Can Petrie be charged with sports franchise malpractice?

Can team officials be charged with sports franchise malpractice?

Because that's exactly what should happen to the Kings' Geoff Petrie.

What he's done to this franchise over the page few years is a downright embarrassment.  A team that a decade ago prided itself on passing, ball movement, and team play has become the NBA's poster child for selfishness. 

And you can lay the blame at the feet of Petrie.

For some some reason, he fell in love with gunners. 

Tyreke Evans.   Aaron Brooks.  Marcus Thornton.  DeMarcus Cousins.  Jimmer Fredette.

None of them has ever shown the slightest interest in sharing the ball, but Petrie thought it was a brilliant idea to collect them all and shove them in front of a coach with no clue how to tame them.

That coach - Keith Smart - is not going to turn things around.  He is overmatched as a strategist and motivator.  Yet Petrie decided to hand him a contract extension during the offseason.

Petrie has been living off a few clever moves from more than 12 years ago.  But he is no longer considered an upper-echelon front-office guy.

He still hasn't found a small forward for the team, despite years of nothing at that position.  His acquisition of John Salmons last year was one of the worst personnel moves in NBA history.  And don't get me started on Travis Outlaw.

 The point-guard position is still weak, despite my soft spot for Isaiah Thomas.  Nobody on the team is capable of running  a simple pick-and-roll and setting up a teammate.

Cousins is considered a bright spot, but if the first few games are any indication, he is still a ticking time bomb, supremely moody and seemingly incapable of playing the game without making surly faces at every perceived slight.   

It's sad.  It's pathetic.  And it's time to point the finger at the man who is most responsible for this disaster.

Mr. Petrie, come take a bow.

Five Downright Undeniable Truths About the Kings right now

Five things I know for sure right now about the Sacramento Kings:

1.  The Kings will never get to the playoffs with Tyreke Evans as their point guard.  Sorry, folks, just don't see it happening.  He's a fullback masquerading as a basketball player imitating a point guard.  And he has spurts of being spectacular, especially when his feet aren't aching.  But I just don't see him as the guy who's taking the team to the next level - not if he's the man running the offense.  I still think he's a great trade chip in a mega-trade for a great point guard, but I doubt the franchise has the guts to pull the trigger on a deal.

2. Funding the new arena by privatizing city parking lots is a stupendously bad idea.  Paul Clegg's blog http://gameto100.com/?p=977#storylink=scwidget tells the ugly truth.  Not sure why a simple $5 dollar surcharge on every ticket was ignored as a solution, but this parking fiasco will come back to bite KJ in the butt.

3. Geoff Petrie is an awful general manager and has been living off a few good deals and signings made a decade ago.  Sad but true.  Some awful decisions of late (trading for Salmons and signing Outlaw to name a couple) put him in the bottom rung of NBA brains.  He's become a non-entity around the league.  

4. DeMarcus Cousins is going to be a star and I've been impressed with his tenacity and hustle, but he's going to have spend a solid summer working on footwork and jump hooks in order to overcome his lack of jumping ability.  Cousins is consistently stuffed when trying to work inside because he has no clue about how to maneuver against more athletic big men.

5. It's more fun to root for likable players.  Rookie Isaiah Thomas may never be an elite player or even a starter, but his smile, verve, aggressiveness and poise make him a fan favorite.  And he passes the ball, too.  Selfish players are not easy to like, unless they are stone-cold superstars.  The Kings have too many stone-cold selfish stiffs.

Nothing's changed: Too many gunners, not enough passing or defense for Kings.

Things we learned after a trivial, meaningless preseason game:

-- Somebody needs to tell J.J. Hickson that the lockout is over.

--Jason Thompson still plays like a rookie.

--Stephen Curry is better than Tyreke Evans.

--Jimmer Fredette flashed a little of his college magic, but he has a long way to go to prove he's not a one-dimensional player.

--Marcus Thornton still likes to gun.

--There is absolutely no way the Kings can be a winning team with Evans, Fredette and Thornton and no distributor.  It is a lost cause and nobody can convince me otherwise.

--Hassan Whiteside needs to start apartment shopping in D-League cities.

--The Kings need to put in an urgent call to Samuel Dalembert.

Countdown to Kings events you absolutely know are coming

Okay, the season is about to begin, but Kings fans don't have to worry about how things will play out.  We here at Kings Talking Points already know...

So circle your calendars and watch for these noteworthy events:

7 DAYS until...

We hear that Donte Greene is a new man.  In perfect shape.  His shot looking fine.  Ready to become a huge contributor.

10 DAYS until...

Tyreke Evans turns his ankle in practice.  Officials announce he's day-to-day.  The trainer talks about alternative therapies.  Evans limps through the rest of the season.

24 DAYS until...

Donte Greene airballs three straight shots and disappears for a 10-minute stretch during a pivotal point in the game.  Westphal sits Greene for the next five games.

33 DAYS until...

We realize that absolutely nobody on this team wants to pass the ball.  Selfishness prevails.  Assists are non-existent.  And Geoff Petries realizes that, oops, they should've actually found a true point guard.

45 DAYS until...

DeMarcus Cousins enjoys his first full-blown meltdown of the season, glaring at his teammates and coach after getting tossed out of the game for whining at an official.  In the locker room, Cousins acts contrite and proclaims he's matured.

60 DAYS until...

Sacramento's attempt at getting an arena officially fizzles and we realize that this is really the last season of pro basketball in Sacramento.

72 DAYS until...

The Kings fire Paul Westphal when they discover he's installed a worthless offense and a clueless defense.

87 DAYS until...

Jimmer Fredette takes control of the team and makes it his own, giving the Kings a leader for the first time in ages.  Evans sulks and eventually....

96 DAYS until...

Evans is dealt in a blockbuster trade.

122 DAYS until...

The team, under a new coach and instilled with new confidence, begins to win games and open eyes around the league

146 DAYS until...

The season winds down in a mix of renewed enthusiasm and a hail of despair.

The Sacramento Kings: Where immaturity and selfishness happen.

Okay, so let's see where we are...

DeMarcus Cousins, one of the surliest, most immature rookies in NBA history, now blatantly hates the fact that Tyreke Evans is the team's go-to guy.

Tyreke Evans, filled with too much confidence fueled by a team's decision to make him the savior of the franchise, is not about to give up the role.

And Geoff Petrie, the most overrated decision maker in the league, has been given distinct orders not to make any trade that would cause the team to take on a dollar more in salary.

I'd say things are pretty much screwed for the Kings.

It's too bad, because the team had been playing a more improved brand of basketball of late.

But when word leaked out the Cousins had berated and possibly come to blows with Donte Greene because he hadn't gotten the ball in the final moments of the game against the Thunder, it just spoke volumes about what's important to many of the players on the team.

It's easy to know what Cousins is feeling. His emotions flash across his face like a beacon. And it's easy to tell that the most important thing in his life is being the most important player on the court. This is fine, except that he hates when other people take that role -- even briefly.

I've seen Cousins react with disdain when another player followed up one of his missed shots with a basket. It was all about his miss rather than the team scoring. He's happy on the bench only when he's having a stellar game. Otherwise, he could care less about his teammates.

As for Tyreke, well, Tyreke is Tyreke. He is incredibly skilled but he's not a smart player. At least right now. He leads the league in leaving his feet and tossing off awful, misguided passes. He has been coached for two years to be Kobe Bryant, but he is not even close. Why does everyone keep wondering why the final five minutes of every game become a stagnant, ball-pounding misadventure?

I heard ESPN's Bill Simmons mention the other day that the talk around the league is that Evans is a tough guy to play with. Not because he's a bad teammate, but simply because he demands the ball, dominates the ball and doesn't make his teammates an ounce better.

Is it coaching? Or are these two guys just inherently self-centered?

Who knows? But it is about time for Paul Westphal to show some balls and publicly announce that he will not stand for players who don't buy into the team concept. If you don't share the ball and care about your teammates, you sit. It's about winning, not personal stats. Period.

So what do the Kings do?

Trade one? Trade both? Start over?

For me, I like watching unselfish, team basketball.

Give me players who pass the ball and don't care whether they can strut up and down the court and point at themselves.

Maybe that's too much to ask in this era of Jersey Shore entitlement.

And maybe it would be different if the Kings were winning.

But the team is awful.

And watching this mess unfold is just sad.

See Kings run. See Kings win.

Run. Run. Run.

This should have been the strategy for the Kings all season.

They are young. They have fresh legs. And they usually do a good job of rebounding.

On Thursday night, in front of a national audience, they pushed the action and they pushed the Nuggets out of Arco Arena.

Tyreke Evans ran. Pooh Jeter ran. Carl Landry ran. Omri Casspi ran. Francisco Garcia ran. DeMarcus Cousins didn't run, but he bumped and bruised, played defense, rebounded, and make some damn fine shots.

The result: The most impressive effort of the year.

Sure, the Nuggets were sleepwalking, but no matter. This was the blueprint for Sacramento success for the rest of the season.

DeMarcus Cousins may be the real deal, but should Kings consider the crazy thought of trading Tyreke Evans?

Is it a coincidence that the Kings moved the ball better in the final five minutes of Sunday night's victory over the Suns without Tyreke Evans on the court.

No, didn't think so.

Suddenly, without Evans on the floor, the Kings managed to quickly get into their offense and, lo and behold, didn't seem to force any passes.

Incredibly, in the span of a dramatic week, rookie DeMarcus Cousins has become the focal point of the offense. He was a revelation against the Suns.

Cousins sees the court. He makes the right pass almost every time. Yes, sometimes he forces his shot a bit too much, but he's improving every game. If you can keep him from tossing a Molotov cocktail into his future, he could be the real deal.

It's completely different for Evans.

He simply does not help the Kings when he's on the floor. Sure, he can score in bursts on occasion, but he has become more of a hindrance to the team's cohesiveness. You can blame the aching feet for some of his woes, but you can't blame the feet for his awful decision making and his inability to figure out how to be a team player.

So here's a sinful thought to consider: What if the Kings entertained trade offers for Evans?

Okay, forget I just wrote that.

Then again, maybe not.

ESPN reported on Sunday that teams are inquiring about the availability of Omri Casspi. The Kings would be foolish to deal Casspi. He might have more upside than any player on the team.

But Evans? What about Evans?

Desperate times demand desperate measures.

They could surely land some ripe talent for him. Maybe a first-class point guard.

No, it's silly. Why would the Kings trade Evans?

Guy was rookie of the year. You don't trade him.

Forget I wrote that. He's only going to get better, right? Right? Right?

Look, Evans have been terribly mishandled by the Kings. They plugged his square abilities into the round hole of point guard and handed him the keys to the franchise.

Now, you watch him on the court and he sometimes looks lost. Paul Westphal hardly ever puts him in position to utilize his talents properly. And no matter how much we hear about his improved outside shot, it's just not there. Never has been.

It comes down to this: What would make the Kings a better team? A healthy Tyreke Evans or a top-notch point guard?

We saw a little hint in the final five minutes against the Suns -- and Pooh Jeter ain't even close to a top-notch point guard.

All right, I'm just a knee-jerk observer offering a silly thought based on small sampling of time.

Forget I wrote that.

Joe Maloof's secret text messages: What it would take to fire Paul Westphal

Last night, Joe Maloof sent a text message to Jason Jones of the Bee proclaiming that "No" he was not going to fire Paul Westphal.

What hasn't been revealed were a number of text messages sent by Joe Maloof to his brother Gavin laying down the guidelines for what WOULD cause the firing of the coach.

The text messages were secretly leaked to Kings Talking Points and we are revealing them here today:

--If Paul tries to high-five me in the practice facility bathroom one more time, he's out.

--If Paul keeps ignoring my pleas to massage Tyreke's aching feet during timeouts, he is canned. Period.

--Paul is gone if he can't figure out that calling DeMarcus a "Sulky Suzy" in pre-game warmups is not helpful to the delightful young man's mental well being.

--I think Westy is done if I could convince Bill Walton to coach the team. He was at the house the other night and I love his enthusiasm, but his teeth are kinda annoying.

--If Paul loses another 20 more in a row, there's a pretty good chance we can get off easy by telling the press that he is voluntarily stepping down because of chronic heartburn. That way we don't look like we fired anybody and maybe Westy gets a deal with Zantac.

DeMarcus Cousins is fined, but it's not a first-time incident for the Kings

DeMarcus Cousins was fined and benched for delivering the "choke" sign during the final moments of Tuesday night's humiliating loss to the Warriors.

But this is far from the first time for a incident like this for the Kings.

In an effort to promote fairness, we've gone over the film for the past few weeks to look for other players who were caught doing odd things on the sidelines.

--At four minutes into the second quarter of the Mavericks game, Donte Greene was seen quietly motioning to Dirk Nowitzki for an autograph. Nowitzki said something nasty in German and ignored him. Greene smiled, applauded, waved a towel, and cheered the response.

--With 30 seconds left in a recent loss to the Heat, Tyreke Evans waited for Kings coach Paul Westphal to turn his back, then he placed his finger down his throat, bent over, and feigned vomiting. When Westphal quickly spun around, Evans quickly grabbed for his ankle and grimaced in pain.

--While sitting on the bench during a blowout loss to the Rockets, Carl Landy was seen hiding under a towel, talking on his cell phone and mouthing the words, "You're my agent, get me the hell out of here."

--During a dry spell in the fourth quarter of a game against the Hornets, Beno Udrih was seen secretly using a Sharpie to write "Pass this, Tyreke" on the game ball. Later, during an important possession, Evans took the ball and held it for a full 20 seconds as he attempted to read the slightly smudged writing. The 24-second clock sounded just at Evans crashed into a defender for an offensive foul.

--Finally, even Westphal hasn't been immune. He was seen flashing the bird to his entire team during a timeout in overtime during the Warriors game.

Tyreke Evans injury report: Day-to-day chance that nobody knows what the hell is going on

Latest Kings injury report:

Tyreke Evans, plantar fasciitis, day-to-day: Unless, of course, his brother Doc decides to hold him out, or, on the other hand, if Paul Westphal asks politely for him to sit out and gets an answer in the affirmative.

In a super-secret email circulating through the bowels of the team's super-secret war room and high-tea recreation room, team officials are allegedly baffled.

A Kings doctor was allegedly quoted as saying, "Hey, I only went to medical school, do you expect me to make a sound decision based on my education and prior knowledge? Tyreke's brother is named Doc. I trust him."

Owner Gavin Maloof allegedly said he doesn't understand all the hubbub over this fasciitis stuff. "We intend to rip of 10 or 20 straight wins and we need Tyreke on the court to make it happen. He can sit when we clinch a playoff berth."

General manager Geoff Petrie says the injury is minor. "It's not the pain," Petrie allegedly said. "He just plain sucks this year."