramento after choosing the Kings over the Phoenix Suns.
Petrie didn’t add the finishing touch until February 24th, after the season had already started, when he signed free agent forward Scot Pollard. Pollard had played sparingly as a rookie in Detroit, but had averaged more than 10 points and 8 rebounds per 36 minutes.
Jerry Reynolds was not only the Sacramento Kings TV analyst at the time, he was also the team’s Director of Player Personnel, having stepped down as GM in ’93. Jerry recalls that everything seemed to fall into place for the Kings during the 1998 rebuild.
“We had cap room after Brian Grant signed with Portland,” Reynolds says. “We used that to sign Vlade. And people say you need lottery picks to rebuild? We added Jason Williams with the seventh pick, and added Peja (Stojakovic, pick number 14 in 1996), who came over from Europe that year. So we added two lottery picks.”
Sacramento Kings
Sacramento Kings legend Jerry Reynolds
Are there any similarities between where the Kings are now and where they were then?
“Sadly, I don’t think there is,” says Jerry. “You can draft well, but I don’t think they have the cap room. And back then we had an asset in Mitch that you could get a valuable asset for in Webb. I don’t know that they have that now.”
The Kings would go on to reach the postseason 8 straight seasons, getting as far as the Conference Finals in 2002. The team never won it all, but they put Sacramento on the basketball map. And they may have saved the franchise in the process.
“If it hadn’t happened,” says Jerry, pointing to waning attendance and fan interest at the time, “ I don’t know that the team would still be here.”
Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule for the 2025-26 season
Thursday, November 20th – @ Memphis Grizzlies – 5:00 PM PT
Saturday, November 22nd – @ Denver Nuggets – 7:00 PM PT
Monday, November 24th – vs. Minnesota Timberwolves – 7:00 PM PT
Wednesday, November 26th – vs. Phoenix Suns – 7:00 PM PT
Friday, November 28th – @ Utah Jazz – 6:30 PM PT
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