I have said that Paul Westphal is the Lou Brown hire...

And that is something that I firmly believe. Let me explain the logic. Lou Brown was the Manager in Major League. He was supposed to lead the Indians to Miami. But behind the power pitching of Ricky Vaughn and the Ecksteinish intangibles of Jake Taylor. Lou Brown brought home a division title.

But that just doesn't happen in real life. Especially in the NBA, where there's a precedent for this sort of hire. There was a West Coast basketball team that had fallen on hard times. But it had skilled pieces as well as a reasonably loyal fanbase. A good coach could have started a rebuilding process. However, they hired...



P.J. Carlesimo. A man who parlayed one shining head coaching moment at Seton Hall into two decades of mediocrity ending with an Epic Fail. (One word: Spreewell). He was hired to destroy the Sonics, and he did his job with aplomb, as you can see by where the Sonics stand now. But compare him to Westphal.

A man who had one shining head coaching moment at Phoenix, parlaying that into 15 years of mediocrity ending with an Epic Fail. (7-25 at Pepperdine. Yeah, Pepperdine.) And we have a rumor that the Kings is ready to leave.

I'm not going to say that this will be the catalyst for the team moving to Anaheim or Kansas City, but if step one is an Arena battle, and step two is a horrible retread coaching hire? Some team may be surprised to find that Kevin Martin will be available for less than you think.