There was a reason Rick Pitino's name entered the fray in Wednesday's paper,but his decision to gauge the Maloof's interest in him as a coaching candidate raises one all-important question about his resume'. Does he use Reggie Theus as a reference? Just wondering...

As for the viability of the situation regarding Pitino, there have been rumblings for some time now that he was looking for a way out for reasons of both the personal and professional nature. In fact, our own Ailene Voisin asked Kings Basketball president Geoff Petrie about Pitino in an indirect way on the day Kenny Natt was let go. I dug into the voice recorder to get his response, which was...Q (from Voisin): "Would you look at the college ranks, at coaches who had coached in the NBA, are you open to that?"A (from Petrie): "Ummm (followed by a legitimate five-second pause)...I think that you have to have somebody that has had some level of success in the NBA at this point."

While my sources had indicated that the Maloofs are intrigued by the possibility of Pitino running the show, the other factors involved - from his current contract to his potential expectations on a possible new deal with the Kings - qualify this as a longshot (yes, I realize Pitino has said he isn't going anywhere but what else can he say right now?). Truth be told, I continue to hear that Eddie Jordan is the frontrunner that for some reason hasn't been brought in yet, even if every passing day means the increased likelihood that Philadelphia puts interim coach Tony DiLeo in the front office and swoops in and picks Jordan up.

As for the fact notion that they're waiting for someone to fall out of the sky from the postseason, the only new possibility to keep an eye on would be Mike Woodson. The Atlanta coach and former Kings player is down 0-2 in his second-round series against Cleveland, so who knows if he comes under fire if the Hawks get swept. Woodson has one more season guaranteed on his contract, though, so that situation wouldn't be simple to navigate through either. - Sam Amick

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