Another Webber analysis

Webber has to decide whether he wants it all

Just about a month remains before start of the Chris Webber Sweepstakes, aka the 2001 free-agent market, and no one is any closer to knowing where he might wind up. Not his dad. Not his friends. Not his teammates in Sacramento. Not his agent, because there is no such person. Not even Webber himself -- though if he puts his mind to it, he can get everything he wants out of this experience.

See, the Webber Question isn't really a question. It is a conundrum of what-ifs and maybes and conflicting emotions.

This is the forthcoming scenario set down by someone who knows the issues -- a friend and former associate of the King of Kings, who would prefer to keep his identity a secret. And the way this fellow explains it, Webber might be as uncertain as the rest of us about how it is going to turn out, but he knows the power he can wield if he chooses.

Webber's first priority is no longer in question: He wants to win. Money also is nice. A city where they don't roll up the sidewalks at 9 p.m. is important. Friendship also is a consideration, though perhaps not as weighty as one might think.

Go ahead, balance all that and come up with a solution. Or do what Webber probably will do: Set a goal and work backward to put the pieces in place and satisfy each criterion.

It won't be easy, because Webber has fewer options than you think. He can take all the money Sacramento can give him and please his dad, who wants him to stay there more than anyone. He can max out in Houston for six years and play an up-tempo style that he likes with a guard-oriented team that needs him. He can accept a sign-and-trade deal with anyone from New York to Orlando to Los Angeles. He can play for the $4.5 million middle-class exception in any of those places, which he already said he will not do, though sometimes people change their minds.

That's all linear thinking, however. If he uses his imagination, Webber can get everything he wants.

For example, it has been widely assumed that New York is the place to go. Webber has no problem with the pressures of such a large market, and he welcomes the demands, responsibilities and after-hours choices that come with it. But does he really believe he can win there more quickly than he could in Sacramento? Of course not -- not if the Knicks have to gut their roster to obtain him in a sign-and-trade agreement. And no amount of lobbying by Latrell Sprewell can change that reality.

So most folks are thinking Webber has to balance his desire to win with playing alongside his old Golden State running mate. If he joins a Knicks team that sacrifices Allan Houston and Marcus Camby to acquire him, the Knicks won't be in any position to help Webber achieve his ultimate goal -- especially if he has to play center upon Camby's departure.

"Everyone knows what Spree will tell him," one close Webber associate says. "But with Chris and Spree together and nobody else, what are they going to win? No, right now, Chris is a lot closer to the crown where he is, and he knows it."

Indeed, not only do the Kings have as much supporting talent as the Knicks, they have good guys whom he has come to regard as brothers. Once upon a recent time, Webber had serious doubts about the collective heart of his teammates.

Now, some believe, he has come to an understanding that Sacramento's players are as competitive as most and that they simply need the right leader to realize the same ambition all players have. (This, despite getting clobbered by the Lakers in the second round, when Webber himself contributed to the sweep by coming up small in two of the four games.) Moreover, he has learned that it is not such a great burden to be The Man -- unlike in Washington, where he often deferred to Juwan Howard. In fact, Webber likes it.

But any 28-year-old can have wanderlust. And sometimes they can get greedy. When that is the case, they usually learn they must play hardball to get what they really want.

Webber can tell the Kings up front that he'll take all the cap space Houston has to offer if they don't cooperate, and they'll be left with nothing. He can tell them to work out an equitable deal with New York but warn Kings GM Geoff Petrie that he's not going to accept the sign-and-trade with the Knicks if their roster is shredded.

Does Sacramento comply? Put it this way: Would Petrie rather see Webber stay in the West and receive nothing in return? Or would he rather see Webber on the other coast and get some serviceable players (starting with Kurt Thomas and Glen Rice) via the sign-and-trade route?

Yes, it would be uncharacteristic of Webber to play the jerk, difficult for him to be the tough guy -- especially after three years of such astonishing growth. But that's how the business goes sometimes. Webber knows this, and now the ball is in his court. If he can live with the knowledge that he has changed the course of two franchises currently going in opposite directions, then Webber must decide whether he wants to have it all.

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