After firing Paul Westphal earlier Thursday and naming assistant coach Keith Smart the interim head coach, Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday night that the Sacramento Kings and Smart have agreed to a contract that would keep him in Sacramento, or wherever the Kings end up, until the end of the 2012-13 season as head coach. The Kings have confirmed the signing
Keith Smart, Sacramento Kings Agree On Two-Year Deal
SB Nation’s NBA Editor and founder of Kings blog Sactown Royalty Tom Ziller had a nice little rant on the signing. I’d rather not step on his toes, so here it is, in its entirety:
@teamziller
Tom Ziller I see the point, but ... uh ...
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@teamziller
Tom Ziller "Want to take it out for a test-drive?" "Nah, lemme sign that contract."
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@teamziller
Tom Ziller Pro: no lame duck situation. Con: broke team buying when it can lease.
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@teamziller
Tom Ziller Supercon: means the ownership isn't putting the GM under a microscope.
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@teamziller
Tom Ziller The team hires a replacement (Smart) w/o firing the coach (Westphal), loses a decent player in FA (Dalembert) because of the coach and ...
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@teamziller
Tom Ziller This team, man. I just don't know.
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@teamziller
Tom Ziller If you wanted to replace Westphal all along, why on Earth did you let him kill one of your two best assets so publicly? It makes no sense.
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Smart takes over a team that's 2-5 and embroiled in controversy surrounding Westphal and troubled center DeMarcus Cousins, who seems to have taken a step backwards this year both mentally and in his play. Whether he responds to the regime change or takes it as an organizational endorsement of his behavior may be the difference in the Kings' season.
For more on the Kings and their new coach, visit Sactown Royalty.
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