Vlade didn't get rid of Mike Malone. PDA did. When Vlade came to power PDA's ,"Luke Walton", George Karl was coaching the team. And instead of just canning the ousted GM's preference choice who was starting to sour the locker room he stuck it out for awhile. During that time things became so sour with the teams franchise player that not only did Karl go, but so did that player, so... good lesson to learn. Very timely too, did Vivek learn that one or does he want to go for round two this time with Buddy Hield and potentially De'Aaron Fox as well?
As for Doc, he's another one of those rarities for Vivek. While every coach is fallible he's a track record guy. In the end you only have so many options and while you may prefer steak tartare, a dollar menu cheeseburger beats bread crumbs for someone who's starving. Best available option is secondary to best fit, but with Doc I think he's a coach that still will more often than not plays to his talent. That's what the Kings need.
As for Doc, he's another one of those rarities for Vivek. While every coach is fallible he's a track record guy. In the end you only have so many options and while you may prefer steak tartare, a dollar menu cheeseburger beats bread crumbs for someone who's starving. Best available option is secondary to best fit, but with Doc I think he's a coach that still will more often than not plays to his talent. That's what the Kings need.
Doc's tenure with the Clippers has been disappointing and it's fair to question how much he owed his success in Boston to the combination of Tom Thibodeau's defensive expertise and a motivated and hungry Kevin Garnett. He's a players coach and he'd absolutely be a good choice for a veteran roster with at least one grumpy superstar who just need a coach to rally around but I don't think he's a great fit for our roster.
Nate McMillan is available again and he's been near the top of my head coach wishlist dating back to his days in Portland. His teams always play hard, are no worse than league average defensively, and he's spent the last 14 years building relationships as part of the Team USA coaching staff. I don't know why he doesn't get more respect after he helped turn around the Jail Blazers and then coached trade cast-offs Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to All Star performances in Indiana. He's much more in the Mike Malone mold of demanding respect and focusing on fundamentals so I don't know if the NBA 3.0 Kings would be interested, but if this new GM, whoever it is, wants to turn things around in a hurry they need to fire Luke Walton ASAP and then call Nate McMillan. Draft a couple of grinders and bring in a blue collar coach and start establishing the new team culture right now.
Nate McMillan is available again and he's been near the top of my head coach wishlist dating back to his days in Portland. His teams always play hard, are no worse than league average defensively, and he's spent the last 14 years building relationships as part of the Team USA coaching staff. I don't know why he doesn't get more respect after he helped turn around the Jail Blazers and then coached trade cast-offs Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to All Star performances in Indiana. He's much more in the Mike Malone mold of demanding respect and focusing on fundamentals so I don't know if the NBA 3.0 Kings would be interested, but if this new GM, whoever it is, wants to turn things around in a hurry they need to fire Luke Walton ASAP and then call Nate McMillan. Draft a couple of grinders and bring in a blue collar coach and start establishing the new team culture right now.
I would be down with Nate McMillan. With a guy like Doc who has been at it so long, how would he respond to being so close to the finals and then getting fired and coaching a down in the dumps franchise? I just don’t see him as being interested. Same with D’Antoni at his age. Same with Karl who was willing it seemed but had his health problems and a difficult time reaching Boogie.
I'd love to get McMillan here in Sac. I think he'd be a great coach for a rebuild, for the reasons you outlined above.
This team is just going to keep getting softer and more undisciplined under nice guy Luke...
As for Doc? Hard pass. He's always had pretty loaded teams, and they tend to underperform at that.
This team is just going to keep getting softer and more undisciplined under nice guy Luke...
As for Doc? Hard pass. He's always had pretty loaded teams, and they tend to underperform at that.
I wrote a post and deleted it but I am ok with Nate. I don't think he is a championship caliber coach but I do think he is a proven winner. And he's good with smaller markets and the level of players we have. He did a fine job in Portland, a period that coincided with my arrival here and a team that was NOT WATCHABLE. I actually got free tickets in club level with food to see LeBron play during their darkest years.
I already took a knock on Doc, but just to elaborate. When Boston ended the Pierce/KG/Allen/Rondo era and began rebuilding, he kindly asked out of his contract - 2 years into a 5 year extension. We don't want that here.
I already took a knock on Doc, but just to elaborate. When Boston ended the Pierce/KG/Allen/Rondo era and began rebuilding, he kindly asked out of his contract - 2 years into a 5 year extension. We don't want that here.