The Sacramento Kings are probing University of Kentucky coach John Calipari about his interest in taking over the franchise's front-office and coaching jobs, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Calipari has been communicating with owner Vivek Ranadive and other members of the Kings' ownership group in recent weeks, league sources said. Calipari has listened to scenarios with which the Kings could offer him complete control of the franchise's fledgling basketball operations to go along with coaching, league sources said.

View photos John Calipari guided Kentucky to the Final Four this past season. (AP) More

No formal offer has been made to Calipari, and Kings ownership understands that it will take a multiyear financial package of $10 million-plus annually to get Calipari to seriously consider leaving Kentucky, sources said.

In recent weeks, Sacramento ownership's intrigue with Calipari has only grown with the dissolution of the relationship between All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins and coach George Karl, sources said.

Calipari coached Cousins at Kentucky for a season in 2009-10, and Ranadive believes Calipari could help serve as a mechanism to convince Cousins to back away from his desire to be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, sources said. As much as anything, Calipari represents one more potential change of direction, as well as a public-relations splash for Ranadive.

Sacramento ownership, dismayed over Karl's fractured relationship with Cousins, has had lawyers studying Karl's contract, trying to determine if there's a way to terminate him for "cause," and free themselves of the three years and nearly $10 million left guaranteed on his deal, league sources told Yahoo Sports. If the Kings cannot convince Calipari to come to Sacramento – or never make a formal offer – Karl could simply remain as coach.

Sacramento's case on trying to get out of paying Karl his contract would be based in part on his involvement in mounting a campaign to get Cousins traded, sources said. The possibility of getting Karl ousted without pay is remote.

Calipari signed a seven-year, $54 million extension a year ago to stay at Kentucky. He turned down an eight-year, $60 million-plus offer to run the Cleveland Cavaliers before LeBron James made his return in free agency last year.

Nevertheless, Calipari's monstrous success at Kentucky – and his election into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this year – has further fueled his intrigue on pursuing a return to the NBA, league sources said. He had some interest in the New Orleans Pelicans' coaching opening, but that organization had no interest in turning its franchise over to him, sources said.

At Kentucky, Calipari has gone 190-37 (.837) with a national title and four Final Fours.

View photos The relationship between coach George Karl and DeMarcus Cousins has unraveled. (Getty Images) More

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