Of the coaches that have reportedly interviewed or scheduled for interviews, the two I like the most are Messina and McHale. Lots of other names that I'd be okay with (Del Negro, Woodson, Hornacek, Blatt, McMillan) but those two are far and away my favorite options. If Vogel leaves Indiana then he's immediately in that top 3.
I've been vocal about liking Udoka but it doesn't seem like he's on Vlade's radar, or possibly he's not receptive to being the Kings head coach which is understandable. So I've been looking more and more at Messina. He's the superior coach of the two with a long track record of success, but he's older (56), he's had a reputation as an authoritarian, he'd be the first foreign born head coach in the NBA (not a bad thing by any means, but it ties into both how he relates to NBA players as well as the propensity for the media to view Vivek as a sideshow barker despite Messina's pedigree), has a somewhat fiery sideline demeanor and he's not a former NBA player, which helps in quickly establishing relationships.
To me Udoka seems like a good choice because he's a young Pop disciple (since 2012-2013, twice as long as Etorre) with a very calm demeanor who bounced around the NBA and his been in a number of different systems and locker rooms. But of course, he's also only 38 years old.
It's one interview but I really like what Messina has to say here:
And the more I've read about his European teams, the more I like his approach offensively. He's focused on controlling pace and creating spacing and advantages either by swinging the ball side to side or going into the post to force the defense to shift. He's shown a preference over the years for not having a dedicated ball handler but preferring bigger initiators that move the ball rather than orchestrate an offense (Ginobili and Trajan Langdon for instance) so I doubt he'd be in favor of having Rondo return. Of course, I'd say the same about Blatt and his modified Princeton offense. I think to suit both of those coaches strengths you'd be looking at significant roster changes.
McHale I think would be more adaptable and more plug and play. I could see him working with the roster more or less as it is - re-signing Rondo, keeping Gay etc.
I can make an argument for either approach. But honestly I'd lean towards Messina. It's time to create a lasting culture with the Kings and he seems better positioned to do that. Give him a young, bright assistant coach who can relate to the players and be groomed as a long term replacement and let he, Vlade and Catanella create a lasting franchise structure instead of constant band-aid moves in an attempt to just make the playoffs. I'm a Kings fan for the long term, I'm fine with slow growth as long as it's in a positive direction.
I also think Messina would be good for Cousins in terms of maximizing his good looks down low but also in terms of lowering his usage and getting him to learn to react quickly by either attacking the basket or moving the ball. But this hire can't be about Cousins. If Vlade brings in HIS guy as coach the onus is now on Boogie to be part of making it work. Because I can pretty much guarantee that if he doesn't, it won't be the coach that moves on this time.