Kings Plan On Searching For New GM, Coach In Offseason

[Semi]

I am here all the time but don't post too often. I saw this and didn't see it posted anywhere. I can't believe we are already back in the spotlight with this. I thought Vlade was the future of this organization and going to lead us to the promise land. Now this? Heres to hoping things work out for the best for the Kings.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-tr...-than-pick-for-markieff-morris-042451898.html

Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac were using All-Star weekend in Toronto to canvass league officials on possible candidates to hire as general manager, league sources told The Vertical.

The Kings are starting to acknowledge that Divac has been overwhelmed with the complexities of the collective bargaining agreement and the sophisticated ways with which most NBA organizations are run now. Privately, the Kings have been telling people they plan to run a GM and a coaching search once the regular season ends. Sacramento has committed to keeping coach George Karl for the rest of the regular season, but has shown no inclination to bring him back next season, sources said.

As of now, the Kings will struggle to convince attractive NBA coaches to take the job. The organizational structure would have to change dramatically to even get into a conversation with any of the successful coaches on the market, including Tom Thibodeau, Jeff Van Gundy and Scott Brooks.

By Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical

 

[PurpleHaze]

What's Geoff Petrie doing nowadays? Does he consider himself happily retired? Maybe one last rodeo in his mid-60s? Does he still live in Sacramento area?

 

[ParniValjak]

How about they start searching for the GM NOW!

Get him in before the off-season so he can start looking for his coach. Why do I get the feeling we will hire a coach and then a GM. Only Kings can make it a hat-trick!

 

[Semi]

Well I thought we were all under the impression that Vlade WAS our GM. I know not everyone loves Napear etc. but all I hear on the show by not just him but everyone on KHTK is that Vlade is going to turn it around. Now all of a sudden there are rumors and rumblings that he won't be around next year? *sigh*

 

[QoooooQ]

I don't quite see what Divac's role would be if someone else is hired as GM. How many levels of executive decision-making does this team need? And surely the Kings must already have legal experts who understand collective bargaining?

 

[gunks]

Well I thought we were all under the impression that Vlade WAS our GM. I know not everyone loves Napear etc. but all I hear on the show by not just him but everyone on KHTK is that Vlade is going to turn it around. Now all of a sudden there are rumors and rumblings that he won't be around next year? *sigh*

Yeah, I thought Vlade did well this summer.

He kept Cuz, drafted WCS. Turned a draft bust and lesser role players (sorry JT) into Kosta and Marco.... Who, admittedly have been underwhelming, but considering the resumes of both players, I still consider them good signings. .... Not Vlade's fault both guys are being misused by Karl, who misuses EVERY PLAYER ON THE ROSTER!

Then again, if Vlade gets the say in who the GM is, who the coach is, and personnel decisions.... I'm cool with it.

Maybe he just needs an assistant GM to deal with cap stuff and number crunching?

Woj does hate us, and will spin any Kings story to make it seem more chaotic than it is. ...

OTOH.... Vivek is our owner...

 

[ParniValjak]

Well I thought we were all under the impression that Vlade WAS our GM. I know not everyone loves Napear etc. but all I hear on the show by not just him but everyone on KHTK is that Vlade is going to turn it around. Now all of a sudden there are rumors and rumblings that he won't be around next year? *sigh*

He will be around as a president of basketball operations. You know, the role he was initially hired to before he also took up GM duties for the yeara fter we didn't end up hiring anyone in the off season.

 

[Semi]

He will be around as a president of basketball operations. You know, the role he was initially hired to before he also took up GM dutiesfor the yearafter we didn't end up hiring anyone in the off season.

I guess I just never heard that the plan was for Vlade to be the GM for just 1 year. Was this common knowledge or are there other people like me who thought the GM duties for the future were Vlades?

 

[PurpleHaze]

What does Mike Brazt do and what are his duties as Assistant GM?

 

[King Baller]

Considering previous Woj articles and how things played out I take this latest report with a grain of salt. It does make Karl a lame duck if true.

The issues that concern me are Vlade not having a contract beyond this season. Also the leaks have started again. Vlade and company ran a tight ship for the most part until the last few weeks. Then informed "sources" started up the rumor mill again. Is this calculated or just loose lips?

If this is all true how can a significant trade be made? The new Coach and GM would want to have input on the player selection. Future changes should be put on hold. Outside of a solid defensive wing in the Doug Christie mold, 6'6" defensive stud with skills, which we all agree is needed

 

[Chubbs]

Don't be shocked if Vlade is fired at the same time Karl is. Why not? Vlade's job was to make the playoffs. He failed. That's what goes on in Vivek's mind, not mine, to be clear. Vivek fired everyone else still around to blame for hiring Karl, and Vivek is not going to fire himself.

That leaves Vlade, who one way or another, will lose his job. He might keep another one in the organization, but this season's Vlade and Karl experiment is just about over. Karl will be gone, Vlade will move into the ceremonial role most assumed he had in the first place.

Vivek prefers to fail quickly. And apparently, often. He thinks he can wipe the slate clean, and try something new each season. That's actually an improvement. He used to think he can wipe the slate clean mid season. Now it's only between seasons.

But let's all buy the local media narrative, that if we Kings' fans would just put blind faith in a GM who is not the GM and a coach who the players hate and was hired by, uh, not really sure who, it will all work out.

Let's ignore that the only reason this franchise has been remotely relevant the last 5 seasons is Demarcus Cousins and start putting blind faith in Karl and Vlade and cast that scrub all star to the curb. He makes his ever revolving cast of misfit teammates sad and stuff.

 

[whozit]

Considering previous Woj articles and how things played out I take this latest report with a grain of salt. It does make Karl a lame duck if true.

The issues that concern me are Vlade not having a contract beyond this season. Also the leaks have started again. Vlade and company ran a tight ship for the most part until the last few weeks. Then informed "sources" started up the rumor mill again. Is this calculated or just loose lips?

If this is all true how can a significant trade be made? The new Coach and GM would want to have input on the player selection. Future changes should be put on hold. Outside of a solid defensive wing in the Doug Christie mold, 6'6" defensive stud with skills, which we all agree is needed

I'm not sure anything changed.

I believe Divac indicated the coaching "situation" would be re-visited this summer. Karl lame duck for sure. Let him prove himself adaptable.

I don't like Divac only being on contract this year but then again, he was green and that let him prove his worth. I believe he has, I'm not too concerned with him not being here next year.

Vlade also indicated early in the season, maybe even last off-season, that a GM would be hired. Just has taken longer than I would have expected but then again, he probably has a better grasp now on what is needed in that position.

If he is involved with the coaching AND GM search, I don't see how that would impact on his ability to do a trade or whatever. They either see his vision or don't get hired.

 

[Chubbs]

There's that blind faith needed to be a King's fan.

Yeah, everything is under control. Vlade is here with mountains of experience to fall back on, all those coaching and GM searches he's done in the past. Forgot, he's got Peja! Shoot. Everything really is great.

So all he has to do is hire a GM and coach and trade multiple players demanding out while his owner demands he makes the playoffs NOW while Vlade's own contract is about to expire?

Good luck with that.

 

[chasen4r1]

This is no surprise to me. Vlade was looking for a GM, or assistant GM, this past off season. Vlade didnt' find his guy, so he retained Mike Bratz, and will resume his search this off season.

Just sounds like Vlade is being smart, is going to bring in his GM, who will then help with replacing Karl.

 

[whozit]

There's that blind faith needed to be a King's fan.

Yeah, everything is under control. Vlade is here with mountains of experience to fall back on, all those coaching and GM searches he's done in the past. Forgot, he's got Peja! Shoot. Everything really is great.

So all he has to do is hire a GM and coach and trade multiple players demanding out while his owner demands he makes the playoffs NOW while Vlade's own contract is about to expire?

Good luck with that.

No blind faith. Sorry about that. It is what it is. I simply don't think anything has changed. For either better or worse.

There is also a big IF, if Vlade is involved or even still employed. If not, all bets are off. If he is, why not hope for the best?

 

[fansinceday1]

People still have faith in this organization.

I'm not one of them.

I can only liken this to the raiders situation. They were stumbling and bumbling around for years before they blew the entire thing up and made a commitment to start at the top FIRST. They hired their GM and worked their way to the coach. Then continued on down, hiring experienced personnel. They told the fans what was going on and pleaded for patience. It took years before anyone trusted them to do the right thing. FINALLY, it looks like the raiders have righted their ship.
It all starts with Vivek and him making a commitment to do things correctly and to keep his a$$ out of it. He personally has no clue and needs to realize it. Make a commitment to hire FO personnel who has experience and STEP AWAY!!!

 

[chasen4r1]

People still have faith in this organization.

I'm not one of them.

I can only liken this to the raiders situation. They were stumbling and bumbling around for years before they blew the entire thing up and made a commitment to start at the top FIRST. They hired their GM and worked their way to the coach. Then continued on down, hiring experienced personnel. They told the fans what was going on and pleaded for patience. It took years before anyone trusted them to do the right thing. FINALLY, it looks like the raiders have righted their ship.
It all starts with Vivek and him making a commitment to do things correctly and to keep his a$$ out of it. He personally has no clue and needs to realize it. Make a commitment to hire FO personnel who has experience and STEP AWAY!!!

Isnt this exactly what this article is saying the Kings are doing? Vivek is staying out of it. Vlade is his man, and Vlade will be doing a search for a GM.. aka... hiring from the top down. Then they will hire a coach.

You are asking for a commitment to hire FO personnel who has experience. Again, I ask, isn't that exactly what this article says they are trying to do?

 

[Blastoff]

The mess that PDA created was (and is) going to take more than a year to clean up; I think every one in the organization realizes that, including Vivek, which is why you see him talking to media about his new arena and staying way from basketball comments.

 

[funkykingston]

Don't be shocked if Vlade is fired at the same time Karl is. Why not? Vlade's job was to make the playoffs. He failed. That's what goes on in Vivek's mind, not mine, to be clear. Vivek fired everyone else still around to blame for hiring Karl, and Vivek is not going to fire himself.

That leaves Vlade, who one way or another, will lose his job. He might keep another one in the organization, but this season's Vlade and Karl experiment is just about over. Karl will be gone, Vlade will move into the ceremonial role most assumed he had in the first place.

Vivek prefers to fail quickly. And apparently, often. He thinks he can wipe the slate clean, and try something new each season. That's actually an improvement. He used to think he can wipe the slate clean mid season. Now it's only between seasons.

But let's all buy the local media narrative, that if we Kings' fans would just put blind faith in a GM who is not the GM and a coach who the players hate and was hired by, uh, not really sure who, it will all work out.

Let's ignore that the only reason this franchise has been remotely relevant the last 5 seasons is Demarcus Cousins and start putting blind faith in Karl and Vlade and cast that scrub all star to the curb. He makes his ever revolving cast of misfit teammates sad and stuff.

I didn't get that at all from the article. I read it as Vlade remaining President of Basketball Operations and hiring a GM whose role will primarily be managing the cap, working the numbers and doing a lot of the legwork while Vlade remains the head decision maker.

Now if that's not the case and Vivek really is so impatient that he'd fire both Karl and Vlade this offseason then the minority owners are right and he needs to be ousted from the position of principal owner.

I'd like to think that he's smart enough to learn from his mistakes and that he's realized that outside of perhaps Mark Cuban (who did win a title) the best owners are the ones who put their basketball people in a position to succeed and then stay out of the way. IMO Ranadive has done a very good job on the non-basketball side of running the Kings but he needs to stay out of the basketball side of things.

 

[fansinceday1]

Isnt this exactly what this article is saying the Kings are doing? Vivek is staying out of it. Vlade is his man, and Vlade will be doing a search for a GM.. aka... hiring from the top down. Then they will hire a coach.

You are asking for a commitment to hire FO personnel who has experience. Again, I ask, isn't that exactly what this article says they are trying to do?

Until I see it actually happen I won't believe it.

 

[Chubbs]

Isnt this exactly what this article is saying the Kings are doing? Vivek is staying out of it. Vlade is his man, and Vlade will be doing a search for a GM.. aka... hiring from the top down. Then they will hire a coach.

You are asking for a commitment to hire FO personnel who has experience. Again, I ask, isn't that exactly what this article says they are trying to do?

I guess I don't understand why it took a year to decide having a front office is a good idea. It's too little too late.

They've lost me. Things that are doomed to fail from the start and inevitably do occur (hiring Karl, giving Vlade no support), then we all cheer when they decide to finally fix the mistake. Meanwhile seasons go by and we stand by waiting for them to do something that should have been done the day PDA was banished from the land.

Nothing we're seeing gives any indication Vivek is staying out of things. If it was Vlade's choice to run a skeleton FO then he deserves to be fired. If it was Vivek's, then he's cheap, and we are doomed. Either way, it's really hard to understand how the most basic aspects of running a franchise flap in the wind for a year.

I can't give credit for doing the most basic things every franchise in every sport does.

 

[pshn80]

Our apologies to Voison for giving us a heads up on this story and being brushed off. Thanks.

 

[Chubbs]

Our apologies to Voison for giving us a heads up on this story and being brushed off. Thanks.

Yeah, she's definitely the victim here.

 

[The Hammer]

This is no surprise to me. Vlade was looking for a GM, or assistant GM, this past off season. Vlade didnt' find his guy, so he retained Mike Bratz, and will resume his search this off season.

Just sounds like Vlade is being smart, is going to bring in his GM, who will then help with replacing Karl.

I think this is the most likely scenario. Take Woj's subtle negative spin out of it, and this I think is accurate. Vlade's still in charge.

 

[Iced Espresso]

This is no surprise to me. Vlade was looking for a GM, or assistant GM, this past off season. Vlade didnt' find his guy, so he retained Mike Bratz, and will resume his search this off season.

Just sounds like Vlade is being smart, is going to bring in his GM, who will then help with replacing Karl.

I hope that's the case, and Vlade becomes more of a Vivek adviser like Mullin was before.

 

[FaStRmAn]

The mess that PDA created was (and is) going to take more than a year to clean up; I think every one in the organization realizes that, including Vivek, which is why you see him talking to media about his new arena and staying way from basketball comments.

This is the fact. PDA screwed the Pooch good. Made a lot of very bad moves in a short period of time. He doubled down on deuces and then went all in with the Malone firing.

Continuous change is STUPID. Doesn't work. Karl isn't the problem. We had all the same problems BEFORE Karl got here. The problem lies in the attitude and behavior of the PLAYERS. Any coach you brought in to coach this team would fail, PERIOD.

There are talent issues with this team that are fatal. There is NO 2 guard worth a POOP ! Sure the defensive schemes are bad but that is exacerbated by really poor defenders at the wing and in the front court. Scoring is not an issue as we went with offensive players who are loathe to defend anything or anyone.

The Philosophy needs to change on the defensive side of the ball. They also need to make personnel changes to improve the defensive acumen of this team. It all starts up front and in giving up drives to the middle of the key. They MUST shut off the free drives down the lane that create WIDE OPEN 3 point shooters. The NBA is FULL of Wide OPEN 3 point shooting ALLSTARS. Guard them and they degenerate back to scrubs.

Vlade is NOT overwhelmed. This is BS propaganda being spewed out by some agent that wants to extricate his client from Sacramento. The idea that Vlade DOESN'T have someone on the staff that understands the salary cap is LUDICROUS.

Let Vlade run the team. Let him make the trades he needs to make. Let him exceed the cap if necessary. But for GAWD's Sake stop the Merry GO ROUND ! How about they try to stay the course and see if Vlade can make it happen. Whats the difference with waiting a year or 2 as opposed to drastic change now? NOTHING changes if NOTHING changes.... They have tried to change the front office. That hasn't worked. They tried to change the coach so many times I often forget who the coach is.... Hasn't WORKED. At some point they have to look at the players. Make personnel choices to improve the product on the floor. You know.... the guys who are ACTUALLY responsible for the losses...

 

[Chubbs]

This is the fact. PDA screwed the Pooch good. Made a lot of very bad moves in a short period of time. He doubled down on deuces and then went all in with the Malone firing.

Continuous change is STUPID. Doesn't work. Karl isn't the problem. We had all the same problems BEFORE Karl got here. The problem lies in the attitude and behavior of the PLAYERS. Any coach you brought in to coach this team would fail, PERIOD.

There are talent issues with this team that are fatal. There is NO 2 guard worth a POOP ! Sure the defensive schemes are bad but that is exacerbated by really poor defenders at the wing and in the front court. Scoring is not an issue as we went with offensive players who are loathe to defend anything or anyone.

The Philosophy needs to change on the defensive side of the ball. They also need to make personnel changes to improve the defensive acumen of this team. It all starts up front and in giving up drives to the middle of the key. They MUST shut off the free drives down the lane that create WIDE OPEN 3 point shooters. The NBA is FULL of Wide OPEN 3 point shooting ALLSTARS. Guard them and they degenerate back to scrubs.

Vlade is NOT overwhelmed. This is BS propaganda being spewed out by some agent that wants to extricate his client from Sacramento. The idea that Vlade DOESN'T have someone on the staff that understands the salary cap is LUDICROUS.

Let Vlade run the team. Let him make the trades he needs to make. Let him exceed the cap if necessary. But for GAWD's Sake stop the Merry GO ROUND ! How about they try to stay the course and see if Vlade can make it happen. Whats the difference with waiting a year or 2 as opposed to drastic change now? NOTHING changes if NOTHING changes.... They have tried to change the front office. That hasn't worked. They tried to change the coach so many times I often forget who the coach is.... Hasn't WORKED. At some point they have to look at the players. Make personnel choices to improve the product on the floor. You know.... the guys who are ACTUALLY responsible for the losses...

Uh, they've changed the whole team in the last two years. Same crap, different players.

And you still think it's the players? Smh.

 

[FaStRmAn]

Uh, they've changed the whole team in the last two years. Same poopoo, different players.

And you still think it's the players? Smh.

Still have Cousins, Gay, McLemore, Collison, ACY and Caspi again. Thats 3/5th of your starting lineup. So again what have they really changed?

SMH....

Perhaps the problem is the Kings do NOT spend any money on players.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/#hh-tab-team-payroll

They have been at or near the bottom for so long that their talent pool is crap.

 

[Iced Espresso]

This is the fact. PDA screwed the Pooch good. Made a lot of very bad moves in a short period of time. He doubled down on deuces and then went all in with the Malone firing.

Continuous change is STUPID. Doesn't work. Karl isn't the problem. We had all the same problems BEFORE Karl got here. The problem lies in the attitude and behavior of the PLAYERS. Any coach you brought in to coach this team would fail, PERIOD.

There are talent issues with this team that are fatal. There is NO 2 guard worth a POOP ! Sure the defensive schemes are bad but that is exacerbated by really poor defenders at the wing and in the front court. Scoring is not an issue as we went with offensive players who are loathe to defend anything or anyone.

The Philosophy needs to change on the defensive side of the ball. They also need to make personnel changes to improve the defensive acumen of this team. It all starts up front and in giving up drives to the middle of the key. They MUST shut off the free drives down the lane that create WIDE OPEN 3 point shooters. The NBA is FULL of Wide OPEN 3 point shooting ALLSTARS. Guard them and they degenerate back to scrubs.

Vlade is NOT overwhelmed. This is BS propaganda being spewed out by some agent that wants to extricate his client from Sacramento. The idea that Vlade DOESN'T have someone on the staff that understands the salary cap is LUDICROUS.

Let Vlade run the team. Let him make the trades he needs to make. Let him exceed the cap if necessary. But for GAWD's Sake stop the Merry GO ROUND ! How about they try to stay the course and see if Vlade can make it happen. Whats the difference with waiting a year or 2 as opposed to drastic change now? NOTHING changes if NOTHING changes.... They have tried to change the front office. That hasn't worked. They tried to change the coach so many times I often forget who the coach is.... Hasn't WORKED. At some point they have to look at the players. Make personnel choices to improve the product on the floor. You know.... the guys who are ACTUALLY responsible for the losses...

I try to look at the economic settings, players we have, future picks, things like that before judging the FO when it comes to improvement from say last year.

I also try to be honest about the coaching performance as well.

When you say "Karl isn't the problem" it hints at absolutes, its possible he makes a situation worse, or cannot make improvements on what we have. It's quite possible we need several things and he is rather useless in improving the situation himself.

This is what we have.

A "debatable" franchise player in Cousins, which I consider a legit franchise player but put it on the debatable level with all his critics here.
A solid role player draft pick in WCS.
A good valued contract for a "second tier guy" in Rudy
One of the best back up pg's on a cheap contract in Collison
Experienced role players in KK and Marco. KK contract is very movable, and Marco's may not be the best around but its not a lost cause either.
An expiring pg.
A underwhelming guy we've been trying to develop for a couple of years in Ben, who is at least cheap, with potential upside.

Economically we are sound, we can move just about anyone we wish without much trouble besides maybe Marco, I assume even he is, but find contract criticism there fair.

Karl has not improved anything.
A rookie GM who has not "ruined" us, and seems to of at least treated people decently and kept this place from blowing up.

All Vivek needs to do is get the GM call right this off season, who then follows up with the right coach. And he's got Vlade to help him make those calls. Vlade is a good networker, knows people, is probably talking with just about every organization he can on road trips with the team.

So the new GM should have a handle on what he has, how it mixes, some insight from Vlade to get things done right.

There is no new immanent doom now that we didn't have before, our options are more flexible now than they were before.

You could argue we wasted a year, but I'm not sure that's the case if we get the right people in the off season.

 

[Chubbs]

Still have Cousins, Gay, McLemore, Collison, ACY and Caspi again. Thats 3/5th of your starting lineup. So again what have they really changed?

SMH....

Meant to say 3 years. Ben, DC, Gay Casspi weren't here at the start of year 1 of Ranadive's power trip. I guess Acy was.

What you're saying is trade cousins. I'm with you.

Free Boogie!

Then you'll see a completely different groups of guys with the exact same problems. Won't that be great? And without the trouble of watching an all star. Maybe we can bring back KMart to struggle in that role? Wouldn't that be grand?

I just want only Vivek players here. Then he's out of scapegoats. That's what I want.