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The Sacramento Kings today announced that Head Coach Keith Smart will not be retained for the 2013-14 season. “The Kings would like to thank Keith for his hard work and dedication to the organization,” said owner Vivek Ranadivé. “We wish him and his family nothing but the best in future endeavors.” NBA.com

Sacramento Kings, Keith Smart 

Keith Smart saw it coming. Of course he saw it coming. The Sacramento Kings coach who was informed a few days back by new owner Vivek Ranadive that he would not be retained for the final season on his contract has been through this before, back when the Golden State Warriors were the team with the new owners and the same writing was on the wall leading up to his April 2011 ousting as head coach. USA Today Sports

Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Coaching, Keith Smart, Owners, Vivek Ranadive 

"A good friend of mine called me, he lives in Miami and is a lawyer, and he said, 'Man, I've got to tell you, what you've done every place you've gone is you've increased the value of the franchise. It's unfortunate you don't get to watch the program grow, but you definitely increased the franchise value,'" Smart told USA TODAY Sports with a laugh. "I was in Cleveland (as an assistant coach from 2000 to 2003), near the draft and they get LeBron (James the following summer). I was a couple steps away from coaching LeBron, but I didn't get a chance at that. And then you had the same scenario in Golden State." USA Today Sports

Sacramento Kings, Coaching, Keith Smart 

Smart is confident he'll be a part of the NBA landscape somewhere next season. He noted how the Maloof family that sold the team to Ranadive was "very good to (him)," and raved about the Kings fans for whom he rooted when the city was fighting to keep its team from moving to Seattle. He's happy for them, even if he won't take part in the turnaround they're all hoping for. "When I came in, I said, 'it's going to take about three years to get this thing moving in a certain direction," Smart said. "That's the tough part." USA Today Sports

Sacramento Kings, Coaching, Keith Smart, Owners, Vivek Ranadive 

Ranadive is not expected to retain Kings coach Keith Smart, either, but clearly wants to have his new front-office in place before beginning that process. USA Today Sports

Sacramento Kings, Coaching, Keith Smart, Owners, Vivek Ranadive 

Tyreke Evans said Smart was good for his career, but also realizes there is a chance Smart won’t be his coach next season. Sulia

Sacramento Kings, Coaching, Keith Smart, Tyreke Evans 

(Bobby) Jackson, an assistant coach for two seasons, is uncertain if he'll have a role in the attempt to turn the Kings back into contenders. None of the team's assistant coaches has a contract for next season, he said. Head coach Keith Smart has another year on his contract, but his fate likely won't be decided until the change in ownership is official later this month. Sacramento Bee

Sacramento Kings, Coaching, Keith Smart, Bobby Jackson 

Ryan Lillis: #NBAKings team representative tells me Coach Keith Smart will represent team at tomorrow's #NBA draft lottery Twitter

Sacramento Kings, Draft, Coaching, Keith Smart 

Shaun Powell: With new ownership officially on board, look for the Kings to act soon on their GM and coach issues. Twitter @Powell2daPeople

Sacramento Kings, Coaching, Geoff Petrie, Keith Smart, Owners, Vivek Ranadive 

Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie and the rest of the front office staff and coach Keith Smart met with the following draft prospects today: Alex Len (Maryland), Richard Howell (North Carolina State), Tim Hardaway Jr. (Michigan), Tony Snell (New Mexico), Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State) and Reggie Bullock (North Carolina). Sulia

Sacramento Kings, Draft, Geoff Petrie, Keith Smart, Tim Hardaway, Deshaun Thomas, Alex Len, Tony Snell, Tim Hardaway Jr 

There used to be a time when a coach, who led his team into the playoffs, would be in line for a contract extension. Not anymore. There’s a legitimate chance five coaches with teams in the playoffs could be jettisoned. They are Atlanta’s Larry Drew, Brooklyn’s P.J. Carlesimo, Vinny Del Negro of the Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis’ Lionel Holllins and Milwaukee’s Jim Boylan. Another coach, Keith Smart of the Sacramento Kings could also lose his job as part of a front office purge. Racine Journal-Times

Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks, Sacramento Kings, Vinny Del Negro, Coaching, Keith Smart, Larry Drew, Jim Boylan 

The leaguewide presumption remains that longtime front-office chief Geoff Petrie and coach Keith Smart will not be retained by whomever ultimately assumes control of the Kings. Which is a far easier conclusion to reach than trying to identify who's leading the Kings Sweepstakes at the minute. ESPN.com

Sacramento Kings, Coaching, Geoff Petrie, Keith Smart 

Jon Santiago: Keith Smart not at practice today. Had to head back to the bay area to check on his son, who suffered a hoops injury & had emergency surgery Twitter @itsjonsantiago

Sacramento Kings, Coaching, Keith Smart 

There were several moments, though, that were definitely cringe-worthy, such as Kurt Thomas’ 3-point attempt with a 110-60 lead. Smith performed a windmill dance after one of his successful threes. Anthony and Steve Novak mimed pseudo-gun gestures, right in front of several Newtown families sitting in the front row. Keith Smart insisted the Kings did not mind the rejoicing. “I don’t feel that way,” the Sacramento coach said. “We’re all big boys. Guys don’t get a chance to play much, they want to shoot and keep playing. You can’t tell them not to shoot. Take your lumps and move on.” New York Daily News

New York Knicks, Sacramento Kings, Kurt Thomas, Keith Smart, Steve Novak 

Jim Buss is going to fire Mike D'Antoni only if the Lakers experience a locker room mutiny, which is practically unimaginable. In that case, the lone alternative would be to replace D'Antoni with Phil Jackson, and Buss has made it clear that he doesn't want to go in that direction. The Kings have nothing to gain by firing Keith Smart as long as the franchise appears to be headed for Seattle next season. Why would the Maloofs pay extra money to a new coach if the team is about to become the responsibility of potential owner Chris Hansen in a short time? P.J. Carlesimo (Nets) and Jim Boylan (Bucks) are a couple of interim coaches who appear to be safe for the rest of the year. The Bucks have performed better than expected this season, while the Nets have turned hot (see below) since Carlesimo replaced Johnson. SI.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets, Phil Jackson, Coaching, Mike D'Antoni, Keith Smart, Jim Boylan, PJ Carlesimo, Jim Buss, Chris Hansen 

Even players and coaches admitted all the attention made it difficult to focus on the game. "It's definitely going to be a distraction," said Kings coach Keith Smart. "But we're pros. We've got to figure out a way how to separate the two and then get ready to play." USA Today Sports

Sacramento Kings, Keith Smart 

Blaming Kings coach Keith Smart for DeMarcus Cousins' issues struck me as odd and a former head coach who has insight to the organization agreed. "Whoever is blaming Keith didn't do their homework," the former coach said. "DeMarcus couldn't have anyone better to work with him than Keith and Clifford (Ray). They put in the time." Sulia

Sacramento Kings, DeMarcus Cousins, Coaching, Keith Smart 

“For us coaches our daily job is to refocus our players and get him ready to play that game, get him ready to practice that day,” Smart said. “That’s what we do. I don’t hold anything personally. You have to move on. Holding something personally eats away at you, so I quickly move on and get things behind me as fast as I can. I try to share that with my team because that is how the game is played. You have to forget about a foul, a bad shot, a turnover and get to the next play. “We had our issues with some things on the floor this year and some suspensions happened that way, but we put it behind us and I try to get [Cousins] to understand that you put a game behind you as quick as you can and you put a moment or event behind you as quick as you can. Myself and the staff will continue to do our job once again to try and get the young man to understand how to grow and be a pro, not just for this year, but for the rest of his basketball career because that will also help him with his normal civilian life when he can’t run up and down the floor anymore.” HoopsWorld

Sacramento Kings, DeMarcus Cousins, Keith Smart 

Sacramento Kings coach Keith Smart called DeMarcus Cousins "the guy who makes it all work for us." Friday night's performance was the perfect example of that. Cousins scored a season-high 31 points and matched his career high with 20 rebounds, John Salmons scored eight of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and the Kings topped the Toronto Raptors 105-96. "He had the right energy to start the game, he had the right mindset of not trying to score 50 but trying to let his teammates play," Smart said of Cousins. "He's in a good spot as a basketball player right now and he's only going to get better." ESPN.com

Sacramento Kings, DeMarcus Cousins, Coaching, Keith Smart 

When Paul Westphal could no longer handle the young center, the Kings showed him the door and promoted long-time NBA assistant Keith Smart, known for his success in handling players with baggage. They also brought highly regarded big man coach Clifford Ray to assist in the task at hand, but neither has had the desired effect. “What is the support system that’s not in place?” Smart asked when posed the question of what the Kings haven’t done to help Cousins grow. “What is it? I’m trying to figure out what is it that we are supposed to have – that every team is supposed to have? Let us know, so we can find out what it is. And then we can let you know if we do have that.” Cowbell Kingdom

Sacramento Kings, DeMarcus Cousins, Keith Smart