Sacramento Kings: Is Paul Westphal Already Sitting on the Hot Seat?

Fans of the Sacramento Kings are tired of waiting for the team to turn around. Ever since the "almost" team of Webber, Bibby, Divac and Peja, the city of Sacramento has been in a funk.

With the 2011 NBA season now a week old, some fans are already murmuring about Paul Westphal due to the Kings' poor start. So, is Westphal already sitting on a hot seat?

Westphal is now in his third season as the head coach of the Kings. His first season with the Kings was rough, and the team struggled to win many games (25-57). The lone bright spot was the emergence of Tyreke Evans as one of the most exciting young players in the NBA.

In the Kings' second season under Westphal's leadership and guidance, Evans and the Kings actually regressed and ended the season with one win less than their previous effort (24-58).

One of the troubling patterns that we've seen over the last two-plus seasons under Westphal's guidance is that the Kings are struggling with ball movement and turnovers. These two statistics are intertwined, and the team needs to address them first and foremost if there is any chance for them to become consistently better.

I believe that the best way to cut down on the turnovers that are costing the Kings their games is to take the ball out of the hands of Tyreke Evans. He's just not a point guard, and as long as he's the one running the floor for the Kings, they will continue to turn the ball over and ball movement/assists will continue to be stagnant. 

Westphal is responsible for molding the team into a playoff contender. He and general manager Geoff Petrie need to figure out a way to get the right point guard into the game. The team could try and trade for a proven veteran, or they could promote either Jimmer Fredette or Isaiah Thomas to the starting lineup.

The bottom line is this: The Kings are still a young team trying to find their identity. Westphal is tasked with figuring out how to best use his players, and I think he's failed to put them in the right situations to succeed to this point.

This doesn't mean that he should be fired anytime soon, though. Fans should give the Kings at least one more season to develop their young talent and become a legitimate contender.

If Westphal has failed to bring this talented group of men together by the end of the year, then I say it's time to move on.

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