Can Danny?

Reggie Theus was the latest coach to get fired and this one really seemed strange. The Kings just aren't good. They've battled in some games, laid down in others, but they are a young team with no real veteran leadership, and no young franchise players who look like they'll be ready to take the reins (no Kevin Martin isn't a franchise player). On top of that, the players seemed to openly support Theus. The team was a work in progress and was playing like one so I'm not sure why you'd fire Theus, especially since the young kids like Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson are playing well and improving.

While I don't think Danny's plan for building his team through mid-first round picks is a wise choice, the way he handled Doc Rivers was top notch. While people were calling for Doc's head, not only did Danny support his head coach but he also apologized to him, admitting that he hadn't given Doc the players he needed to win in the NBA. 

Also, Danny needs to be lauded for hiring Doc Rivers. Doc had his doubters but Danny knew that team he wanted to build and knew that Doc would be the right man for that job. He might have been the best guy to coach the team of bench fodder we had in 2006-7 but he's almost perfect for this team. These other GM's don't seem to know what they want. Reggie Theus was an odd choice; he had some success in college (as well as on a syndicated after-school TV show) but he seemed like a stop-gap guy that you'd bring in to work with the young players. As expected, the Kings were bad but the young guys were improving so why fire Theus now?

Similarly, Sam Presti hired PJ Carlesimo who proceeded to immediately announce that he wanted to play the future of the franchise out of position. You think the main focus of any interview for the then-Sonics coaching position would have been: how are you going to use Kevin Durant? And if Presti was going along with that line of thinking, it seems a bit unfair to throw PJ under the bus when it doesn't work out.

This isn't to say that there might not have been legitimate issues for these coaches to be fired, but when the teams are flawed as the Sixers, Toronto, Wizards, Kings, Wolves, and Thunder are, it's hard to really fault the head coach for the problems they're facing 20 or so games into the season. Unless you have someone you want to bring in immediately, it would seem wiser to stick the coach you started with than hope that some assistant-turned-interim-head coach is going to turn things around.

Was Reggie Theus the next Doc Rivers? Probably not but I doubt Kenny Natt is going to turn the Kings ship around so why not, at least in this time of economic downturn, get the most out of the head coach you invested in.