the problem for the sacramento kings is that, for the few moves they've gotten right since the new regime took over, they've taken massive steps backward with the moves they've gotten wrong. hiring mike malone was the right move. hiring pete d'alessandro was the wrong move. hiring chris mullin was the wrong move. firing mike malone was the wrong move. promoting ty corbin beyond his "interim" tag just to fire him weeks later was the wrong move. hiring george karl without knowing if d'alessandro would remain gm was the wrong move. hiring vlade divac was the right move. [de facto] firing chris mullin was the right move. [de facto] firing pete d'alessandro was the right move. [proactively] firing george karl would be the "right move" here, but it would only serve to undo a series of mistakes that have set back the progress of this rebuild considerably, and have further tarnished the kings' reputation around the league...
mike malone received considerable criticism from kf.com leading up to and in the aftermath of his firing, some of it deserved and some of it overblown. in any case, i believe he was the right coach for this team at this time. in a couple of seasons, if malone was still unable to take the kings over the hump, then you go ahead and try to seek out a replacement that you more fully believe in, but only after enough growth had been accomplished and only after a new team identity had been established; you let malone work on cousins for awhile. you let him mold cousins into a winner and a leader. but by authorizing malone's firing, vivek was left with a half-formed boogie monster, so to speak, and right now, that monster is none too pleased. that said, you have to do the unpleasant thing; you fire george karl and accept the media savaging that awaits (as if the kings aren't already being laughed at hysterically by nba insiders)...
should the kings decide to fire karl, tom thibodeau is an intriguing possibility, if only because he and demarcus have an existing (and positive) relationship from their time together with team usa. perhaps thibs could work on big cuz in the same way that malone had started to work on cuz, and in doing so, perhaps he could earn cousins' trust. unfortunately, while i like the idea of thibodeau as the kings' head coach, i'm not fond of the potential for thibs to work on cousins past the breaking point that most players reach when being coached by thibodeau. boogie's already frustrated enough, and surely has to be evaluating a serious exit strategy from sacramento...
i don't know what coach the kings could realistically hire who would mesh well with cousins, instill strong defensive principles in this team without wearing them down completely, and successfully set the kings back on the winning path. and what kills me is they already had that guy. mike malone may not have eventually led the kings to the promised land, but i'd hardly call it a stretch to believe that, if he hadn't been fired, the kings would have been hailed at the end of the season as a surprise team of the western conference, rather than the perpetual punchline they've become in the wake of managerial incompetence so astounding that it might be years before the kings are respected enough again to place calls to free agents without being laughed off the line, or to convince top draft prospects that sacramento is worthy of a simple interview or workout...
rebuilds are a process for which there are few shortcuts if you aren't a glamorous media market like los angeles. development of rebuilding teams occurs incrementally; this last season, for example, was supposed to be the year when the kings scrapped their way back to relevance with mike malone and boogie cousins leading the way. and next season was supposed to be the year when the kings made a serious push into the playoffs. and the following seasons were supposed to be the years when the kings locked horns with other playoff contenders in a battle for western conference dominance. when chris mullin and pete d'alessandro colluded together in an effort to convince vivek ranadive that mike malone should be fired, they set the kings on a path of instability that they'll probably only be able to recover from by firing the head coach they literally just signed to a four-year contract, and replacing him with an absolute home-run-of-a-hire TBD...
