So it's pretty horrible that the Kings made this move: after we opened training camp; but so early into the season with a thought process that was essentially "should Malone be our coach going forward?" without giving enough concern to "of everybody available right now, including Malone, who would be best to coach most of this season?"
Because they screwed up and botched the firing that way, you would expect that the Kings would finish most of this season with Corbin, who is an inferior coach to Malone. But, because Corbin stinks, some players may be pissed, losing teams return to bad habits regression is a big issue. Because the Kings are talking to coaches and won't give more than a present tense backing of Corbin, there is a real risk some players check out for a while if things get ugly. the team is taking a ton of heat for good reason and last night's loss to a depleted Bucks team playing on a back to back hurt on the public perception of the front office and owner.
The next 8 games are
Lakers
@ Warriors
Suns
Knicks
@Nets
@Celtics
@ Twovles
@ Pistons
Then the Kings have a 6 game home stand.
The 6 games in bold are very winnable. The Kings go 4-4, things will calm down, and Corbin should be able to make at least the all-star game.
But, if thing go badly like 2-6 or perhaps even 3-5 but dropping 3 out of 4 on the road trip with some dispirited play ... I just can't see how somebody else isn't coach the team on January 7 (Thunder again.)
And for everybody pounding it better be somebody other than Corbin ASAP button ... what if the choices are green Mullin without good assistants, Vinny, Mark Jackson, and the team is legitimately concerned that Karl's health may make him a shell of his former self (like Adleman's last few TWolves seasons.) Corbin sucks and the team screwed up, but other candidates will be available this summer.
Are we sure that we want PDA to make a panic hire in early January if it ends up being crummy and he isn't going to fire his third coach when things go bad because he's effectively signing his own pink slip at the end of that year? That sounds fine if you don't want Corbin and want PDA to go ... but how you get there means the Kings will be starting totally over.