Did Sacramento Kings Fire Coach To Keep Draft Pick From Chicago Bulls?

The Chicago Bulls -potentially- own the Sacramento Kings 2015 first-round pick after acquiring it from the Cleveland Cavaliers’ in a deal for Luol Deng. However, the Kings, currently with the 14th worst record in the NBA at 11-and-13, recently fired their coach, Mike Malone. The Kings’ pick, which is top-10 protected for the 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 seasons, may not be able to be used by Chicago for several more years because of this move.

As bizarre as Malone’s firing has looked, DeMarcus Cousins, for one said he heard about his coach being fired through Twitter, was it a move to tank the rest of the year and keep their first-round pick from the Bulls?  The interim coach, Ty Corbin, has previous experience tanking with the Utah Jazz.

At the same time, the Kings reportedly may attempt a defensive strategy of playing 4-on-5, which is absolutely foolish.

However, if the Kings hire a big name coach like George Karl, Vinny Del Negro or Chris Mullin, then this hypothesis can be crossed out because it would be more clear that they want to win now. If Ty Corbin and DeMarcus Cousins continue to miss games, and the Kings unveil a cherry-picking strategy, it’s likely that they are intentionally tanking to keep this year’s draft pick.