Report: Kings plan to fire George Karl on Thursday

The Sacramento Kings don't plan to waste any time in dispatching head coach George Karl. The Kings are expected to fire Karl on Thursday, a day after the conclusion of the regular season, sources confirmed to ESPN.

The Sacramento Bee was first to report the news.

Karl's job status has been in flux since before the season, with the Kings' brass reportedly mulling firing him as early as last June - just four months after he was hired. He again seemed set to receive his walking papers in February, before the front office had a last-second change of heart.

Karl's brief tenure in Sacramento has been defined by his rocky relationship with mercurial superstar DeMarcus Cousins. The two have seemingly been at odds since Karl was hired at last year's All-Star break, and though they've claimed at various points to have smoothed things over, the tension has never slackened.

On top of his apparent inability to coexist with the franchise center, Karl hasn't brought about the kind of cultural shift the Kings likely hoped for when they gave him a four-year, $15-million deal. The organization has remained a paragon of dysfunction, and hasn't qualified for the postseason since 2006.

The Kings flirted with playoff contention for a minute in late January, when a five-game winning streak brought them to within spitting distance of the eighth seed in the Western Conference. But they immediately fell apart after that, losing eight of their next nine games, and never threatened again.

The Kings will still win at least 33 games this season, which is, amazingly, the most they've won in eight years. But they'll fall short of the postseason for the 10th straight season. The next coach they hire will be their 12th in 12 years.

Karl has an estimated $10 million in guaranteed money left on his deal.