FanHouse GeoffPetrie

Before naming Paul Westphal the new coach of the Kings, Sacramento GM Geoff Petrie asked all three candidates (including Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis) if the team's set salary structure (two years at $1.5 million, a third year team option at $2 million) would work for them. If not, you know, see ya.

According to the team, Rambis -- mired in the Finals -- refused to answer if the salary structure would work. On Tuesday, Petrie pushed forth with the question. Rambis' agent Warren LeGarie said his client couldn't be bothered to think about it right now ... so Petrie hired Westphal. Now accusations that LeGarie had been ripping Westphal behind the scenes have come out, while Rambis claims he actually turned down the job.

It's a lot of drama for a job almost no one outside of Sacramento cares about.

Pardon the leap of logic present in that headline, but there's little room to see the latest round of Rick Pitino rumors any other way if you've paid attention to the situation. To catch up, earlier this week, Sacramento Bee Kings beat writer Sam Amick mentioned Pitino's name in a story on rumored candidates for the coaching vacancy in Sacramento. Thursday night, Yahoo! yeoman Adrian Wojnarowski followed up with a full story, placing the interest squarely on Pitino's side.

Kings owner Gavin Maloof has denied talking to Pitino, and mentions only that Pitino is a "great coach." Ultimately, there's an overwhelming sense that these Pitino-to-the-NBA rumors are being pushed by The Rick -- not the Kings. That Louisville is now jumping out to publicly declare Pitino will stay is all the more suspicious.

For 24 hours, the NBA had no head coaching vacancies. That's a stunner for the week after season's end; usually there's a bloodbath immediately following the final regular season game. But Flip Saunders quickly replaced Ed Tapscott, Oklahoma City hurried to lock in Scott Brooks, and the other potential openings remained tentatively filled ...

... until the Kings declined the 2009-10 option on interim coach Kenny Natt's contract Thursday. The move had been expected with some certainty. But in comments related to the new opening, Geoff Petrie has raised some eyebrows about what kind of coach the team will seek.

The Kings sacked Reggie Theus this morning, landing somewhere between surprise and "duh" on the Richter scale. For most people who know, Sacramento's performance and the general ferver surrounding the coaching guillotine sent Theus toward the gallows of expected dismissal. But closer to the scene, Geoff Petrie's history left many of us sure Theus would survive until April.

Petrie has only fired a head coach once in his near 20 seasons as a basketball executive. In four years in Portland, Petrie stayed with Rick Adelman; Petrie left when Adelman did. Upon arriving in Sacramento in 1995, Petrie kept atrocious incumbent coach Garry St. Jean for nearly two full years. However, in March of 1996 with 15 games remaining, Petrie canned St. Jean. Since then, the Kings have gone through four coaches; only Theus saw his end come during a campaign.

Your standard "who's next?" list of endangered NBA head coaches now includes Sacramento's Reggie Theus and Memphis' Marc Iavaroni. Actually, both men have been on the hot seat most of the season -- Iavaroni was reportedly under fire last April, and Theus almost lost his job in early November before getting a win over (irony) Memphis.

Both seemingly solidified their jobs this week. The Grizzlies have won three straight. The Kings almost swept a pair against the Lakers. But all beautiful things die sometime. For Theus, the premature death came Saturday night, as the Knicks waltzed into ARCO Arena and simply destroyed the Kings. Sacramento trailed by 30 in the first half, and it hardly got prettier.

I mentioned Saturday that the Lakers win on Tuesday likely saved Reggie's job this year, barring a basketball apocalypse. Losing to the Knicks by 24 at home, showing little to no defensive effort from the starters and a languid, boring offense -- that's basically basketball apocalypse. Earlier today, I discussed a wrinkle in Theus' job security: Eddie Jordan, believed to be a top preference of Kings GM Geoff Petrie, is getting interest from Philadelphia. Petrie isn't one to rush into action, but after losing Stan Van Gundy two years ago I wouldn't be surprised if he went rash all of a sudden.

The logistics of a Theus sacking remain difficult, as it appears the team won't make a move today. The Kings play Minnesota at home Monday before leaving for a road trip which will take us to Christmas. The team has a spell of four games in five nights between the holidays. On paper, Theus survives another few weeks. But I find it hard to believe Petrie (who has the call on the coach's tenure; the Maloofs have OKed it, apparently) can stand to watch basketball like this much longer.

Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports that while the 76ers indicated Tony DiLeo would be running the show for the remainder of the year following the firing of Mo Cheeks as coach, there's a possibility the team could bring in Eddie Jordan to take over soon.

Jordan has history with Philadelphia GM Ed Stefanski: Jordan was a top assistant in New Jersey under Byron Scott and Lawrence Frank before taking the helm of the Wiz while Stefanski worked under N.J. GM Rod Thorn.

Jordan, the first coach canned this season, is an offensive-minded fellow. Philadelphia's major problem is ... offense. I think we all see where this is headed. But will the Sixers make the move during the season, and is Jordan ready to get back under the burning, abusive magnifying glass? Here's Ivan Carter of the Washington Post:

Longtime Kings GM Geoff Petrie has added a potential successor to Sacramento's front office: Jason Levien. That slice might only be interesting to the most devoted NBA heads or Kings fans. But here's the key: Levien is a player agent.

More specifically, he's Kevin Martin's player agent. Levien actually has a long history with Petrie. The Sacramento Bee reports that when the Kings drafted Hedo Turkoglu in 2000, Levien accompanied Petrie to Istanbul to negotiate Hedo's release from European club and Turkish national team obligations. Levien clients Orien Greene and Loren Woods have also had short stints in Sacramento.

Levien will soon join the Kings as an assistant GM alongside Wayne Cooper, who has been with Sacramento for 15 years, the last 12 of which have been served as Petrie's deputy. The writing on the wall is legible: Levien was brought in by Petrie and the Maloofs to add some expertise now and later have at least a shot at the team's top job when Petrie retires or moves on.

Apparently Reggie Theus will be getting a chance to reprise his role as a television coach, though sadly it'll be less "teen comedy" and more "reality TV." The Maloof family has partnered with producer Mark Burnett of Survivor and The Apprentice fame to develop a reality show called Rebuilding the Kingdom, which, as the title suggests, will follow the team from their current state (hopefully) back to prominence.

Apparently the show will focus more on the front office and the business side of the team than the coaches and players, which makes me wonder if this is simply an orchestrated attempt by the Maloofs to get more camera time. Besides, the players are the only people that fans care about -- I'd rather see behind-the-scenes footage of Kevin Martin rolling his eyes at Theus in practice than watch Geoff Petrie having lunch at his desk while sitting through a conference call on arena negotiations.

But maybe that's just me.

There's been chatter about a potential Ron Artest trade to the Lakers for roughly 18 months now; L.A.'s ejection from the Finals thanks in part to Lamar Odom's uneven performance has intensified the talk among fans and reporters. Earlier this week, Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee reported the Lakers called Kings president Geoff Petrie about Artest during the NBA's moratorium. (Petrie wanted to wait until Beno Udrih had officially signed his contract before discussing trades. Also, he wanted to see Stevie Wonder in concert.)

Yesterday on an ESPN Radio show in Los Angeles, Kings co-owner Joe Maloof confirmed the Lakers have called about Artest, and he certainly didn't shy away from speculation Odom was the player on the table according to this fan's transcript. While the Maloofs will (apparently) leave the details to Petrie, you sense there's interest from Sacramento in making something work here. Obviously, the Lakers are interested ... though the $6-8 million player they'd have to take back with Artest is a likely sticking point.

The Lakers would prefer Mikki Moore, an athletic, spirited big man who shoots infrequently but efficiently and is guaranteed only $2 million in 2009-10, if you cut him before opening day. The Kings would much rather give up Kenny Thomas, a dead-weight growler who used to be effective, but now just takes up cap space. Thomas is owed something like $8.5 million in 2009-10, and L.A.'s over the luxury tax limit (unless they don't extend Kobe next summer, hahahaLOLOL).

Judging by Petrie's refusal to give up Artest for little-to-nothing at the deadline, he won't relent if Moore's not the player he wants to lose. It all comes down to how desperate the Lakers are, and how much they believe Artest can help them next spring. (One plugged-in fan doesn't think it is an upgrade.) Based on L.A.'s early overtures, it seems the team isn't waiting to see how things work out with a healthy Andrew Bynum before making a move.

When Portland acquired the #27 pick, we knew something was about to get cracking. Kevin Pritchard isn't waiting until the last minute either, apparently lobbying New Jersey for its #10 pick so it can snatch away Texas point guard D.J. Augustin. Via The Oregonian, Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski places in the current talks Portland's #13 and #33 picks and Jarrett Jack, in exchange for New Jersey's #10 and Trenton Hassell. (Portland's recently acquired #27 pick, then, isn't in play. It does allow the Blazers to take a favored foreign player -- like Nicolas Batum? -- in that late spot, though.)

Wojnarowski focuses on what this means for Indiana, who had been thought to have settled on Augustin with #11. But with the T.J. Ford acquisition, how interested in Augustin -- another diminutive fellow, a possible defensive liability -- would the Pacers even be, especially considered the instant dearth of size the parting of Jermaine O'Neal leaves? But Sacramento at #12 -- one spot ahead of Portland currently -- would not have let Augustin remain on the board, especially given renewed concerns about the hardball tactics possible with free agent Beno Udrih.

Also of note: Wojnarowski cites a "Western Conference executive" who warns of Charlotte choosing Augustin at #9. Pardon me for reading too deeply into the bones, but ... might this source be Sacramento's Geoff Petrie, trying to fright Pritchard into backing up the #10 pick by suggesting it'd be a waste for Portland? If so or if not, the gamesmanship is most certainly on.