Has Paul Westphal Saved His Job?

With the addition of Marcus Thornton, the growth of DeMarcus Cousins and the return of Tyreke Evans, the Kings have been playing fantastic ball as of late. Not only are they staying in games (which they’ve done well most of the year), but now they’re winning them.

Peter Vecsey *gagging noises* ran through the potential NBA coaching carousal in his latest column on the Post and dropped a quick blurb about Westy and his job status. Well, he actually dropped a first version, then a retracted version not blasting DeMarcus Cousins as much. Shocking.

Original version:

"Paul Westphal, not that he deserves to be fired, might have saved his Kings job by winning some games the last couple of weeks. The fact is, he ought to get a raise for having to put up every day with DeMarcus Cousins’ antics, said to be much worse than advertised."

Edited version:

"Paul Westphal, not that he deserves to be fired, he might have saved his Kings (Royals?) job by winning some games the last couple of weeks, Fact is, he ought to get a raise for hiving to put up every day with the antics of DeMarcus Cousins."

So, has he saved his job with the recent solid play to end the season? Tough call. Assuming the Kings do take the I-5 south, you’d think the Maloofs might go for a big splash in the coaching department. They obviously wouldn’t be able to attract Coach Calipari from a New York, etc – but rumors of Cal, in So Cal, teaming up with DeMarcus Cousins again would certainly be a fantastic marketing ploy for the new team in town.

But, for a moment, let’s assume the Kings do stay in Sacramento – for now. Has Westy done enough lately to save his job in the eyes of King faithful? He’s certainly angered not only his players but fans alike with his musical chair rotations – but the Kings are an incredibly fun group to watch, they play hard and almost never lack effort. He’s done a fantastic job with the youth on the squad (most notably, DeMarcus) and I can’t help but smirk during his dry humor press conferences.

I’m not sure you could categorize me as a Westphal lover, but, given the circumstances I think he’s done a more than adequate job despite the fact that the Kings will fall short of improving their win total of last season. Wespthal has another season to prove himself, in my book.