Smith Trade Divided Kings’ Coaches/Management

The front office-coach relationship became increasingly strained through the Las Vegas summer league in July, especially once Ranadive and D’Alessandro made a play to trade for Detroit forward Josh Smith, sources said. The owner told people outside the franchise that, no, his coach didn’t want Smith, but Ranadive didn’t care. He wanted Smith’s talent, and it was on Malone to make it work.

Most of the coaching staff struggled to believe Smith could fit with DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay, and management differed. Talks with the Pistons shut down quickly, because Stan Van Gundy didn’t want to make the proposed deals, sources said.

“The Smith situation caused everyone to take sides: Management against coaches, coaches against management,” a source told Yahoo Sports. “Things only got worse.”

via Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports