Vivek Ranadive Rumors | Hoops Rumors

George Karl Speaks Out On Kings’ Situation

May 1st, 2016 at 10:48am CST by Arthur Hill

Brian Spurlock / USA TODAY Sports Images

Former Sacramento coach George Karl discusses his firing, his relationship with DeMarcus Cousins and the turmoil inside the Kings organization in a wide-ranging interview with Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. It represents Karl’s most extensive comments since the team dismissed him April 14th.

Karl says executive/GM Vlade Divac has a huge task ahead in trying to rebuild a team that hoped to be a playoff contender this season, but sputtered to a 33-49 record and finished tied for 10th in the West. Divac’s most pressing offseason decision will be whether to keep or trade Cousins. “The roster needs to be tinkered with,” Karl said. “[Divac] is going to be in for an NBA free agency unlike anything we have ever seen. If the decision is made to keep Cuz, you have to put the right players around him. But it can’t be about Cousins. You have to make basketball decisions.” Karl believes the Kings have too many guards and that Rudy Gay, Ben McLemore and Marco Belinelli are too similar to function on the same roster.
Karl said his relationship with Cousins was doomed from the beginning because Cousins’ agents, Dan Fegan and Jarinn Tasi Akana, lobbied hard to prevent Karl’s hiring. Former Sacrmento GM Pete D’Alessandro signed off on the move, but he was demoted weeks later and replaced by Divac. D’Alessandro left for a job with the Nuggets just before the draft, taking valuable information on the Kings’ strategy with him and leaving Divac with an inexperienced staff. Meanwhile, Karl was failing to set down new borders with Cousins and didn’t respond forcefully to early incidents of disrespect. “I never felt I got into a good place with Cuz,” Karl said, “and some of that was my stupidity when I said that no player is untradeable. I still believe that. But I should have been smart enough not to say it, and I in no way, at any time, thought DeMarcus was going to get traded.”
The situation escalated when Divac orchestrated a public handshake between Cousins and Karl on NBATV at last year’s Las Vegas Summer League. Cousins reluctantly shook Karl’s hand, then embarrassed his coach by quickly turning away. “Vlade thought he was helping me,” Karl said, “but that looked really bad.”
Their relationship became more poisoned when Cousins unleashed a profanity-filled tirade at Karl following a November 8th loss. Karl wanted to impose a two-game suspension, but Divac opted for an undisclosed fine. “When they supported Cousins instead of me, I felt, ‘OK, I’m in the compromise position. Cuz has the power,’’’ Karl said. “They sent that message many times, too many times sent it to the players. And the players wanted someone to stand up to Cuz, and they wanted it to be their coach. But at that point, I realized that you either compromise or you blow it up, and my job was to make us a better basketball team and get to the end of the year.”
Karl believes Sacramento’s front office expected too much too soon after an aggressive summer of trying to rebuild the team. He hopes a better atmosphere greets whomever the Kings select as their next head coach. “Whether or not they trade Cuz,” Karl said, “they have to empower their coach. They have to let him coach. It takes a few years to build a program. It becomes a culture, an energy force. [Owner] Vivek [Ranadive] wanted magic to happen, but in the NBA magic happens once in a while, and usually is associated with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan.”

Pacific Notes: Lieberman, Ayres, Clarkson, Booker

March 17th, 2016 at 9:23pm CST by Dana Gauruder

George Karl has unofficially exiled Kings assistant coach Nancy Lieberman because Karl views her as a confidante to owner Vivek Ranadive, according to Sam Amick of USA Today. That’s created an extra plot twist with the Karl-DeMarcus Cousins saga because Ranadive has been loyal to Cousins and the mercurial center can’t help but notice the in-fighting among the staff, Amick adds. The Kings deny that Lieberman has Ranadive’s ear or that Karl has pushed her to the background, sources indicated to NBCSports.com’s Dan Feldman, though Feldman notes that Amick is well connected and has reported out of Sacramento for many years.

In other news around the Pacific Division:

Power forward Jeff Ayres is relieved he can settle into one place now that the Clippers have signed him for the remainder of the season, Rowan Kavner of Clippers.com reports. The power forward, who played under two 10-day contracts with the Clippers earlier this season, played two games for the D-League’s Los Angeles D-Fenders after being traded from Boise before the Clippers came calling again. “I was telling somebody this morning, I’ve been living out of my suitcase – like really living out of a suitcase,” Ayres told Kavner.
Lakers coach Byron Scott isn’t concerned about Jordan Clarkson‘s shooting slump, Bill Oram of the Orange County Register writes. The second-year shooting guard has averaged 9.7 points, shot 29.5% from the field and made just two of 17 3-point attempts over the past three games. “I don’t put a whole lot of stock into it,” Scott told Oram and other members of the media. “You’re going to have stretches of this season, which is a long season, where you’re going to have some bad games.”
Rookie shooting guard Devin Booker is being groomed as the Suns‘ go-to player at the end of games, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Interim head coach Earl Watson is putting the ball in his hands during those situations to see how he responds, as Watson relayed to Coro. “Devin has to learn how to finish games at the elbow like Kobe Bryant,” Watson said. “He knows that. We talked about that. That’s the progression of him finishing games.”

Latest On Kings, George Karl

February 8th, 2016 at 11:55am CST by Chuck Myron

Assistant coach Corliss Williamson is more likely to be the head coach of the Kings by season’s end than George Karl is, barring a surprise, according to Chris Mannix of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. The front office has lost nearly all confidence in Karl and players have tuned him out, Mannix hears from league sources, echoing Vertical colleague Adrian Wojnarowski’s report from Saturday that once more cast Karl’s job security into public question. Many of the Kings players have heard through their agents that the team is actively shopping them, Mannix also writes.

It’s the latest round of upheaval in Sacramento, where team’s minority-share owners have looked into ways to seize control from owner Vivek Ranadive, sources told Mannix. They nonetheless have little means to stage a coup, Mannix adds. The turmoil surrounding the Kings has made the head-coaching job unattractive to potential candidates, the Vertical scribe writes, suggesting that well-regarded assistants Kenny Atkinson of the Hawks and Jay Larranaga of the Celtics aren’t particularly anxious to take the job if it indeed comes open.

Kings players are upset with Karl about ineffciency in practices and shootarounds, and about in-game moves that haven’t worked out, as Mannix details. Kings GM Vlade Divac said in November, amid the last round of rumors surrounding Karl’s job security, that Karl would remain coach through season’s end. Former Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro said the same about interim coach Tyrone Corbin last season, but the team replaced Corbin with Karl over the 2015 All-Star break. That’s when the Kings gave Karl a contract that reportedly pays him $3.25MM this season and $5MM next season. He has a $5MM salary for 2017/18 that’s partially guaranteed for $1.5MM, as Wojnarowski also reported at the time.

The Kings have lost seven out of eight games and gave up 46 points in the first quarter Sunday in a loss to the Celtics. Sacramento is four and a half games behind the eighth-place Jazz in the Western Conference.

What’s the solution for the Kings? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Pacific Notes: Kobe, Lieberman, Walton, Green

November 25th, 2015 at 9:29am CST by Chuck Myron

The Warriors keep on rolling, but the same can’t be said for Kobe Bryant, whose game has fallen off sharply in what figures to be his final season. Bryant matched the worst shooting performance of his career, going 1 for 14 Tuesday as the Lakers fell to the Warriors, 111-77, sending Golden State to the first 16-0 mark in NBA history. Bryant is shooting just 31.1% this season, a career low, but he leads the Lakers in field goal attempts per game.

“I’m not really worried about it, honestly,” Bryant said, according to Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). “My shooting will be better. I could’ve scored 80 tonight. It wouldn’t have made a [expletive] difference. We just have bigger problems. I could be out there averaging 35 points a game. We’d be what, 3-11? We’ve got to figure out how to play systematically in a position that’s going to keep us in ballgames.”

The Lakers are 2-12, but coach Byron Scott said he still has “so much confidence” in Bryant, his former teammate, who remains the NBA’s highest-paid player at $25MM this season, as Bill Oram of the Orange County Register relays. See more from the Pacific Division:

An agent with ties to the Kings predicts chaos if the team were to make Nancy Lieberman the interim coach in the event of a George Karl firing, reports Chris Mannix of SI.com, who writes in his Open Floor column. Mannix finds it difficult to envision Lieberman getting the nod, despite a report that owner Vivek Ranadive would favor such a move if he dismisses Karl.
Warriors interim coach Luke Walton reached out to Phil Jackson before the 2014/15 season to ask whether he should reach out to Steve Kerr, and Jackson, who’d wanted to hire Kerr for the Knicks, told Walton to do so, notes Marcia C. Smith of the Orange County Register. Kerr wound up hiring Walton as an assistant coach, setting in motion the events that would put Walton in charge of the team’s historic run.
Draymond Green is one of the six or seven most valuable players in the NBA, as Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group observed Tuesday before Golden State’s game. Green re-signed with the Warriors for $82MM over five years this summer, more than $14MM less than his five-year max.

Vlade Divac Denies Asking Players If Karl Should Go

November 12th, 2015 at 6:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

6:45pm: Divac said the idea he asked the players if they wanted Karl fired is a misconception, notes Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee.

“You guys make my job hard,” Divac said to reporters. “There is partial truth to a lot of what has been reported, but much of it was off. First of all, I never asked the players if I should fire Coach or said I was thinking of doing that. I walked into the locker room after [Monday’s] game and said, ‘OK, you guys don’t want to play with Coach? What’s the problem?’ I wanted to catch them by surprise a little bit and get them to talk openly about what was going on. Then the coaches came in, and we talked some more. I think it was very positive for everyone.”

THURSDAY, 10:15am: A league source who spoke with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com disputes the idea that Divac asked Kings players if the team should get rid of Karl, though he doesn’t mention Bratz’s involvement. We have more on the Kings drama right here.

6:43pm: Divac answered affirmatively when Marc J. Spears asked him if Karl’s job is safe (Twitter link).

“Yeah,” Divac said. “Yeah. Nothing has changed, really. 1-7, we all know we’re better.”

The blame for Cousins’ tirade doesn’t rest on Karl’s shoulders, Divac also told Spears, who earlier passed on a statement from Cousins apologizing for his outburst (All four Twitter links). Divac wouldn’t say whether the team is disciplining Cousins in any way for the tirade, Spears notes (Twitter link).

“Most important thing we had after the meeting was we were on the same page, bottom line, on how to improve. That’s positive stuff,” Divac said.

5:36pm: Karl wanted to suspend Cousins for two games after the center’s Monday night verbal tirade, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays. According to Jones, Divac told the coach that he did not have authority to suspend Cousins, and Divac refused to grant Karl permission to impose the suspension.

3:15pm: Karl is indeed in jeopardy of losing his job as soon as this week, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports. Meanwhile, owners who have minority shares in the Kings are more frustrated than ever with Ranadive in large measure because he isn’t consulting with them on decisions, Amick hears from a source.

WEDNESDAY, 2:46pm: Kings vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac and assistant GM Mike Bratz asked players during Tuesday’s team meeting whether they thought he should fire coach George Karl, reports Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead. The players weren’t sure how to respond, McIntyre adds, though Caron Butler said after the meeting that the players are behind the coach. DeMarcus Cousins verbally lit into Karl after Monday’s loss to the Spurs, though he later felt a level of regret about having done so, McIntyre also hears. Divac is under pressure as Vivek Ranadive’s interest in hiring John Calipari to both coach the team and run the front office has ramped up in recent months, according to McIntyre.

Cousins asked a couple of teammates if he had been too hard on Karl, who simply walked away at the end of the center’s rant, and they advised him not to “scream and curse” at his coach the way he had, as McIntyre details. Karl and Cousins have had an up-and-down relationship, at best, since Karl took over the team in February, with the two saying over the summer that they had patched up their differences following reports indicating that Karl wanted the team to trade Cousins and had sought to do so. Kings officials are reportedly concerned with Karl’s low energy amid a 1-7 start.

Ben McLemore expressed confusion during Tuesday’s team meeting about his role, though teammates told him it was to hit 3-pointers and defend, and that those are the responsibilities of everyone aside from Cousins and Rajon Rondo, as McIntyre details.

The Kings denied a report over the summer indicating that they had reached out to Calipari at that point, and Calipari has continually maintained that he isn’t interested in returning to the NBA, despite persistent rumors to the contrary. The team’s decisions to draft Willie Cauley-Stein, whom Calipari coached at Kentucky, and sign Rondo, who played at Kentucky before Calipari became coach there, were mostly because of Ranadive’s friendship with Calipari, McIntyre writes.

How do you see the Kings saga playing out? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Latest On Kings, George Karl, DeMarcus Cousins

November 12th, 2015 at 10:55am CST by Chuck Myron

10:55am: Cousins and Divac have become close, notes SB Nation’s Tom Ziller amid his column on the Kings saga.

10:15am: George Karl will remain the coach of the Kings through this season, vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac said in response to a question from Lisa Gonzales of KCRA-TV in Sacramento, in spite of reports from Wednesday indicating that his job is in immediate danger (Twitter link). A league source who spoke with Ken Berger of CBSSports.com disputes the idea that Divac asked Kings players if the team should fire Karl, as was reportedly the case.

Still, it’s much more likely that the Kings will fire Karl than trade Cousins, sources close to Kings ownership tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The possibility exists that the Kings will part ways with both Karl and DeMarcus Cousins, Berger also hears. Karl’s contract has about $10MM left on it, and it’s fully guaranteed through 2016/17 with a $1.5MM partial guarantee for 2017/18. Cousins has a fully guaranteed total of nearly $51MM left on his deal, which runs through 2017/18.

Cousins has made it clear to Kings brass that he doesn’t want the team to fire Karl, sources tell Chris Mannix of SI.com. However, the Karl-Cousins partnership was “doomed from the start,” a league source told Berger, and a person familiar with the team said to Berger that Karl has irritated the front office and players alike. Karl wanted to suspend Cousins last season for negative body language during timeouts, two sources told Mannix. Still, sources on both sides of the relationship between Karl and Cousins who spoke with Mannix believe that the relationship can be saved. Cousins had expectations of winning this season, and it was his frustration with losing that was the primary impetus for Cousins’ verbal excoriation of Karl after Monday’s loss, but Cousins believes that another coaching change won’t help the team in the standings, as Mannix details.

Several Kings players, including Ben McLemore and Rudy Gay, have expressed frustration about Karl, but the team’s meeting on Tuesday wasn’t out of the ordinary, sources tell Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Cousins, who publicly apologized for reportedly yelling profanities at Karl after Monday’s loss, cited an air of positivity after the meeting, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Divac tried to calm Cousins during his tirade but said later that he’s OK with the star center’s outburst and that he doesn’t think Cousins was only pointing his criticism at Karl, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports details. Coaches and team officials met with the players after the players held a meeting of their own Tuesday, Spears also notes.

“I’m not sure a panic button was pushed as you all magnified it,” Karl said, as the ESPN report relays. “Team meetings and six-game losing streaks happen. The newness to our team? I don’t know. But I thought the last two days have been good for us.”

Karl admits he delegates more of his duties than before he endured a recurrence of cancer during his time with the Nuggets, but he disputes the idea that his energy is diminished, as Jones relays via Facebook. Kings management has reportedly been concerned with Karl’s stamina. Owner Vivek Ranadive is reportedly more interested than ever in Kentucky coach John Calipari, who remains intrigued with the idea of returning to the NBA, despite his denials, Mannix adds. “Rumblings” indicate that Kings minority owners, reportedly frustrated with Ranadive’s failure to consult with them on moves, “desperately” want to wrest control of the team from Ranadive, though they have little power to make that happen, Mannix writes.

How long do you think Karl will remain coach of the Kings? Leave a comment to tell us.

Kings Have Considered Firing George Karl?

June 26th, 2015 at 1:23am CST by Zachary Links

FRIDAY, 1:23am: Vice president of basketball and franchise operations Vlade Divac said the issues are between himself and Karl, not Ranadive and Karl, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays (Twitter links). Divac didn’t elaborate, but Jones hears that he didn’t like Karl going behind his back to negotiate possible trades. Divac nonetheless added that he has no shortage of respect for Karl and wants to believe that Karl and Cousins can work with each other, Jones also tweets.

“I respect my coach and I think he’s great but he has to trust me to do my job. That’s all,” Divac said, according to Jones (Twitter link).

5:17pm: Credible sources inside the Kings issued strong denials that the team has made Karl’s job status a matter of discussion, tweets Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee.

4:56pm: Karl is no longer in the loop on draft discussions, Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times tweets.

THURSDAY, 4:01pm: Kings owner Vivek Ranadive has considered firing George Karl, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. Ranadive is upset with Karl’s desire to trade center DeMarcus Cousins, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

No potential replacement for Karl has been mentioned or considered yet, according to Broussard. Meanwhile, firing Karl will not be a panacea for the tensions between Cousins and the franchise.

“If you fire Karl, now you can’t control Cousins because he’ll know he’s running the place,” the source told Broussard. “Now he’ll feel like he’s telling you what to do.”

No firing is imminent, which perhaps explains Broussard’s usage of the past tense in saying Ranadive has “considered” the move, but the owner has broached the subject with team execs over the last few days, per the source. When Ranadive was considering hiring Karl in February, some members of the organization told him it was a bad idea. Recently, the owner told at least one of those people that he was right.

The Kings hired Karl In February, giving him a four-year deal worth $14.5MM. Karl is guaranteed $11MM in total.

Draft Rumors: Lakers, Okafor, Russell

June 25th, 2015 at 3:24pm CST by Zachary Links

The Lakers are leaning towards taking Jahlil Okafor with the No. 2 overall pick, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). However, Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter) hears that the Lakers are undecided with both Okafor and D’Angelo Russell in play. Of course, the only word that counts will come from commissioner Adam Silver later tonight. Here’s the latest draft news..

Frank Kaminsky is moving up draft boards in the final hours, league sources tell David Aldridge of NBA.com (on Twitter). He could very well go higher than No. 9, which is where the Hornets would like him.
Kings owner Vivek Ranadive was known to be very high on Willie Cauley-Stein but Sam Amick of USA Today Sports (on Twitter) isn’t hearing much of that today.
Several league sources tell Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter) that they expect Cauley-Stein to slip. The big man didn’t shine in workouts or interviews and his ankle is a concern.
The Jazz are targeting Stanley Johnson and Justise Winslow at No. 12 and they’re willing to trade up if they feel it’s necessary, according to Spencer Checketts of 1280 The Zone (via Twitter links). If those trade-up scenarios don’t pan out, Utah could instead move down. If they do move down, Checketts lists the Celtics (No. 16), Bucks (17) and, Rockets (No. 18) as possible partners.
Marcin Gortat during a press conference in Poland said the Pistons asked him about prospect Mateusz Ponitka, according to Sportando (on Twitter). Ponitka worked out for Detroit earlier this week. The shooting guard looks to be a second round (or, undrafted) prospect.
The Bucks like UNLV forward Christian Wood, but feel that he’ll be chosen later in the first round, Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times tweets. Milwaukee owns the No. 17 pick in the first round and the No 46 pick in the second.
David Pick of Eurobasket.net (on Twitter) hears that projected second-round pick Shawn Dawson hopes to slide under the radar and go undrafted. Dawson is currently ranked as the No. 66 prospect in the draft by DraftExpress.

Western Notes: Chandler, Kings, Milutinov

May 11th, 2015 at 7:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Mavericks need to retain Tyson Chandler if they fall short in their pursuit of DeAndre Jordan this summer, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com opines. Both become unrestricted free agents this summer and Jordan is the more attractive option because he’s younger, a better defender at this stage of his career and has led the NBA in field-goal percentage the last three seasons, MacMahon continues. Jordan would be a foundation piece for Dallas but the Clippers’ success in the playoffs makes it more unlikely he’d leave the organization, MacMahon adds. Losing Chandler without upgrading the center spot would be a disastrous situation for the Mavs since it would also hamper their chances of signing a top-level power forward like LaMarcus Aldridge, MacMahon concludes.

In other news around the Western Conference:

Kings owner Vivek Ranadive admits he made a mistake in hiring ex-coach Michael Malone before selecting a GM and assembling his front office, Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee reports. Malone was fired in mid-December and replaced by interim coach Ty Corbin before Ranadive hired George Karl in February. “People told me not to do that. But I knew Malone from when he was an assistant with the Warriors, and again, with the draft only weeks away, I had to make very quick decisions,” Ranadive told Voisin about the Malone hire in June 2013. “I didn’t know any GMs.”
The Timberwolves would probably not pursue David Blatt as their head coach if he’s fired by the Cavaliers, Darren Wolfson of KSTP.com tweets. Minnesota president of basketball operations and head coach Flip Saunders was interested in Blatt as an assistant and coach-in-waiting last offseason but wasn’t considering him for the head coaching job, Wolfson adds.
The Timberwolves could consider 6’11” Serbian center Nikola Milutinov as a stash prospect with either of their second-round picks, Wolfson reports in a separate tweet. Minnesota owns the No. 31 and No. 36 overall picks and the team’s European scout, Zarko Durisic, is a fan of Milutinov, Wolfson adds. Milutinov is ranked No. 44 on Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider Big Board and No. 35 on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress prospect list.

Pacific Rumors: Robinson, Kings, Bhullar

March 30th, 2015 at 6:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nate Robinson‘s sore left knee is improving and he could return to the Clippers since coach Doc Rivers was pleased with what he saw from him, according to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Robinson was not signed for the remainder of the season after his two 10-day contracts expired because of the injury but he’s expected to be cleared to play by week’s end, Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports tweets. Rivers indicated to Bolch that Robinson’s return was a strong possibility when he’s ready to play. “I liked what Nate brought us,” Rivers said “I liked his energy.” However, Robinson’s return could be delayed until Lester Hudson‘s 10-day contract expires. Hudson was signed on Sunday to take the roster spot vacated by Robinson, whose last 10-day contract expired on Thursday. The 30-year-old Hudson was the Chinese Basketball Association MVP the last two years before joining the Clippers.

In other news around the Pacific Division:

Kings owner Vivek Ranadive wants to put an end to the discord in the team’s front office, league sources tell Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Jones writes about Chris Mullin, the Kings adviser who is reportedly expected to accept an offer to instead become the coach at St. John’s University and who, according to fellow Bee scribe Ailene Voisin, opposed the hirings of coach George Karl and new Kings exec Vlade Divac.
The Kings are also hopeful Sim Bhullar will eventually make their NBA roster as his conditioning improves, Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee reports. Bhullar, a 7-foot-5, center, has been playing for the Kings’ D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, after getting waived by Sacramento during training camp. Bhullar came to camp at nearly 400 pounds and has since shed approximately 45 pounds, according to Voisin. Ranadive is intrigued by Bhullar’s skill set but feels Bhullar still needs to drop another 40-50 pounds, Voisin adds. “He needs to get in much better shape,” Ranadive told Voisin. “That will help him get up and down the floor, and he’s been working on that.”