Sacramento Kings: 5 Best Long-Term Coaching Options

The Sacramento Kings are at a very real tipping point.

They haven’t had a winning season since 2005-06. They’ve gone from being owned by the Maloofs — who didn’t give a s**t about the team and its loyal fans — to Vivek Ranadive, someone who actually cares about running the franchise but is starting to show he may be incompetent in actually doing so.

The list doesn’t stop there. Until this season, Sacramento’s franchise cornerstone was a moody center with attitude problems and their second-best player — Rudy Gay — was someone who was most commonly referred to as “overrated” or “overpaid.” They downgraded from Isaiah Thomas to Darren Collison in the offseason and drafted yet another shooting guard (Nik Stauskas) one year after drafting another one (Ben McLemore).

But then everything started to come together. The Kings started 9-5, DeMarcus Cousins was becoming a leader, Gay was having his finest season yet, Collison was providing the glue at point guard and even McLemore looked like a real NBA player. The Boogie got viral meningitis and the front office used his absence as an excuse to fire Michael Malone.

After axing Malone, this is a make-or-break point in the franchise’s history.

For now, assistant coach Tyrone Corbin will serve as the team’s interim head coach and he’ll be given the chance to finish the year out. But make no mistake: there’s definitely a long-term head coaching vacancy in Sacramento.

So how should the Kings, who have now lost 10 of their last 12 games, proceed? More importantly, who is capable of turning this franchise around after Malone’s squad was just starting to show signs of life? Here’s a look at the top five long-term candidates.

Honorable Mentions: Vinny Del Negro, anyone NOT named Vinny Del Negro, anyone willing to try running a 5-on-4 defense

Next: No. 5 - The Incumbent