There's been enough smoke that this fire isn't all that surprising. There have been talks of Vlade being over his head for months now. Earlier this month Zach Lowe reported on a podcast with Sam Amick that Vlade wasn't aware of the stretch provision at the time of the trade with Philadelphia.

As Kings fans, we've often dismissed these reports as part of the "national narrative". We were wrong. Vlade and Vivek are acknowledging as much.

Now, it's a step in the right direction that the Kings will address this issue, but bigger concerns remain. Where is Mike Bratz? Wasn't he kept on to fill this exact role? Or was he kept in the front office the same way Ty Corbin works in the front office?

If this is a real issue, as it now seems to be, why has it taken 11+ months to address? The Kings should have brought in someone such as Bobby Marks, the former assistant GM for the Nets who currently works for The Vertical explaining all the intricacies of the CBA.

All we can hope, I suppose, is that the Kings hire the GM first this time.