Report: Corbin to finish season as Kings coach, Mullin to get more involved

The commotion over the next long-term head coach of the Sacramento Kings can probably start to quiet down now.

In the wake of Mike Malone's removal from the position early Monday, a handful of names had been quickly linked to the opening. For now, assistant coach Tyrone Corbin has been promoted to interim head coach, and while there are names being attached to the position, it's Corbin's for the rest of the season.

Short of Corbin completely failing in the role, the Kings won't make a change behind the bench until the offseason, according to a report from Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports.

That may be because the organization's preferred successor doesn't want to take on the job in the middle of the season.

Earlier reports suggested that Chris Mullin could be a candidate for the job. He serves as an advisor to the organization presently and owner Vivek Ranadive is said to like the idea of adding a name with so much cache to the bench. Mullin also has the confidence of general manager Pete D'Alessandro.

While Mullin has no coaching experience - he was a general manager in Golden State before landing in the Queen City - the rest of the season could be an opportunity for him to learn and grow comfortable in his eventual role. According to Amick, Mullin will begin to get more involved with the team in practices and with planning, specifically on the offensive end, though he has no current plans to coach the team.

That echoes earlier reports from ESPN that Mullin was unlikely to take his first coaching job mid-season, and if he were to take it, he'd do so to start 2015-16.

So the job is Corbin's for the time being, it seems, a nice second chance for him after a somewhat disappointing four-year stretch with the Utah Jazz. It would seem he should be keen to employ some of the more extreme ideas ownership has in mind, so the next few months should be fun.