Kings Notes: Karl doesn't regret passing on Artest deal

DENVER – George Karl has no regrets.

Not then. Not now.

More than six weeks after Denver passed on a chance to trade for Ron Artest before the Feb. 21 trade deadline, the opinion of the Nuggets coach who had everything to do with the deal not going down has not changed.

"With free agency and the big contracts (in the NBA), change is now (considered) good," Karl said. "(But) coaches don't always think change is good. Change is a problem to a coach sometimes. It's a difficult hand to be dealt. Major change, and major personality change like adding an Artest to a team, is more difficult, more complicated, more confusing … . Sometimes patience is the way you make your team better."

Yet not until now has Karl been repaid for his patience. Immediately after the deadline, the Nuggets struggled, losing 6 of 10, and the player they wouldn't give up in discussions with the Kings – third-year forward Linas Kleiza – wasn't playing well either. Before facing the Kings on Saturday, though, they had won six of seven games largely because of the continued high level of play from fourth-year shooting guard J.R. Smith.

For as much focus as there was on Kleiza as a young and inexpensive player the Nuggets didn't want to lose, their decision not to acquire Artest was an investment in Smith's future as well. Until this season, Smith had been known around the league as a difficult personality.

Adding Artest to the locker room would have, as Karl saw it, been far from a coach's dream. What's more, Smith had already begun to turn his act around on and off the floor before the trade deadline came.

Faced with a gamble either way, owner Stan Kroenke and basketball vice president Mark Warkentien chose to protect their team's chemistry while passing on quite a talent.

"So much of (the value of) talent is over-emphasized," Karl said. "It's more the team-ness. It's more of the experience, the intangibles. It's more the little things in the game of basketball that certain teams know how to do better than other teams."

Tar Heel blues – Karl donned his blue University of North Carolina gear from head to toe Saturday morning in support of his alma mater.

With the Tar Heels set to take on Kansas in a Final Four matchup, Karl joked that he would only want an update on the college score at halftime of his game if he was in the right kind of mood. Chances are, that wasn't the case. While Karl's team had blown a 10-point, second-quarter lead to trail 59-56 at halftime, UNC was trailing 54-37 as Karl's team headed for its locker room. The Tar Heels lost 84-66.

Injury report – Kings center Brad Miller (lower leg strain) and small forward Ron Artest (sprained left thumb) did not play against the Nuggets. Kings coach Reggie Theus said he expects Artest to play against the Lakers but was not sure about Miller's status.

Kings point guard Beno Udrih missed his ninth game of the last 10 with a lower back strain and has said he expects to return Tuesday at Golden State.

About the writer:

• Read Sam Amick's Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/blogs.