After helping lead the Arizona Wildcats to a national championship as a freshman in 1997, Bibby left college after his sophomore season and was drafted with the #2 overall pick by the then-Vancouver Grizzlies in the 1998 NBA Draft. As a rookie he averaged 13.2 points on 43% shooting and followed that up the next two seasons by stepping up his game as a playmaker, dishing 8.1 and 8.4 assists respectively while increasing his field goal and three-point percentage.

By the age of 22, Bibby had established himself as a terrific playmaking and scoring point guard.

MIKE BIBBY Height: 6-foot-1 Weight: 190 pounds Age: 29 years old Stats: 17.1 points on 40.4% shooting (36% from three), 4.7 assists in 34.0 minutes Status: Under contract, possible opt-out

And that's what made the Grizzlies' decision to trade him for Jason Williams (wow) in 2001 a total head-scratcher. The trade catapulted Rick Adelman's Kings to the Western Conference elite as Sacramento had some classic playoff battles with Kobe, Shaq and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Over the next 3 seasons, Bibby's dimes dropped to the 5-6 range, but his nearly 46% shooting and over 39% shooting made him one of the West's deadliest point guards and kept the Kings in contention for the NBA crown.

Over the last 4 years however, Bibby's field goal percentage has dropped each season, hitting a low in 06-07 of 40.4% and 36% from long range -- but Bibby played through a hand injury in the early part of the season (when his field goal percentage was in the 30's and 3P% in the 20's), and in the final 26 games of the year, he hit 43.1% from the field and 44.6% from long range (on a Raferesque 6.7 threes a game).

Bibby is under contract for two more seasons, but has an option to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Rocket Perspective
Bibby-to-Houston became a rumor the moment his old coach became the Rockets new coach, but as of yet, there has been nothing of any real substance to it.

If the Rockets are serious about increasing tempo, Bibby is an upgrade to Rafer Alston in just about every way. He gives you a very similar assist-turnover ratio while possessing the ability to attack the basket and go nuts from long range. At 29 years old, he's also 2 years younger than Rafer.

He is most certainly not a defensive stopper though and isn't likely to do anything more than Rafer could in slowing down the likes of Tony Parker and Steve Nash.

Conclusion
Yes, Bibby can become an unrestricted free agent by exercising an early termination option in his contract, but he stands to make $28 million over the next two seasons, and after the subpar year he just had, which team is going to sign him long-term for more than the MLE? No way does he sacrifice that much money. In fact, I could see an entire season of "24" dedicated to that deadline day, where Jack Bauer must stop Bibby's agent from killing the point guard before he can file the opt-out paperwork with the league.

A trade? It's fairly likely that the Kings will deal Bibby. Sacramento has to be looking at the Western Conference landscape right now and thinking it's time to rebuild. We have heard from a solid source that the Rockets were in contact with Sacramento about Bibby but that Houston is not the only team interested in him. The Rockets would have to give up a handful of players -- likely starting with Shane Battier -- to even approach the salary swap.

I don't think there is any doubt that Adelman and the Rockets would love to have him. But, so much will depend upon what other point guard options are available to Houston via trade and free agency at a cheaper rate, with former Rockets Steve Francis (profile) and Mike James (profile) as possibilities, because at Bibby's cost of $14 million a season for the next two, the Rockets may be better off putting that kind of guaranteed bank in to a different player or players.