With the 2014-15 NBA season a fourth of the way completed, time is running out for head coaches leading underachieving squads, like, Monty Williams of the New Orleans Pelicans for instance, but essentially nobody expected the proverbial hourglass to be empty for Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Malone. But all the sand had reached the bottom and Malone was relieved of his coaching duties by the Kings’ front office late yesterday evening.
Malone’s situation with the Kings front office is a unique one and an unpleasant reminder for Malone that the latter always wins these sorts of battles. Mark Jackson learned this lesson after the 2013-14 NBA season after he was shown the door by the Golden State Warriors.
Jackson, who won 51 games last year, was still let go not for his lack of success, and certainly not for losing the Warriors’ locker room, but for his unwillingness to change at the behest of Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob and the rest of the front office. Jackson’s stubbornness to not make changes to his staff, along with his inability to get along with, well, anyone who could be in his corner when Judgement Day came ultimately cost him his job.
Malone, who had the Kings over .500 before DeMarcus Cousins was sidelined for an illness, reportedly had the same sorts of issues with the Kings front office. Malone has always been a defense-first head coach, similar to Jackson, but his slower, plodding style of basketball didn’t jive with what Kings general manager Pete D’Alessandro, Chris Mullin and owner Vivek Ranadive wanted out of this Kings’ club, according to Sam Amick of USA Today.
Still, the most dubious aspect of Malone’s firing is the timing of it all: what do mid-season firings ever accomplish? Why roll the dice with a recently-fired Ty Corbin for the rest of the season when the former finally got through to the team’s most important investment, Boogie, and revitalized Rudy Gay’s career? Just to play a little faster? The timing of this doesn’t signal a franchise with a clear direction, but more of a franchise that lacks patience compounded with unrealistic expectations.
A split may be the best for both parties, as D’Allesandro can now bring in his own guy that will play at a quicker pace and get more out of a Kings’ offense littered with solid, young talent. In hindsight, Malone’s days were probably numbered the second after Vivek made the easily avoidable mistake of hiring a new head coach before the general manager. Malone wasn’t D’Allesandro’s guy and if the reports surrounding the situation are accurate the two were never going to work long-term anyway.
But now Malone’s gone, Corbin is running the show (which kind of feels like Westphal-to-Smart all over again), and the pressure is on D’Allesandro like it was for Warriors’ GM Bob Myers this past summer to not botch the replacement. I think it’s safe to say, even 23 games in, that Myers and the Warriors ownership group stuck the landing by hiring Steve Kerr. Now, it’s D’Allesandro’s turn.
The Kings made a bold decision to fire Mike Malone, now they should make a bold decision when they determine who to hire to be the team’s next head coach. Rumors are already swirling about the possibility of George Karl, or even Vinny Del Negro, getting the gig. But is going to the retread route really the best option for a young, growing team like the Kings?
Karl passes a lot of the initial tests: offensive-oriented coach, has worked with the current GM, would presumably work well with the Kings front office and ownership and is someone the Kings’ brass could sell to the fans as a head-coaching upgrade. The last point, that’s the most important factor in the Kings upcoming head coaching search.
“Who can we bring in that will calm fans’ nerves over another head coaching change?”
The Karl route, or somebody like him, is probably the route the Kings front office will elect to go. Not because he’s the best long-term selection, but because Vivek has high, unrealistic expectations for this team and a veteran coach like Karl probably gives the Kings the better shot at winning right away.
Or perhaps the Kings will surprise us all, like they did by drafting Nik Stauskas with Ben McLemore on the roster, or trading for Rudy Gay. The team went about as bold and innovative as you can get with their D-League head coaching selection with whom they hired David Arseneault Jr. Maybe they’ll go that same route and hire away Nevada Smith from the Houston Rockets’ D-League team, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers?
Would the Kings going the retread route and hiring Karl be all that surprising? No. Would the Kings hiring a successful, analytically-friendly D-League coach be all that surprising either? No.
Whoever the Kings hire to replace Malone won’t be astonishing either way, but that’s because we simply don’t know enough about this new Kings’ front office regime. Their trading habits, free-agent signings, head-coach firings and more has created more questions than answers. Perhaps their next head coaching hire will aid in answering some of them.
