Kings: Many Uncertainties Surround the Team

November 05, 2012; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach Keith Smart calms down center DeMarcus Cousins (15) against the Golden State Warriors during the third quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Golden State Warriors 94-92. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

DeMarcus Cousins had been a headache for the Sacramento Kings and has cost them valuable games. With the Kings so far removed from the playoffs, the measure for winning the remaining games this season is very hard to determine. With Cousins added problems on the court, the team has certainly entered into a realm of complete uncertainty.

The Maloofs have almost single-handedly taken any chance the team had from winning games and coming together as a team. The Maloofs have only had moments in their tenure with the Kings. The NBA’s head offices make things a little worse by simply allowing them to run the Kings franchise into the ground. The bottom line is very clean cut and easy to determine in this situation. The Maloofs leadership offers very little to its players or organization.

Geoff Petrie is hands down the best General Manager the Kings could get. Unless mayor Kevin Johnson would be willing to take on the GM position, the Kings have almost no better candidates.

Many have asked what exactly Mitch Richmond meant when he said he would want to be a part of the organization if they stayed in Sacramento. Richmond has potential to help the team, but would be hard pressed to offer the franchise any sort of longevity or a championship team.

Geoff Petrie’s current situation brings up far to familiar memories of the Kings failing to bring back Rick Adelman. When their is no one better who would consider taking the position, the Kings front office has to consider other possibilities. The idea of Mitch Richmond coming in as a team scout or coach adds a real upside to the Kings situation.

While it might create an interesting and new atmosphere for Petrie, Richmond certainly has a lot of valuable connections throughout the league, and could help convince players to come to Sacramento.

Petrie has shown he is still capable of finding good players and prospects without overspending. Both Toney Douglas, Cole Aldrich, and Patrick Patterson have shown they could be very capable of contributing on this team, while Thomas Robinson hasn’t found his stride or the playing time in Houston.

Its uncertain whether or not Petrie had his hand forced in the Kings most recent trade involving Robinson and Patterson. The Kings have, however, been able to utilize all three of their most recent acquisitions, allowing Petrie to continue to find ways to make this team compete.

The Kings would be hard pressed to compete with the top teams in any type of series and would have almost no chance against similar teams in the postseason. They simply revert to horrible habits when they are under pressure. While the Kings have pushed teams like the Heat and the Thunder to the brink of games, they have been unable to deal with San Antonio, Denver, Memphis, The Clippers, or the Bulls. The Kings inability to play consistent team basketball, passing the ball and working together on both sides of the floor to create opportunities for each other.

DeMarcus Couisns’ most recent incident with Mike Dunleavy, while not completely misunderstood, is certainly unacceptable and very detrimental to his team as well as himself. Cousins has show in his short NBA career that he has problems with containing himself during games, and has made very poor choices as the reslut of debatable calls.

Never in the NBA has a referee changed a foul call, and only recently with the addition of replay, has the NBA allowed officials to change calls. The Officials are the only people who determine the outcome of the game, and are similar to the rest of us, everyone makes mistakes or misses something.

The Kings organization could consider reaching out to former players who could potentially help both Cousins and the rest of the Kings underachieving team. Yet with the current and seemingly endless levels of uncertainty within the organization, things have simply seemed to trickle down and unravel before our eyes.

These last weeks will be very interesting in Sacramento. The Kings may be playing their last games in Sacramento, and fans are still unsure how they can support a team funded by a Maloof family that has seemingly given up.

With the Kings franchise and fan base still feeling the effects, the team — almost more than ever — needs it fans to come to games and support their team!