The George Karl era begins tonight in Sacramento

It’s been a wild couple of weeks. Wild.

The Sacramento Kings haven’t played since their February 11th 111-103 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. They had only won two of their last fifteen games heading into the All-Star break. They needed a pick-me-up, and boy did they get one.

I cannot verbalize how much more interesting the second half of this season is going to be now that George Karl is the head coach.

Is taking a step back in 2023-24 inevitable for the Sacramento Kings?
Is taking a step back in 2023-24 inevitable for the Sacramento Kings?

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  • Karl only has two practices under his belt, and the Kings have already traded Ramon Sessions for Andre Miller, signed David Stockton to a 10-day contract, tasked Rudy Gay with playing power forward, and tried Nik Stauskas at point guard. How much of that will work out? Who knows, but it’s all interesting. It’s something.

    This could be a rough couple of weeks as the Kings try to transform into the team George Karl wants them to be, but that is going to be a legitimately satisfying and interesting transformation to watch. I was not looking forward to 30 more games of the Tyrone Corbin charade. I always have to qualify that by saying that none of it was Corbin’s fault, but it was a huge waste of everyone’s time. The Kings have a purpose now. They are building towards something. That changes everything.

    And because the NBA is amazing and basketball is weird, Isaiah Thomas and the Boston Celtics are in town for Karl’s Sacramento Kings coaching debut. Yup, Isaiah Thomas and the Boston Celtics.

    Thomas was traded to Boston right before yesterday’s trade deadline for our old friend Marcus Thornton and a first round pick.

    I don’t want to beat a dead horse here, but this drove me crazy. This is the exact reason why I wanted the Kings to match Thomas’ contract last summer. Even if the Kings didn’t want Thomas long-term, they could have easily swung this trade with Boston if they just had Thomas under contract, and would have had a free first round draft pick to show for it. Ok. Moving on.

    The Celtics are going to be without Jared Sullinger, and Kelly Olynyk, meaning the already undersized Celtics should have no answer for Cousins in the post.

    The Kings will likely be without Darren Collison, who is still dealing with a hip flexor strain he suffered just before the All-Star break.

    It is unclear if Isaiah Thomas or Andre Miller will be ready to go for either team tonight, as post-trade travel time and paper work usually takes a few days to process.

    The Celtics are a scrappy, extremely well coached basketball team. They’ve won four of their last five games, and are starting to make a little noise as a potential playoff team in the east.

    But the Kings have a few clear advantages tonight. I’m expecting a fantastically loud home crowd for Karl’s debut, and a energize Sacramento Kings team looking to get a much needed win for their new head coach.

    I think they’ll pull it off.

    As always, check back in to A Royal Pain after tonight’s game for our postgame coverage.

    Sacramento Kings vs. Boston Celtics

    Where: Sleep Train Arena – Sacramento, CA

    When: 7:00 PM Pacific, 10:00 PM Eastern

    Broadcast: Comcast Sportsnet California

    Radio: KHTK Sports 1140 AM

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