Webber has to decide whether he wants it all.(free agent Chris Webber)

Just about a month remains before start of the Chris Webber Sweepstakes, aka the 2001 free-agent market, and no one is any closer to knowing where he might wind up. Not his dad. Not his friends. Not his teammates in Sacramento. Not his agent, because there is no such person. Not even Webber himself--though if he puts his mind to it, he can get everything he wants out of this experience.

See, the Webber Question isn't really a question. It is a conundrum of what-ifs and maybes and conflicting emotions.

This is the forthcoming scenario set down by someone who knows the issues--a friend and former associate of the King of Kings, who would prefer to keep his identity a secret. And the way this fellow explains it, Webber might be as uncertain as the rest of us about how it is going to turn out, but he knows the power he can wield if he chooses.

Webber's first priority is no longer in question: He wants to win. Money also is nice. A city where they don't roll up the sidewalks at 9 p.m. is important. Friendship also is a consideration, though perhaps not as weighty as one might think.

Go ahead, balance all that and come up with a solution. Or do what Webber probably will do: Set a goal and work backward to put the pieces in place and satisfy each criterion.

It won't be easy, because Webber has fewer options than you think. He can take all the money Sacramento can give him and please his dad, who wants him to stay there more than anyone. He can max out in Houston for six years and play an up-tempo style that he likes with a guard-oriented team that needs him. He can accept a sign-and-trade deal with anyone from New York to Orlando to Los Angeles. He can play for the $4.5 million middle-class exception in any of those places, which he already said he will not do, though sometimes people change their minds.

That's all linear thinking, however. If he uses his imagination, Webber can get everything he wants.