Kings reach agreement with George Karl on reported 4-year, $14.5 million deal
The Sacramento Kings and soon-to-be head coach George Karl have finally reached an agreement, as the two sides agreed in principle Thursday.
Related: Kings' Corbin officially removed as coach, will continue in advisory role
Karl has signed on to helm the Kings for four seasons - including the last third of this one - for a total of $14.5 million, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports. A formal announcement is expected Friday, and the 63-year-old will take over from Tyrone Corbin on Feb. 20, following the All-Star break.
He'll earn $1.25 million for the remainder of the 2014-15 campaign, $3.25 million in 2015-16 and $5 million in each of the final two seasons, though the deal will reportedly include a $1.5-million buyout provision for 2017-18.
It's been a trying season for the Kings, who saw a promising start derailed in a hurry, have lost 14 of their last 16 games and will be playing under their third coach since opening night. Despite Karl's coaching acumen, turning things around this late in the game would be a wholly unrealistic expectation.
Instead, he'll be tasked with settling a locker room in turmoil, taking steps towards imprinting a coherent system and earning the trust of All-Star big man DeMarcus Cousins, a preternatural talent who can also be sensitive and volatile, and who's, understandably, starting to seem very, very disillusioned with the Kings organization.