Sacramento Kings’ Future Is A Coin Flip

Kings Head Coach Keith Smart

During the 2008 offseason the Maloofs continued to trim down their overall players salaries by trading Ron Artest, Patrick Ewing Jr. and Sean Singletary to the Houston Rockets for Bobby Jackson, Rashard McCants, Donte Green and Calvin Booth. Unfortunately Jackson only played one more season and wasn’t the same player he was when the Kings made their title run in the earlier part of the decade. The rest of the players never panned out, and Theus was fired in the middle of the 2008-2009 season, and was replaced with Interim Head Coach Kenny Natt. The Kings finished the season with the NBA’s worst record, 17-65.

Paul Westphal replaced interim coach Kenny Natt, and the Kings selected Tyreke Evans and Omri Cassipi in the 2009 NBA Draft. Kenny Natt was a far better coach who had to try and re-structure a teams offense and defense in the beginning of the season; and was never given a chance to implement his system with a full training camp.

The Kings continued to struggle but had shown marked improvement after being the worst team in the League in the previous season. Tyreke Evans won the Rookie of the Year Award after averaging 20 points, five assists and 5 rebounds. (Only Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, and LeBron James have averaged 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in their rookie season) When the Kings drafted DeMarcus Cousins in the 2010 NBA Draft, people around the league started to become a little more interested in the future of this young team.

On February 27, 2012, the Kings fired Paul Westphal after reports of major disagreements with their young star Cousins surfaced. The Kings hired current head coach Keith Smart, and have been struggling to find their way since.