Sacramento Kings: George Karl Would Be a Perfect Fit

In the, “Wait, what?” news of the year, the Sacramento Kings made the shocking decision to fire head coach Mike Malone. The Kings are currently .5 games behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the No. 8 seed at 11-13.

Sacramento failed to reach 11 wins until January 7 of the 2013-14 season.

As puzzling a decision as it was, the Kings have but one choice: to move on.

Fortunately, there’s a legendary head coach who’s primed and ready to help them do so: George Karl.

Despite being on the cusp of a breakout season, the Kings decided to part ways with a generally well-liked coach. Malone brought the best out of high-paid star Rudy Gay—whom Sacramento recently re-signed to a three-year, $30 million contract.

Sacramento’s recent struggles concerned the front office, but they coincided with DeMarcus Cousins‘ battle with viral meningitis.

Regardless of how strong they’d played, the Kings decided to part ways with Malone less than 25 games into the season. That opens the door for another coach to step in and take the reins.

Karl, 63, would be the perfect fit.

He Wants To Do It

Nothing is more important than this.

Whether or not it’d be a good move, the key to a coaching hire is mutual interest. One side of the negotiating partners is already on board with the idea of linking up: coach George Karl.

According to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee, Karl would take the job if it were offered to him.

"“It’s always interesting for me when a job opens up and your name is in the mesh. First of all, I understand… I’m humbled. If they are interested in me, I would have interest in them. But there is a process to it. And part of the process right now is I don’t like really talking about it out of respect to Mike Malone. His legs have been cut out from under him and I’ve been that guy before. There should be a mourning period. Instead of stirring up all the gossip there should be a time to respect the coach. And then the process is, I’m sure they have questions that they want answers (to) and if I would have the opportunity to talk to them I would probably have questions would like them to answer. It’s something that, happening in the middle of the year makes it a little more difficult. But there’s no question that I have a hunger to be back in the gym and I have a passion to coach the game of basketball again. I love the gym and I love the NBA and if this would fall into place I would, again, I would be humbled to talk to them and see where it goes.”"

Briefly, Karl states that he believes in keeping time between firing one head coach and hiring the next.

Once that period of time elapses, Karl would be interested in becoming the next coach of the Kings.

Karl has history with Pete D’Alessandro, who currently serves as Sacramento’s general manager. D’Alessandro was the assistant general manager for the Denver Nuggets when Karl was in charge.

Per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, that doesn’t guarantee a reunion.

It should.

Brink of Postseason

The Sacramento Kings haven’t made the playoffs since 2005-06. They haven’t won at least 35 games since 2007-08 and haven’t won more than .450 percent of their outings since that same ’06-’07 campaign.

That’s part of what makes Mike Malone’s firing so puzzling.

The Kings are currently 11-13, which equates to a win percentage of .458. More importantly, they’re just .5 games behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.

In other words, Sacramento is merely .5 games out of the playoffs.

Say what you will about George Karl’s proclivity for exiting the postseason early—he’s lost in the first round in eight of his past nine appearances—but he almost always gets there. He’s led teams to the playoffs in 10 consecutive campaigns.

For his career, Karl has won 1,131 games with a win percentage of .599. Only five coaches have won more: Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, Jerry Sloan, Pat Riley and Phil Jackson.

For an organization with a young roster and nearly a decade without a postseason appearance, Karl’s as good of an option as they’ll find.

Moving forward, the Kings’ top priority should be getting DeMarcus Cousins his first taste of postseason experience. He’s an elite player from a production perspective, but he’s never had the character-defining moment of shining in the playoffs.

If nothing else, Karl can enter the premises as a coach who’s taken underwhelming rosters to the postseason before. He took a starless Denver Nuggets to 57 wins in 2012-13 and helped Ty Lawson develop into the player he is today.

It’s a different position, but Karl can help Cousins live up to his potential and lead Sacramento to a rare postseason appearance.

Leadership for a Young Team

Beyond the success that George Karl commonly brings to teams, he’s a respected person and leader. Commonly regarded as a player’s coach, Karl earns the respect and admiration from every locker room he enters.

That type of presence would be massive for a team led by the overly-criticized DeMarcus Cousins and righting-the-ship Rudy Gay.

As Sacramento prepares for the next chapter in the revitalization of a once great organization, it’s imperative that the general manager has a good relationship with the coach. That’s the case with Karl and D’Alessandro.

Beyond that relationship, however, is one of significantly more importance: that between the coach and the players.

Given Karl’s history as a beloved figure, he’s the perfect coach to instill a sense of team in Sacramento. Mike Malone helped to create that commitment to teamwork, but isolation basketball remains an issue.

If any coach can cure those woes, it’s Karl.

In his most recent stint in the NBA, Karl coached the Denver Nuggets to 24.4 assists per game—No. 3 in the association. That doesn’t come without a sense of camaraderie and trust, which starts with the coach.

With a star big man and a 20-point-per-game perimeter player to build around, Karl can create something special. Not only will he maximize the talent that his players possess, but he’ll create a positive culture in the locker room.

There are other candidates to consider, but Karl is the perfect man to lead a new generation of Kings basketball.