Frank Hughes of ESPN reports that contract negotiations between Mike Bibby and the Sacramento Kings are going slowly.

Hughes says that after his ?wonderful performance? in the playoffs, there was talk of Bibby getting a maximum contract.  Instead, Bibby might just re-sign for the coming season, then test the free agent market next season.

We?ve got to ask a couple of questions.

Now, Bibby?s clearly worth a big contract.  Probably about $7 or $8 million a year.  But ? other than having David Falk for an agent ? why is anyone thinking of him as a maximum contract player?  This is the same player who couldn?t lead the Grizzlies (including max contract Shareef Abdur-Rahim) to better than 23 wins.

And why would the Kings sign a new one-year contract?  Unless they agree on something long-term, the Kings can sit on his current 2002/03 contract.  After all, a $2 million increase on his $5.45M contract costs the Kings $4M.