George Karl
Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl reacts against the Golden State Warriors during Game 6 of their NBA Western Conference quarter-final playoff basketball game in Oakland, California May 2, 2013. The Warriors won the best-of-seven series 4-2. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

The Sacramento Kings have held preliminary discussions with George Karl on the possibility of bringing over the seasoned mentor as the new head coach of the organization. Both sides are reportedly serious to cut a deal for the former Denver Nuggets coach with salary, contract length and franchise player DeMarcus Cousins say on the change as the major roadblocks to finalizing the agreement.

Kings general manager Pete D’Allesandro has been the major driving force in the move with his ties to Karl dating back to their Nuggets days. Karl is also perceived the best available coach on the open market having amassed a total career win of 1,131 games and has a winning percentage of almost 60 percent. However, a report from USA Today claims that the camp of Cousins is against the move given the history of Karl with several of the All-Star big man’s guys.

“Cousins' day-to-day agent, Jarrin Akana, worked with Karl in Denver and was re-assigned from assistant coach to scout when Karl took over for coach Jeff Bzdelik in 2005. Dan Fegan, Cousins' lead agent, represented Karl's son, Coby, as a player for years before he was eventually replaced,” USA Today narrated in its latest article on the Karl to Kings negotiations.

It has been eight weeks since the Kings shockingly let go of Mike Malone despite the early season success of the team. Since then, the team has spiraled into losing 18 of the last 24 games and Cousins who has displayed some sense of maturity has reverted back to old habits of excessive complaining to officials and playing lackadaisical defence.

Cousins has been particularly responding to the coaching style of Malone which made the firing move in December surprising and the opposition to the Karl’s potential hiring credible. Nevertheless, Cousins’ camp has denied the hijacking the deal for Karl and has maintained that they are not the ones running the organization and are on-board on any route the management goes with the hiring.

Karl has been open to coaching again this season despite undergoing a recent bout with cancer. The Orlando Magic is another organization that has a recent opening for head coach but Karl reportedly has no ties with someone in the organization to begin any kinds of talks for the top mentor spot.

For concerns on this story, contact the author at v.hidalgo@ibtimes.com.au.

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