Why now?
This is probably the first question that pops into the minds of many people after hearing the news that the Kings have fired head coach Luke Wharton.
Admittedly, Walton was fired at this time, and the biggest reason was that the team's start was not good. Especially after losing games against the Spurs, Thunder and Timberwolves that should have been won, the Kings' record since the start of the season has slipped to 6 wins and 11 losses. The management couldn't stand it, so the decision was made to fire the coach.
But fans who know a little about the Kings, or who have seen their first two seasons of games and performances, may be disappointed by such a start, but it may not be a surprise. Moreover, in NBA circles, the management of each team often has an unwritten unspoken rule, that is, the decision to change the coach is made either in the offseason or at least 1/3 of the season. The former can give the new coach more time to adjust and adapt, and the latter can have a relatively objective and complete evaluation of the current manager. That's why the King's decision to fire Walton after 17 games in the opening season has left many people wondering.
Considering that the Kings have repeatedly had some confusing operations in recent seasons, and that they fired Divac who sought out Walton last August, the Management of the Kings has not trusted Walton and his coaching ability from the beginning, which also makes the occurrence of this change of coach logically. However, it is still that sentence, and it is really not a wise move to change the coach at this point in time.
If the Kings fired Wharton a few months ago, they'll have plenty of time to find a successor and then let the new coach lead the team to prepare for the new season. Making such a hasty decision in the middle of the season now seems to be a brave man breaking his wrist and stopping the loss in time, but what is reflected behind it is actually the confusion of the King's management as always, and the old problem of no long-term planning.
Without making a good advance plan, after the Kings fired Walton this time, they could only correct the team's chief assistant coach like most teams that changed coaches halfway, and let Elvin Gentry serve as the team's interim manager. Although the NBA also has a precedent of assistant coaches leading the team to play excellent performances after becoming the interim manager, such as the Eagles last season, after firing Pierce and appointing McMillan, the team's record skyrocketed, and the playoffs went all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. But the king didn't have the same background as the eagle, and it was hard to expect them to replicate the feats of the eagles a year ago.
For the current king, they are using a mistake to try to solve the previous mistake. Judging from the previous two seasons of coaching, Wharton, while not the fundamental reason why the Kings' record has not improved, has not kept the team moving in the right direction. So, for the Kings, Wharton was the wrong coaching candidate. But the Kings should have come a long time ago to correct the mistake, rather than waiting a month after the season began before acting at the wrong point in time.
A more rational way of acting may continue to let Walton coach, first, Wharton's salary this season will be paid by the King no matter what, and second, no matter who replaces Walton, it may not be able to reverse the King's situation this season. If so, why do you have to do a waste of money?
Again, as the old saying goes, it is not surprising that such a situation happened to the king. In the 2014-15 season, they had the move to fire Michael Malone after 24 games in the opening season. Since then, Tyrone Corbyn, George Carr, Dave Sorge have managed the Kings' whip, then Luke Wharton, and the improvised Ginterley, the Kings have changed coaches six times in the past eight years. It is not known how long Gentry's interim manager will be able to do so, and who will be his successor after how long.
In the two seasons he has coached the Kings, Walton has led the team to a total of 68 wins and 93 losses, not to mention the winning percentage of only 42.2%, but this is already the second highest winning percentage of the 18 head coaches who have brought the Kings after moving to Sacramento. The only Kings manager with a higher winning percentage than Wharton was Adelman, who led the team from 1998 to 2006, playing 624 games and scoring a 63.3% win rate.
It is in this context that the king still made the decision to fire the coach, so it is not difficult to see that behind such a decision, there are still some emotional factors mixed in. This emotion has the frustration of not making the playoffs for 15 consecutive years, and the panic of facing a 6-11 result after the opening season. But the accumulation of this emotion was not completely accomplished by Walton alone.
Look at what the team management did over the summer, they built a lineup with just 2 real strikers but 6 centers. He also traded Dillon White back for Tristan Thompson, who was paid more but wasn't really needed by the team. With the team still having plenty of room to go before the luxury tax threshold, the failure to sign the available wings with a middle-class exception exacerbated further deformities in the squad.
Since Ranadif bought the Kings in 2013, the team has repeatedly resorted to various tricks under the personal command of the new owner. In the various "bad NBA boss" selections, Ranadif is always on the list. When he hired Divac, Ranadiv showed Kings fans the possibility of giving up power and letting professional people do professional things. But with Divac and Wharton fired, the sky above the king still seems to be overcast.
The good news for the Kings that they could console themselves with was that Gentry was not only an experienced coach, but had also had many experiences fighting fires. This is the fourth time That's when Gentry has become acting manager. Moreover, Gentry has always been a manager who is loved and loved by players, and the Kings can expect him to give the team enough cohesion in a short period of time to win some games that should be won.
However, Gentry is also a manager with obvious shortcomings. Although he is very good at coaching offense, grasping defense has never been his strong point. The Kings are a flawed and defensively flawed team that has averaged 111.1 points per game this season, ranking fifth from the bottom in the league. So, if the Kings want to completely rest the problems that the team has accumulated over the years and get the team on the right track, Gentry is not a suitable candidate.
Judging from the current situation in the West, the Kings are still stronger than the Spurs, Thunder, Rockets and Pelicans, who have not yet returned from Zion, so for the Kings, they have a chance to compete with the Timberwolves for the 10th place in the West, and if they can play a good performance after the change of coach, then they still have a chance to fight for a play-off place.
But it is still the cliché that the king's current problems are not accumulated in a short period of time, and naturally cannot be solved in a short time. Looking back now, their choice of Walton in 2019 has been proven wrong, and now firing Walton is just a long delay.