Paul Westphal Fired By Kings; Keith Smart Takes Over As Head Coach

Fired Paul Westphal Just Tip Of The Iceberg For Kings

On Thursday, the Sacramento Kings fired Paul Westphal. While it was a necessary move, the canning shouldn't distract from the fact that the team's failings go much, much deeper than the coach.

Keith Smart, Sacramento Kings Agree On Two-Year Deal

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

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:

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.

Keith Smart Takes Over As Head Coach After Kings Fire Paul Westphal

The Sacramento Kings on Thursday fired Paul Westphal as head coach after a 2-5 start that had gotten ugly. On Sunday, Westphal sent DeMarcus Cousins home and released a statement accusing the second-year center of hurting the team; after a win that night, Sacramento went on the road for a pair and got obliterated in Memphis and Denver.

Keith Smart, Westphal's top assistant, takes over for the Kings' Thursday game against the Milwaukee Bucks. In a release announcing the dismissal of Westphal, the Kings did not bestow the title "interim head coach" on Smart, which could mean that the team is willing to kick the tires on other candidates before giving Smart the reins for the season.

Smart has one full season as a head coach in the NBA, having run the Golden State Warriors in 2010-11. The Warriors won 36 games that season, a 10-win improvement over Don Nelson's final season in 2009-10. Under Smart, the Warriors were a up-tempo team (No. 5 in pace) who had an above-average offense (No. 12) but porous defense (No. 26). He rode star Monta Ellis hard; Ellis averaged 40 minutes per game, and lead the league in minutes played.

The Warriors excused Smart to hire Mark Jackson. Golden State is 2-4 this season.

UPDATE: NBA.com reports that Smart will lead the Kings for the remainder of the season.

Paul Westphal Fired As Sacramento Kings Head Coach

The Kings have fired head coach Paul Westphal after he engaged in a dispute with young big man DeMarcus Cousins.