Calipari rumor quickly debunked ... by CALIPARI

[Amit149]

To get him traded.

I am really hoping we are not this deep in trouble, and I don't know if it's wishful thinking but I really believe we are not there yet.

It will probably make it stop this time. What happens if Cousins doesn't like the next coach, either? What if the Kings' big offseason acquisition is a guy that Cousins doesn't get along with?

You don't know if there is going to be a 2nd time, and in my opinion is a bet you must take.
Stars usually come with these kind of warning tags, that's usually why if they are not heavy contributers anymore you are better off without them- you can count on one hand guys on Cousins level that doesn't come with a warning:
LeBron is a nightmare to deal with, Kobe has one of the worst personalities in the league, Dwight has put orlando through hell... you got to take the good with the bad, and while I dislike some of Cousins alleged behaviour hitting rebuild with the nothing we have and a couple of scraps we will get in a trade looks a hell lot worse...

 

[Kingster]

All of these attacks have come in the context of firing George Karl. Whether he would still want out of town if Karl was fired is an open question.

As I noted above, this latest news blitz attacks Divac as well, which one could interpret as the Cousins' camp not being happy he didn't trade Cousins before the draft. The Karl "solution" seems to be coming more from the Kings org than the Cousins camp because they are hoping that will make Cousins happy. I can see that having Karl fired wouldn't necessarily be the solution for Cousins. He's already seen first hand how the coaching carousel works within the Kings org.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

You don't know if there is going to be a 2nd time, and in my opinion is a bet you must take...

You're right, we don't KNOW, because we can't see the future. But, based on what we do know, it's a reasonable conclusion.

 

[VF21]

i haven't really seen anything recently from Cousins saying he "wants to play here"

Other than his "absolutely" tweet, which happens to have been deleted, and could have just been a PR thing organized by his agent, knowing they were working on an LA deal and trying to make Cousins look like the innocent guy that wanted to stay here, if a deal had gone through

Vlade pretty much said he told Cousins to take some time off away from all this. From that point forward, DMC has been off the radar except for some of the Nike stuff he shared.

You (and some others) are putting way too much emphasis on what's not being said on social media. And others are hanging on to every little tweet, regardless of source, as though it's all gospel.

Fans are being manipulated more than ever before. Hack writers are taking things and twisting them to sound important, and known writers are picking them up without checking them.

The only thing we know for sure is that we know nothing for sure. And it's gonna stay that way, if Vlade gets his wish. The days of the Kings business leaking into social media at every juncture are over. It might take a bit longer, but the message is getting out there. It won't be long before you'll know for certain that if there's a rumor about the King out there, it DIDN'T come from the Kings. Just like in the days of Petrie, we'll be arguing about what hens oodling means. And I can't wait.

 

[Livinthedream]

There is a game being played and Woj is the weapon. Woj's articles say nothing concrete and does not leave room for fact checking.

None of what is dropping is beneficial to anyone within the Kings organization. Including Cousins if he does in fact want to play in Sac. It does benefit Fegan's bank account, maybe PDA, the Lakers, and others outside the organization.

I'm going to let this wave blow over and hope Vlade can hold it all together until training camp.

 

[Kingster]

To a large degree that depends on whether Karl created this whole mess in the first place. If he "started it", then there's a clear line to be drawn. the this is retaliation for an overempowered coach trying to take advantage of organizational chaos to play dictator. If on the other hand Cuz just wanted to get a random coach removed because he didn't like his play calling or something, then the slope is covered in WD-40.

Really in the end, we are still paying for the Malone disaster. Such a catastrophic decision, and may well have broken Cuz's determination to work with us, because we obviously weren't working with him. You fire my coach who was working for me, I don't feel any compunction of firing this butthead you replaced him with.

And I'll never forget when PDA asked if he was worried about Cousins' reaction to the firing of Malone he dismissed the question as if it had no credence whatsoever.

 

[kingsboi]

I remember once upon a time Woj was a reliable source for all NBA news....I wonder who bought him.

 

[FaStRmAn]

Karl aint going nowhere.. Cousins aint going nowhere... Vlade aint going nowhere and will set things right in time.... Vivek needs to make like a ghost and disappear from public view for like a year..... All will be vague memory in October.....

 

[fansinceday1]

i somewhat agree, but if Karl is going behind managements back and trying to trade the Kings star player, you fire his ass. In that case he got himself fired, not Dan Fegan

This.
Maybe this is vivek trying to do the right thing. Karl needs to be gone YESTERDAY if he is undercutting Vivek and Divac. Im hoping the lawyers are combing through karls contract looking for reasons to get him outta here and we won't have to pay him a damn thing.

 

[fansinceday1]

I remember once upon a time Woj was a reliable source for all NBA news....I wonder who bought him.

He's still reliable.
I don't know why people think woj would flush all of his credibility down the drain over the sacramento kings. It just ain't happening.

 

[Kingster]

As I've said before, it's impossible for Karl to have unilaterally gone behind Vlade's back to trade Cousins without Vlade knowing about it. It would get back to Vlade via agents, coaches, gms, or other NBA officials. The counterparties with other teams are obviously going to be talking to Vlade if they hear from Karl that Cousins is on the block. It's much more likely that Karl let it be known to Vlade (and maybe others in the organization and outside the organization) that he wanted to trade Cousins. Then it was leaked.

 

[Livinthedream]

He's still reliable.
I don't know why people think woj would flush all of his credibility down the drain over the sacramento kings. It just ain't happening.

These reports are carefully timed hit pieces designed to embarrass. That's where his credibility is being questioned.

 

[Kingsgurl]

Vlade pretty much said he told Cousins to take some time off away from all this. From that point forward, DMC has been off the radar except for some of the Nike stuff he shared.

You (and some others) are putting way too much emphasis on what's not being said on social media. And others are hanging on to every little tweet, regardless of source, as though it's all gospel.

Fans are being manipulated more than ever before. Hack writers are taking things and twisting them to sound important, and known writers are picking them up without checking them.

The only thing we know for sure is that we know nothing for sure. And it's gonna stay that way, if Vlade gets his wish. The days of the Kings business leaking into social media at every juncture are over. It might take a bit longer, but the message is getting out there. It won't be long before you'll know for certain that if there's a rumor about the King out there, it DIDN'T come from the Kings. Just like in the days of Petrie, we'll be arguing about what hens oodling means. And I can't wait.

This
PS- I blame Michael Finley

 

[Sac.Kings]

Fegan's tactics are about to backfire hard on him. He's been so aggressive in pursuing this (firing of Karl or trade to Lakers) that he is forcing Vlade to do exactly the opposite. If Vlade budges even an inch, we are forever going to be known as pushovers and weaklings that succumb to agent pressure. It's become more and more important and vital that Vlade stands his ground. Cousins isn't going anywhere and Fegan doesn't have real leverage, the only thing he can do is play bully ball through the media. However, the backlash of us giving in would be far worse than what is happening now. It is imperative that we stand our ground and not give in, at least this way we can be known as an organization that doesn't buckle to agent/media pressure. If we give in, we lose Cousins and we lose the little integrity we have left.

Stand Firm!

 

[Bricklayer]

He's still reliable.
I don't know why people think woj would flush all of his credibility down the drain over the sacramento kings. It just ain't happening.

Its actually the opposite -- he's never been "reliable" in that way.

The whole key to the Woj magic is that long ago he sold out to the agents, and so now its a symbiotic relationship. When he scoops a trade or deal, you can bet its true because he has directly from the mouth of the agents involved. But the return for that access is that he has always carried their water for them on stories like this. Little half truths and innuendos, hit pieces, pumping up a guy's value, whatever. W have "sources say". "negotiations are underway" "so and so has considered" etc. All stuff that can never be conclusively disproven, so Woj's reputation can never be directly assaulted.

In this case you will notice Ham mentioning that Vivek briefly toyed with replacing Karl with Cal. That's all it takes. Fegan knows this, passes it on, Woj is covered for all the rest no matter how big the story is spun. Vlade mentioned having learned his lesson about opening his mouth about Karl the same way. These aren't intentional leaks, these are our major decisionmakers not being careful enough about that they say/ponder, and Fegan pouncing and inflating every bit of it.

 

[fansinceday1]

Maybe if people in our organization would just shut the hell up we wouldn't be dealing with this crap storm.
Makes you wonder how petrie handled things when he was in charge. Not a damn thing would come out of the kings FO. NOTHING.
And if someone dropped a rumor involving the kings it was easily explained away. The kings NEVER say anything so its obviously not coming from us.

 

[ninjabiscuit]

He's still reliable.
I don't know why people think woj would flush all of his credibility down the drain over the sacramento kings. It just ain't happening.

Unfortunately, that's not even remotely true any more.

 

[Bricklayer]

As I've said before, it's impossible for Karl to have unilaterally gone behind Vlade's back to trade Cousins without Vlade knowing about it. It would get back to Vlade via agents, coaches, gms, or other NBA officials. The counterparties with other teams are obviously going to be talking to Vlade if they hear from Karl that Cousins is on the block. It's much more likely that Karl let it be known to Vlade (and maybe others in the organization and outside the organization) that he wanted to trade Cousins. Then it was leaked.

Or something in between, where Karl is operating int he relative power vacuum of PDA's dying tenure, the sudden appearance of this Vlade guy in what capacity again? And he starts preparing the ground and sending out feelers. Karl has been around the game for decades, he knows lots of people. And yes Vlade takes over, becomes aware of this etc. etc. there was apparently a trade request by Cousins back about a month before the draft. Be pretty good timing just as Vlade assumed full control for the stink bomb to be going off in Kings offices. Fegan take umbrage for his client's sake, runs with it.

 

[ninjabiscuit]

So, I want the people who are complaining about the continuing leaks to go back and read this whole thread. Every post. Thanks!

 

[fansinceday1]

So, I want the people who are complaining about the continuing leaks to go back and read this whole thread. Every post. Thanks!

No thanks.
Just pointing out that this kind of stuff never happened under petrie for a reason. Petrie and his underlings never talked! There was NOTHING to report on! Even if there was turmoil, it was dealt with in a professional manner.

 

[ninjabiscuit]

Busted!

Christine Gillespie ‏@vladefan21 1h1 hour ago
The heat must be driving people crazy. Not all leaks are real, some are put out to gauge possible reaction, others just to stir [expletive deleted].

 

[ninjabiscuit]

No thanks.
Just pointing out that this kind of stuff never happened under petrie for a reason. Petrie and his underlings never talked! There was NOTHING to report on!

A fair number of the posts are about how Adrian Wojnarowski has apparently decided to just bash the Kings with whatever story he wants to write, with the assistance of agent Dan Fegan and or former GM Pete D'Allesandro. If that is the case, then it's entirely possible that there is nothing coming from the Kings FO at all. Completely externally generated and/or made up out of whole cloth.

So if these stories are not coming from the Kings at all, then there are no leaks to complain about. I'm sure that there were when PDA was here, and he may very well be helping Woj with old information, but again, that's not coming from the Kings.

 

[pshn80]

I simply don't see the Kings as having appeased Demarcus.
The very first thing they did was exploit him by throwing his HUGE likeness on the side of Arco Arena, before he'd ever stepped on the court. That was a move for THEM, not to put Demarcus in a place to succeed.
Then they forced him to play with Paul Westphal way after the time that it was brutally clear he wasn't a qualified NBA coach anymore.
Then they showed their true colors : Petrie didn't immediately come out and denounce Westphal's hissy fit, throwing Cousins under the bus after Cousins did what he was told to do and talked privately with coach about his feelings about the team.

That event, more than any other, has indelibly marked this franchise as NOT supporting Cousins IMO. And he's never forgotten it.

Then they followed it up by wasting the rest of that season and the next by using Keith Smart (who proved he knew nothing about coaching here) all while deliberately sabotaging the team to try and move it to LA for the broke-ass owners.

Then, barely a year after getting new ownership and not moving the entire team (despite all attempts to do so), they promptly fired the only real coach this team has had in almost 10 years while using Demarcus' freak contracting of viral meningitis as the opportunity to do so.
BTW - they did so because the coach wasn't playing an uptempo, fast-paced style of basketball (which, of course, is completely against Demarcus' strengths).

Seriously? Where the hell does ANYone get off thinking the Kings' franchise has constantly supported Cousins' desire to win here and turn it around?

(BTW - the Kings have NEVER gone to bat for Cousins the way that many other franchises have supported their stars. They NEVER have publicly backed his getting screwed by the refs for 5 years. They've never crafted tapes of the bullpoopoo calls Demarcus gets which are blatantly against the rules and established practices of the NBA and sent them in under protest. They've never backed him against the manufactured technicals that aren't called on other players.
Where was there public push for Cousins All-Star bid in 2013/14?
Where was their outrage at his historic snubbing?
Where was their push for him to make All-NBA? etc etc etc

Demarcus has been on an island since he got here, with NO franchise backup, and it's frankly shocking that anyone here would suggest otherwise.
I'd expect that level of misinformation from callers of Grant Napear's show - not at KingsFans.)

And on kings fans.com there is another legitimate side to the story you tell. Net effect. The real situation is nuclear. We have a problem of having Cuz and Karl on a useful relationship for the start of the coming season, no matter how you slice it.

 

[iowamcnabb]

A fair number of the posts are about how Adrian Wojnarowski has apparently decided to just bash the Kings with whatever story he wants to write, with the assistance of agent Dan Fegan and or former GM Pete D'Allesandro. If that is the case, then it's entirely possible that there is nothing coming from the Kings FO at all. Completely externally generated and/or made up out of whole cloth.

So if these stories are not coming from the Kings at all, then there are no leaks to complain about. I'm sure that there were when PDA was here, and he may very well be helping Woj with old information, but again, that's not coming from the Kings.

Plus, Twitter and social media are much more prevalent today than during Petrie's day. Half of these rumors wouldn't make it past the forums 10 years ago.

 

[kingsboi]

People also need to realize that we are so dependent as human beings on technology that it's just no way around it without hearing something come up...especially with the way social media has exploded on the scene compared to the MySpace days.

 

[Gilles]

Given what Ham posted on twitter, someone still talks, and that someone has understanding, what was talked about during what should be a rather private conversation of the head of the organisation.

 

[pshn80]

In other news, that Mike Malone quote is explosive.
It quite clearly shows the Kings have been lying through their teeth, and Vivek WAS responsible for firing Malone, and for all things because of playstyle.

This single revelation is the key.
It clearly brands all the problems with the Kings as coming from the deluded, power-tripping, embarrasingly-offbase Vivek.... our fearless leader and irritant determined on burning this franchise to the ground despite his weak demeanor.

Guys - I fear we are well and truly ****ed.
There's no escaping this owner's catastrophic decisions, and apparently the minority owners can't even stop him, either (their threats of selling their shares to escape this dumpster fire didn't fix a thing).

It's going to take a complete ownership change to fix this team, if all this is accurate.

If all what is accurate? We have moved on from the history you recite. Vlade must deal with the Cuz/Karl problem. When that is taken care of we will be closer to the right track. Meantime, I will keep the faith. What else can I do? A can of kerosene and amatch are not right for me.

 

[fansinceday1]

Plus, Twitter and social media are much more prevalent today than during Petrie's day. Half of these rumors wouldn't make it past the forums 10 years ago.

Very true.
I would love to see how Petrie would handle the GM position in todays social media world.
I suspect it would be much of the same way he handled his stint here. Even when Petrie was on Grants show his interviews were extremely boring cause he just gave up nothing.

 

[mdme]

Somebody is obviously doing all these leaks clearly to create chaos in the King's organization. Let's see, who is doing this and what is the motive?

Fegan - money, to spite Karl who he obviously doesn't like

PDA / (Malone?) - sabotage the Kings, get his revenge. Maybe get cuz traded to denver? (Good luck with that!)

Karl - get Cuz traded?

Cuz - get out of Sac without looking like he demanded the trade?

Who is it?

I think it is Fegan (or sadly, Cuz) I can't fathom how Cuz hasn't told Fegan to STFU! Unless he is on board??

I guess it could be Karl? Powerplay? Can't see how he doesn't want the best big in the game to power more wins or go deep in playoffs.

Don't get me wrong, I want cuz to stay and work things out with Karl and Vlade. I just think we are on our way up if we just hold on.

 

[Chupacabra]

i somewhat agree, but if Karl is going behind managements back and trying to trade the Kings star player, you fire his ass. In that case he got himself fired, not Dan Fegan

Everyone seems to be missing this. If Karl gets fired it will be justified because he tried to circumvent his superiors. Doesnt have to have anything to do with Cousins's feelings.