Will the Coaching Decision Happen Quickly?

¹²³ · Apr 13, 2009

As the Kings tie up the loose ends of the season this week, we have obviously began looking forward -- looking toward May 19's draft lottery, toward the coaching search, toward the trade and free agency period.

The coaching search is up first. The team option on Kenny Natt's 2009-10 contract expires May 1. In the recent past, the franchise has not left coaches hanging (as some other teams do). Ironically, the last Sacramento coach whose fate was not announced within a week of the season's end was ... Eddie Jordan. After the end of the 1997-98 season, Geoff Petrie famously did not want to fire Jordan; lame duck owner Jim Thomas made the decision well into the summer. Rick Adelman and Eric Musselman were both told to hit the road within days of elimination; Reggie Theus was assured last April that he'd go into 2008-09 as the head coach.

The one instance of midsummer uncertainty with regard to the coaching position came in 2005 as the Maloofs flirted with then-retired Phil Jackson. We all know how that ended. (Well, in case you don't: it was a ploy by Phil's agent to spook the Lakers into offering ridiculous gobs of cash for the Hall-of-Famer. The Maloofs bit, Jackson deked, Adelman got [understandably] pissed. Not the proudest moment in Kings history.)

We will definitely know by May 1 whether Natt will be back. (As if we don't know right now ...) I assume we'll have an announcement (and a goodbye) before the end of the week. Will we have a new coach -- Jordan or otherwise -- by next week?

Probably not.

1. The power structure is unsettled. Sam Amick and Adrian Wojnarowski have reported in the past week that there is a division in the front office. Petrie obviously wants Jordan. (No surprise there.) The Maloofs either want John Whisenant or a search, lean toward Whisenant. After the Musselman and Theus failures, Petrie should have the call no questions asked. No compromise picks for the top job, no wars of attrition. Petrie needs to be able to hire his coach.

It seems obvious to us, but we don't sign paychecks. If the Maloofs feel strongly about Whiz or another candidate -- and so long as they don't believe some pressure from Vegas won't lead to Petrie's resignation -- they will probably drag this out a bit. They are stubborn men. They almost always get what they want, even dealing with a man considered to be one of the best GMs in the league, a guy who could have 10 job offers tomorrow if he quit today. You have to believe they will at least try to sway Petrie.

2. Petrie doesn't work fast. He is one methodical man. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew he wanted E.J. back in December. (Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if he knew he wanted E.J. last April.) But look at his history: he just doesn't work fast. It's not a feature or a bug ... it's just a fact. We romanticize that 1998 remodel as some slapdash dream, where we woke up one morning with a playoff roster after a 19-win season. Well, that remodel took all summer. From J-Will to Vlade to C-Webb to Peja to Adelman, it took basically the entire summer and fall. Petrie has never been afraid to handle business, to take a risk. But he does his work in a methodical fashion.

3. Petrie is scouting Europe in late April and early May. Petrie told Ailene Voisin he'd be in Europe scouting for the draft and free agency a week before the Euroleague Final Four, which begins May 1. That places Petrie away on April 23 or so. The final game is Wednesday, April 15. Do you think the team will cut Natt's string on Thursday and hold E.J.'s press conference on Monday? It seems unlikely, given item No. 2. (Though, as Petrie and Jordan are friends, you could see the GM wanting to take E.J. along to get his opinion on players.)

That schedule leaves us with a "search" beginning the second week of May. The first round of the playoffs will be over, and the second round will be about a week from completion. Most of the top assistant candidates will not be available, though in recent years assistants have interviewed while their teams were still alive.

***

Despite last week's love letter to Mike Budenholzer, I'm thrilled at the reports that E.J. is the favorite. He would be fantastic for the offense, especially when it comes to the important pieces (Kevin Martin, Jason Thompson and especially Spencer Hawes). There's some contrarian scoffing at the power of the Princeton going around, but honestly -- that thing is gorgeous and effective. With skilled big men and smart guards, it's deadly. Provided E.J. can take some direction from others on his defensive scheme (which Wizards fans tell me is basically "pack the lane" -- yikes!), the Kings will be a far better team with E.J. at the helm. I can feel it. I can see it.

The idea of a protracted coaching search, with the Maloofs fiddling while Petrie works on the draft, frightens me. If Jordan is Petrie's choice -- which we have every reason to believe -- every day that goes by without ink on paper strengthens the opposite end of the scales. Every day without a new head coach plays into Whisenant's case, or the case to keep looking beyond Petrie's pick. Again, that frightens me. Fans of E.J. should want to this to happen as fast as Washington's Flip Saunders hire will happen.

But Petrie doesn't work that way, as I've laid out. Perhaps Petrie sees the writing on the walls and understands the need for speed in this matter, but can that overcome the other circumstances that push for a slow process? We'll see. I fear we'll have a few weeks of danger, at the least.
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¹²³ · Apr 24, 2009

Messina would be great.

A New Twist in the Kings' Search for a New Coach: Actually Firing the Old One

The idea that the Sacramento Kings would be looking for a new coach has been in the media for some time already.

Ettore Messina, the Italian coach of the Russian super team CSKA Moscow (who has a blog and has reportedly mentored Coach of the Year Mike Brown each of the two last summers) has been discussed in the media as a candidate, as have Eddie Jordan, Jeff Ruland, Mike Fratello, Del Harris and John Whisenant. I suspect other names will arise, too.

But of course, until earlier today, the Kings actually had a coaching staff -- essentially the leftovers from the Reggie Theus administration.

No more. The Kings announce today:

Sacramento Kings' President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie announced today that the team has decided not to pick up the option on Kenny Natt's contract for next season, thus relieving him of his coaching duties. In a related move, assistant coaches Rex Kalamian, Jason Hamm, Randy Brown and Bubba Burrage were also relieved of their existing coaching responsibilities.

Next weekend a lot of NBA executives will be heading to Germany for the Euroleague Final Four. Messina's skills will be on display as CSKA attempts to win the whole thing. It'll also be a natural time for all those NBA people to get to know one of the world's sharper basketball minds a little better. I speculate that if Messina really is a candidate to leave a sweet job for the NBA, the Kings won't hire anyone until after the Final Four.

On the other hand the NBA draft lottery is May 19, and the draft about five weeks after that. It would be nice to have a coach's input on such an important pick. A quick visit to the Kings' website is all you need to understand how important this player will be to the team's future.
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