When Sacramento wins the NBA title next year, it won't be because Chris Webber found a good bail bondsman. It'll be because they have the smartest man in basketball.

I shake my head every time Geoff Petrie fleeces another NBA team. He does it every summer, and it's to the point that he's put together the most talented, most diverse roster in the league. Mitch Richmond for Chris Webber? That's criminal. Jason Williams for Mike Bibby? That's stealing. And now Mateen Cleaves for Jumaine Jones? That's unfair.

	With Petrie smiling, some team must have just been fleeced.

In a matter of three years, Geoff Petrie -- the executive of the decade -- has turned the Kings into the NBA's model franchise. It's not that the Jones-Cleaves trade is earth-shattering, it's just that virtually every move Petrie makes is one-sided. Every year.

That just doesn't happen in this league. The Wizards and Pistons, for instance, just completed a deal that they both might end up regretting. Essentially, it was Richard Hamilton for Jerry Stackhouse, and, from a Wizards point of view, they just hope they're getting the unselfish Stackhouse from last season. He passed more and rebounded more and defended more for coach Rick Carlisle, but now he's going back to the coach he used to shoot too much for -- Doug Collins.

At least Stack won't have to take the last shot in Washington, assuming Michael comes back, and maybe that's a good thing. He shot horribly in last year's elimination playoff games against Toronto and Boston (1-10 against the Raptors, 3-18 against the Celtics) and for whatever reason, the Pistons decided they didn't want to pay him next off-season, when he can opt out and become a free agent. So that's why he's a Wizard.

Hamilton, on the other hand, is four years younger, and is a more precise shooter. But he's too angular, and gets shoved around on defense, and can't carry a team all by himself -- like Stackhouse can. When Jordan played last year, the Wizards were 30-30. Without him, when the ball was usually in Hamilton's hands, they were sub-.500. Detroit, fortunately, has other scorers who can free Hamilton up -- Chauncey Billups and Jon Barry and Cliff Robinson and Corliss Williamson -- but if Carlisle thinks Hamilton will play nasty on-the-ball defense, he's nuts.

Of course, this is how the other half of the league lives; they never know how their trades are going to go. But Petrie -- he knows.

Maybe it's the Princeton education, but everything he touches tuns to … playoffs. Think about this Kings team. He's got the Europeans who can shoot (Stojakovic, Turkoglu, Divac) and now he's added the gazelles who can run the floor (Keon Clark via free agency and Jones). He's got a point guard who can play fast or slow (Bibby), and he's got people to do the dirty work (Pollard, Funderburke) and he's got an elite player who gives them power and a swagger (assuming Webber doesn't have to give the government two years).

I can't think of a bad trade he's ever made. He gave up Corliss Williamson, but he got back his starting 2-guard, Doug Christie. He gave up Jon Barry (okay, maybe his worst deal) in exchange for Cleaves, but he got Jones for Cleaves, so now it's a wash. He usually trades small players for big ones, which nobody else can do. Or dumb players (see J-Will) for steady ones (see Bibby in last year's playoffs).

If you thought the Kings came close to erasing the Lakers last season, wait until this year. And with Shaquille O'Neal just out of toe surgery, the smart money is on the smart GM.

Kings over the Clippers in the first round. In three games.

Kings over the Spurs in the Western semis. In five games.

Kings over the Mavericks in the Western finals. In six games.

Kings over the [name any Eastern Conference team]. In five games.

A parade down J Street. In nine months.

Tom Friend is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at tom.friend@espnmag.com.