Kings trade Bibby to Hawks for four players

NEW ORLEANS -- While the Nets and Mavericks tried to put their Jason Kidd deal back together, another big-name point guard moved Saturday, in a novel direction -- east.

The Sacramento Kings, now in rebuilding mode, shipped Mike Bibby to Atlanta for Tyronn Lue, Anthony Johnson, Lorenzen Wright and Shelden Williams and a second-round draft pick.

Of the four new Kings, only Williams doesn’t have an expiring contract.

Bibby was a mainstay on the Kings teams that fought a bitter rivalry with the Lakers, culminating in their dramatic meeting in the Western Conference finals in 2002, which the Lakers won, 4-3.

“I want to thank Mike for his terrific all-around play,” Kings President Geoff Petrie said in a statement. “He’s had a great run here as a King and has participated in and contributed to some great moments on the court and I wish him all the best.”

In Atlanta, Bibby will play alongside Joe Johnson on a young team badly in need of a veteran point guard.

“There’s another option now,” Coach Mike Woodson said. “It’ll be like a one-two punch in the backcourt.”

In his annual state of the NBA news conference, Commissioner David Stern said the city of Seattle turned down an offer to pay off the outstanding debt on KeyArena, which he estimated at $30 million, as part of a settlement that would allow the team to leave town.

The team, which wants to move to Oklahoma City, has a lease that runs through 2012.

The city contends the lease requires the team to play there, as opposed to paying its rent in advance and leaving, and has sued the SuperSonics in federal court.

The case won’t come to trial until June, too late for the team to make all the arrangements to move next season, even if it won.

“I think it’s bad public policy,” Stern said. “I feel actually badly that the team, when it leaves either now or in two years, is going to leave behind an unpaid debt which the city has.

“The team’s not going to leave it behind, but the city’s still going to have a debt on the building.”

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Mark Heisler

A red cape trailing behind him, Orlando’s Dwight Howard made like Superman and won perhaps the best dunk contest, definitely the most creative, in NBA history to close a memorable All-Star Saturday.

Using a variety of props as well as teammate Jameer Nelson, Howard scored perfect 50s from judges on his first two dunks before the contest was turned over to fan voting for the first time in the final round.

Fans, too, picked the 6-foot-11 Howard, over Minnesota’s Gerald Green.

“It’s really for the big men,” Howard said. “Everybody always says, big men can’t jump and big men don’t look good dunking. I just tried to add a little bit of my personality.”

In the second round, Howard removed his blue Magic jersey to reveal an “S” on his chest. As the crowd stood, he tied the cape around his massive shoulders.

Nelson placed a piece of tape to mark Howard’s take-off spot, and after a running start from near mid-court, the Magic’s main man took off just inside the free-throw line and fired down the ball with authority.

Earlier, Jason Kapono showed nobody’s close to him from long distance.

The NBA’s best three-point shooter this season, the former UCLA and current Toronto forward with the silky touch won his second straight three-point shootout, tying a 22-year-old record with a final round of 25.

Kapono missed his first two shots in the last round before making 10 straight. He matched three-time winner Craig Hodges’ mark set in 1986.

In the Skills Challenge, Utah’s Deron Williams was flawless and fast, defeating New Orleans’ Chris Paul in the final round.

Williams blazed up, down and around the floor of the New Orleans Arena in 25.5 seconds, a record for the six-year-old event.