Bonzi Wells wants to come back to the Kings for cheap now?

Jesus. It's September. The free agency is, like, Jul y and a week or two of August.

The decision to come back to Sacramento should've been made when the Kings offered dude $8 million a year for five years. Bonzi wanted a raise. Geoff Petrie wasn't going higher. Bonzi stopped negotiating and looked elsewhere for the money. He didn't find it. It's two months later.

Yet Bonzi still has apologists – not just among fans, but the media. Enter Marty McNeal, who uses a weekend Kings notes column in the Sacramento Bee to make Petrie the bad guy for ignoring Bonzi's return plans.

Look: No GM worth his salt can sit out two months of the free agent period while a somewhat above-average starter stepping into the twilight of his career tries to milk mo' money from some schluck team. Look at the top GMs in the league – they all make moves, and early. The reason the Kings have survived this two-year rebuilding period still a playoff team is because they don't sit around waiting for a deal to fall in their lap. Moving a Doug Christie who was breaking down, a Chris Webber who was broken down, a Peja Stojakovic who was falling off. Those are the moves that have kept the Kings afloat. And signing John Salmons to replace Bonzi's place in the rotation may not be in the same league as those moves, but it's telling. Geoff Petrie will not be held hostage by a 30-year-old seeking a raise from his $8 million, 40-game season.

Bonzi, move on. Please. It's what you wanted in July. It's what we want now.