The Sacramento Kings were able to right the ship a little bit after a 1-7 start to this season, but this year still looks like another lost one for the Kings. Things between George Karl and the Kings haven't been great, as he has reportedly been on the hot seat and possibly coaching for his job already this season. Despite the fact that things have quieted down on the front of Karl being fired, he doesn't seem long for the head coaching position in Sacramento and it is being reported that the Kings plan to make Kentucky head coach John Calipari a huge offer, according to Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report.
Karl was first firmly placed on the hot seat this past summer when he reportedly tried to trade his star player DeMarcus Cousins which started out their rocky relationship. They have had plenty of issues since that they still believe can be worked out, but despite that, the reports say that it is still a matter of when, not if, Karl will be fired. Calipari's name came up because Kings owner Vivek Ranadive reportedly looked into him over the summer when they considered firing Karl, and they seem to be planning another run at him.
"Ranadivé's biggest dream is to have Kentucky coach John Calipari come out and coach this roster full of Kentucky players. The belief is that Ranadive will take another run after Calipari and plans to make an offer that Calipari simply cannot refuse," said Bucher.
The idea of Calipari leaving Kentucky right now is still a very hard one to fathom. Calipari has about as much job security as you can imagine at one of the best jobs in college basketball, while the Kings are anything but stable. Calipari also already makes as much money as the highest paid NBA coach and has all the power over his program, so if the Kings were to lure him they would have to increase the pay plus give him power over general manager Vlade Divac, which seems unlikely.
The Kings do have a couple of things going for them here, though. One is the fact that there have been reports that Calipari is desperate to return to the NBA after a failed stint with the New Jersey Nets in the late '90s, according to Steve Popper of NorthJersey.com. Another thing the Kings have going for them is the fact that they have two of Calipari's former players at Kentucky on their roster in Cousins and Willie Cauley-Stein.
Overall, it makes sense for Ranadive and the Kings to at least do everything they can to try and get Calipari because he is a big name who has had major success in recent years at the college level. Ranadive is the kind of guy that likes to make big splashes, and this would certainly be one if he could somehow pull it off. At this moment, regardless of how much Calipari wants another shot at the NBA, this seems extremely unlikely. He has one of the best jobs in basketball that pays well and offers great job security, so while it would be nice to see Cousins and Cal team up again, we wouldn't get our hopes up.
