Fantasy Basketball Fallout: Michael Malone Fired

With the news breaking late last night that the Sacramento Kings fired Head Coach Mike Malone and will look to Ty Corbin as an interim replacement, it has shaken up the world of fantasy basketball today. While I don’t expect major changes to any of the Kings players that you own, I do forewarn as Corbin has been known a bit for having some shaky rotations. Early word on the street was that Corbin is willing to play a little more fast-paced basketball as that is what the Kings upper echelon would like and that could bode well for your fantasy team.

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I thought it was a bit early to go and fire a head coach. Especially since DeMarcus Cousins, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, missing the last 9 games, team management decided that Malone had not met win-loss requirements set forth for him. Corbin, who as 112-146 during his days with the Jazz, will look to continue upon the improvement that this Kings team was already showing with players like Darren Collison, BenMcLemore and Rudy Gay all playing some of the best basketball of their careers.

From a fantasy standpoint, let me offer some of my spin and early thoughts on what to do here. First of all, if you own someone on the Kings roster the single most important thing to do is not panic. That will never work in fantasy sports and it will cause you to trade DeMarcus Cousins for someone the likes of Brook Lopez and become the laughing stock of your league. Do NOT and I repeat do NOT do that, and do not panic. OK, now that we have that out of the way here is what you do need to do: Watch the box scores and the minutes very closely. Usually one of the biggest things to change with a new coach is the minutes distribution.

Most likely there will be at least one person on the Kings roster who is getting 30 plus minutes who will likely get the shaft during this transition. There could be someone Corbin has had his eye on who he thinks is outplaying someone Malone had in his rotation. I am not much of a betting man, but if I had to guess who that player was, I would bet on Darren Collison. Collison, don’t get me wrong, has played good and does not deserve to have his minutes cut, but that is sometimes the case.

This, however, is why I say don’t panic. In most leagues, Collison was drafted in the later rounds, and he has likely outplayed his ADP so you are getting a bit of a steal out of him anyway. Do not get worried and cut bait on him right away, but if an offer comes along that you likely would have taken anyway, then by all means go for it. I would suggest the same with anyone on the Kings roster. So for now, simply do not panic, watch the minutes distribution and the box scores, and go from there. We will offer more analysis on this as it becomes available.

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