It had been 27 days since Paul Westphal made his pitch to be the Kings' next coach, when he sat with the team's brass in a Las Vegas hotel room and assured them that he could succeed in the future just as he had in the past.

Tuesday evening, the pitch paid off. Westphal, who has a record of 267-159 in six-plus seasons as an NBA head coach, was told he will be the next Kings coach.

With the Kings engaged in their third coaching search in the past four off-seasons, and Lakers assistant coach Kurt Rambis and Boston associate head coach Tom Thibodeau also in the running, Kings basketball President Geoff Petrie had deemed it a horse race that would end in a photo finish. But it wasn't nearly that simple, as Westphal won the job largely on his NBA experience and enthusiasm for the job itself.

He becomes the fourth Kings coach since Rick Adelman was not re-signed in 2006. Even though Westphal hasn't been a head coach since 2000 (in Seattle), Petrie said he has no doubt he will be part of the solution.

"Coaches who have been successful, I just don't think they forget how to coach," Petrie said. "The enthusiasm is there, the desire is there."

Westphal's road back to the NBA head coaching ranks will begin anew where it had ended. Two days before his Nov. 27, 2000, firing, his SuperSonics lost 125-101 to the Kings in what was his last game as an NBA head coach.

He then left for the college game, accepting a job at Pepperdine for the chance to coach his son. Westphal returned to the NBA as an assistant coach and an executive with Dallas in recent years.

Westphal simplified the process that led to his hiring. According to sources with knowledge of the process, he reached out to the Kings earlier than the rest of the field to make it clear he wanted the job. He then laid out the hypothetical financial terms, indicating that he would work for a rate that would fall within the current comfort zone of Kings co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof.

That deal, which should be finalized today, includes two guaranteed seasons at $1.5 million each, with the third season a team option worth $2 million. There are likely incentives in the deal that could reward Westphal if the Kings improve even moderately next season.

"I'm just very excited about the opportunity," said Westphal, who coached in Phoenix and Seattle and took the 1992-93 Suns to the NBA Finals. "I have been looking for a good opportunity to get back and do what I like to do, and I think that the Kings present an exciting challenge for me, and I can't wait to get started.

"I'm really happy I got the job, and whatever winding turns it had to take – I don't even know all the winding turns that it took – I'm just happy that they decided I'm the guy for them."

The decision brought an end to the search that lasted 47 days and came with similar twists and turns as the ones before. It began with Petrie calling for experience over experiments, setting parameters that the Kings' fifth coach since 2006 would have to have had "some level of success" as an NBA head coach.

Eddie Jordan and Westphal were the first candidates, both easily meeting the qualifications and kick-starting the process with interviews on May 12 and 13. Rambis eventually entered with a second group that also included Thibodeau, just about the time Jordan bowed out voluntarily.

Rambis had been adamant that he remain loyal to the Lakers and focused on the task of winning a championship. Westphal had grown impatient enough that sources say he was close to pulling out of the race. In the end, however, he was alone at the finish line.

"I think we've got a gentleman who has a wonderful reputation around the league," Joe Maloof said. "He's had a great winning percentage. … He has been an experienced coach in the NBA.

"We knew that he was very strong offensively, and that he had all those great teams that scored a lot of points, but you don't get into the NBA Finals if you don't teach defense as well. He'll be a great fit."

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