It wasn't quite the chickens coming home to roost, but it was close.
On Tuesday night at the Roseville Sports Center, the constructed stage inside a basketball gym filled with Kings season-ticket holders was shared by team co-owner Gavin Maloof, basketball president Geoff Petrie and team president John Thomas.
In what was dubbed "a town-hall barbecue," they were all there to discuss the painful season that had finally passed, as well as the future. After the franchise's worst season in its 50-year history, there was no shortage of questions that made the powers-that-be squirm in their seats. And when the topic of the looming-but-unofficial end of the Kenny Natt era as coach was brought up, Maloof shrugged and yielded to Petrie.
"We have a coach right now," Petrie said. "That situation is still being evaluated. There obviously needs to be resolution, and there will be."
Petrie was just as vague with the media afterward as he had been during the event.
"It's still under evaluation," he reiterated. "And when we have something to say about it, we'll say it."
But according to sources close to the team, Natt is expected to be informed by the end of this week that he won't return as head coach. Petrie said he is scheduled to leave Friday for Europe, where Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio is on his list of must-see prospects.
Yet just as Petrie has taken his time addressing Natt's situation – mainly because he became a grandfather for the second time and was in Portland, Ore., with his daughter over the weekend and through Tuesday – it appears the search will be equally deliberate.
Whereas the Washington Wizards have reportedly offered their head-coaching position to Flip Saunders, the Kings will likely take their time mulling over a much-longer list of candidates in the coming months that is thought to include Eddie Jordan, Mike Fratello, Jeff Ruland and John Whisenant.
While Jordan is believed to be one of the many, the former Wizards coach made it clear on a Washington Post Live television show Tuesday that he is ready to coach again. And when asked about the Kings' position, Jordan did little to dispute the idea that he wants to return to the place where he coached late in the 1996-97 season (going 6-9) and the entire 1997-98 campaign (27-55).
"You never know in the NBA," Jordan said when asked about returning to the Kings. "You just never know how things work. I haven't heard anything officially. I would think the teams that will make changes or will be looking for coaches are getting their end-of-season work done now, as far as exit interviews and evaluating their team and their staff."
After calling for some "dignity" in this process, it appears Petrie has held up his end of that bargain. According numerous league sources, Kings representatives have not contacted any candidates about the position.
Read the Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/kingsblog.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.