Surely Malone couldn't have been fired for basketball reasons, not with Sacramento tied for its best start through 24 games
in a decade despite playing more than a third of those games without star center
DeMarcus Cousins. Yet apparently that's exactly what happened, with a source telling ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne the Kings "expected more."
Expectations? In Sacramento? Certainly not from objective outside observers. My SCHOENE projection system
forecasted 35 wins; a projection based on ESPN's real plus-minus pegged the Kings for a dismal 25-57 record. The ESPN Forecast panel split the difference, predicting an even 30 wins, and
the Westgate SuperBook set its line for Sacramento at 30.5 wins.