Best Potential Candidates to Replace Fired Mike Malone for Sacramento Kings
Mike Malone's brief tenure with the Sacramento Kings has abruptly reached its conclusion, so the search for his replacement must begin now. Or later. Whenever, really.
After coaching the 11-13 Kings to their best start since 2009-10—a beginning that's actually better than advertised, given the team is only 2-7 over its last nine games because DeMarcus Cousins hasn't played—Malone was canned for not meeting expectations, according to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
Owner Vivek Ranadive has apparently wanted the Kings to play with more pace. Malone runs a more post-centric, grind-it-out style of basketball, preferring to initiate sets with Cousins and Rudy Gay operating from the block or slightly higher. And though the Kings rank 13th in offensive efficiency, they're just 19th in possessions used per 48 minutes.
Former Utah Jazz coach and current assistant Ty Corbin will assume sideline control for now, per Wojnarowski. He's not necessarily a permanent solution, but the Kings are expected to see what he can do for the rest of this season before searching elsewhere.
Rumors are running rampant in the meantime. The Kings have been linked to a variety of names, and there are a number of intriguing candidates—rumored or otherwise—who might fit the bill for Sacramento's finest.
The best potential replacements will be realistic choices. Gregg Popovich isn't abandoning the San Antonio Spurs to guide Sacramento toward its first ever dynasty. Coaching prospects will also be systematic fits for the Kings' alleged pace-yearning.
And so, with that in mind, we journey onward, in and out of Sacramento's organization, through the unemployment ranks and, in some cases, onto other teams' sidelines.
6. Chris Mullin
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On this edition of "The Weird Gets Weirder," we bring you Chris Mullin, he of no coaching experience.
"All he has to decide is that's what he wants and [the] job is his," an anonymous general manager told Wojnarowski.
Pete D'Alessandro (Kings GM), is that you?
Seriously, though, installing Mullin—one of Ranadive's advisors—would be an odd play after allegedly firing Malone for not meeting expectations. Mullin won't come in as a rookie sideline presence and propel the Kings to their first playoff berth since 2006. That would be—well, that would be about as unrealistic as that time the Kings demanded Malone turn waxed-paper sheets into C-Notes.
All of Mullin's post-playing background comes within the front office. He was a general manager with the Golden State Warriors between 2004 and 2009, during which time the team cleared 40 victories only twice.
Handing him control of the sidelines implies the Kings are gearing up for an extensive rebuild—the same restructuring period Ranadive appears hellbent on avoiding.
5. Ty Corbin
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Let's move on to Sacramento's current sideline-stalker.
Corbin has a lukewarm coaching resume. He spent three-plus seasons manning the Jazz before joining the Kings, during which time he led them to a pair of above-.500 finishes and one playoff berth. Utah showed him the door in favor of the more analytics-aware Quin Snyder this past spring.
Still, the Kings appear drawn to Corbin because he isn't expected to resist Ranadive's desired style of play—which, per Wojnarowski (via NBC Sports), is undeniably unusual:
"The owner played the part of a fantasy league owner, treating the Kings like a science experiment. He shared tactical experiences with Malone about coaching his child’s youth team, and pressed him to consider playing four-on-five defense, leaking out a defender for cherry-picking baskets. Some semblance of that strategy is expected to be employed with Corbin now, a source told Yahoo Sports.
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Four-on-five defense is problematic for obvious reasons. The Kings rank 20th in defensive efficiency to begin with, including 19th in rim protection. Having them play a man down in order to create additional fast-break opportunities puts them at further risk, leaving their interior talent even more susceptible to dribble penetration and point-blank invasions.
Teams don't need to run four-on-five when trying to leak out players ahead of the opposition, to be sure. The Golden State Warriors are a prime example. They have players who react to broken plays quickly enough—deflections, steals, blocks, missed shots, releases, etc.—and get out on the break. They rank first in pace and transition points per game, according to TeamRankings.com.
It takes a specific kind of talent to run such a system—which Sacramento doesn't have—but the Kings are rolling the dice with Corbin in general. If pace is one of Ranadive's goals, Corbin isn't his guy. The Jazz ranked 26th in pace last year and experienced drops in possession usage between 2011-12 and 2013-14.
In the event Corbin proves willing to see Ranadive's unconventional experiment through, though, his stay in Sacramento may prove more than temporary.
4. Vinny Del Negro
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Vinny Del Negro is considered a "long-term candidate" for the Kings' vacant coaching position, per Wojnarowski. A few words spring to mind when considering his coaching history: Vanilla. Bland. Rustic. Inelaborate. Anything along those lines, really.
Yet the Kings see him as a potential fit because he has experience coaching superstars such as Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and Derrick Rose after stints with the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls. The upshot: Del Negro is no longer with either of those teams.
Two consecutive playoff berths weren't enough to keep him with the Los Angeles Clippers, and prior to that, he flamed out in Chicago after a pair of .500 campaigns. Still, he's been to the postseason in four of his five seasons as a head coach, and his stylistic propensities are conducive to what Ranadive is apparently seeking.
Both of Del Negro's Bulls teams ranked in the top 12 of pace, as did his 2010-11 Clippers. But none of those squads secured more than 41 victories. It wasn't until Paul took over his offense and the pace dropped dramatically that Del Negro started directing a true title contender.
That he's worked with young studs early in their careers is Del Negro's greatest selling point. Cousins is only 24 and remains something of an unknown. Del Negro's calming presence might resonate with him; the veteran head honcho's pace-friendly offense, meanwhile, should resonate with Sacramento's impatient owner.
3. Fred Hoiberg
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Fred Hoiberg falls well short of the top spot for one reason only: feasibility.
The Iowa State Cyclones chief has helped resurrect the program. His team ranked in the top-8 percent of college's most efficient offenses last season (28th of 351) and is tracking toward a better finish this season (12th of 351).
Hoiberg's teams also like to run—so much so Ranadive would likely be smitten. The sideline-meander subscribes to the modern-day NBA offensive approach in which speed is embraced and three-pointers are considered prominent weapons. There's no limit to the success Sacramento's offense could have if the franchise's brass surrounds a passing-savvy big man like Cousins with a battery of athletic shooters.
Other NBA teams aren't oblivious to Hoiberg's Association-affable offense, though. General managers tried like mad to reel him in ahead of 2014-15 but to no avail, per Wojnarowksi.
"Prying Hoiberg out of Ames, Iowa, won't be easy," he wrote at the time. "He grew up in Ames, graduated from Iowa State and has shown a strong inclination to coach his alma mater for the long term. Long ago, his popularity and loyalty in the community gave him his nickname of 'The Mayor.' Hoiberg has long expressed a desire for his children to have a similar upbringing in Ames as he did."
A lucrative contract worth roughly $1.5 million annually is also keeping him around. That the Kings are willing to wait until the offseason before beginning their search, though, at least makes a courtship, however unsuccessful, possible.
And if it's potent pace Ranadive wants, face time with Hoiberg—even if pointless—is worth the wait.
2. Alvin Gentry
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Alvin Gentry isn't among the splashiest of names, but for what Ranadive is reportedly after—puissant pace—he's basically a rock star. Bleacher Report's Howard Beck also names him as a top target.
Though Gentry didn't survive the Phoenix Suns' overhaul, he's manned the head-coaching lines for parts or all of 12 different seasons. The Suns also remained a powerful offense from when he took over during the 2008-09 season through the 2011-12 campaign, never ranking worse than ninth in efficiency.
Upon leaving Phoenix midway through 2012-13, Gentry took up shop with the Clippers as an assistant for Doc Rivers in 2013-14. The team ended up with the league's best point-piling attack while running at the seventh-fastest pace. Gentry is now one of Steve Kerr's lead assistants with the Warriors, who rank seventh in offensive efficiency and first in pace.
Sensing a pattern here?
"He's one of the better offensive minds in the league," Rivers said of Gentry after he signed with the Warriors, per the Los Angeles Times' Ben Bolch.
Well, what do ya know? It just so happens the Kings appear to be in the market for one of them fancy offensive minds.
1. George Karl
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No surprises here. Hopefully.
Sam Amick of USA Today and Wojnarowski cite George Karl as a serious candidate to succeed Malone. So too does NBC Sports' Aaron Bruski. Beck has also been told the post is Karl's to "turn down."
Beyond the chatter, Karl is an obvious candidate for his body of work and ties to the Kings' front office. Kelly Dwyer explains why for Yahoo Sports:
"Kings general manager Pete D’Alessandro worked closely with George Karl in Denver, and it’s quite possible that Karl could work as the sort of go-between pitched in the middle of someone like Michael Malone, and more up-tempo sorts like Don Nelson – a coach team advisor Chris Mullin and team owner Vivek Ranadive adores. After all, Karl recently told SiriusXM that he still feels as if he has one more coaching stint left in him, taking on the Bob Hill role of tossing his name out in every open NBA coach candidacy out there, and he’s just 19 months removed from winning the NBA’s Coach of the Year award.
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Often identified as an old-school mind—25 years of head-coaching experience will have that effect—the clipboard veteran has shown he can adapt and adjust to contemporary play styles. He did a masterful job in particular with the Denver Nuggets between 2010 and 2014.
Though the team traded away Carmelo Anthony and didn't employ a true superstar, Karl guided Denver to three consecutive playoff berths, establishing his squad as a fast-paced force to be feared in the contender-crammed Western Conference.
Not once did the Nuggets finish worse than fifth in offensive efficiency and second in possessions used per 48 minutes during that three-season span. And given how swiftly Denver has devolved into a lottery fixture since his controversial exit, it lends merit to the belief Karl can have a similar impact on the Kings.
Firing Malone will always be remembered as an unnecessarily risky gambit. Hiring Karl, though, promises the Kings a chance at it becoming one worth taking.
*Stats via Basketball-Reference and NBA.com unless otherwise cited and are accurate as of games played on Dec. 14, 2014.
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