The Sacramento Kings keep trying our collective patience by doing the one thing they have always seemed to be afraid of.
Patience.
In extending the contracts of coach Dave Joerger and basketball brainbox Vlade Divac, owner Vivek Ranadive is making a statement about the value of continuity in a franchise that has aggressively eschewed it for most of its existence.
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But the issue that nags remains the issue that always nags, namely: What if these aren’t the guys to do the do?
Of all the teams that have ever won an NBA title or even reached an NBA Finals, the Kings have waited the longest – 67 years. In the topsy yet turvy Western Conference, they are the one team everyone agrees has no chance to reach the postseason.
In other words, staying any course is an innovative idea for the Kings, but not knowing if it is the right course to stay makes the decision less comforting.
But it is an acknowledgement by Ranadive that the Kings are light years away from his particular bête noire in Oakland, and will probably have to wait until next year’s free agency tilt-a-whirl to make any real progress. There is an excellent chance that finishing eighth in the West this year will require a minimum of 45 wins and as many as 50, and the Kings look a lot like a 25-win team.
So why not patience? Why not tell this restive fan base that steady and familiar is worth trying after three decades of spasmodic rethinks and second-guessing festivals? Why not believe in Joerger and Divac?
I guess we’ll find out in eight months. That’s usually when plans get blown up in the 916.