The Sacramento Kings had one of the worst starts an organization could have imagined coming into the offseason. Rampant trade rumors surrounding its franchise player DeMarcus Cousins dominated the sports news cycle for weeks, which eventually turned into reports of team owner Vivek Ranadive wanting to fire head coach George Karl, and the whole situation eventually spiraled into free agents not wanting to be in Sacramento.

It appears to have taken a turn for the better Monday night, as Cousins and Karl shook hands during a Kings summer league game.

"I said hello to him this afternoon," Karl told Yahoo Sports. I don't think it's something we have to rush through. You got two guys that are very frustrated with losing, two guys that re somewhat stubborn and two guys that love to compete.

"Sometimes, that doesn't work the first time you hang around. But you have to take your time to make it work. I' very confident to make it work."

Karl was hired by the Kings on Feb. 8, and given a four-year $14 million contract. He coached 30 games for the Kings this past season and tallied an 11-19 record.

As noted by Marc Spears, the tension between the coach and the star player reached a peak when Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported before the NBA Draft that Karl wanted to trade Cousins. Soon after, Karl publicly stated that Cousins was the Kings' best player and that the franchise needed him to be "committed and dedicated to being in Sacramento."

Spears reports that Cousins declined to comment about his coach when asked Sunday, offering succinctly that he was "straight."

"Cousins felt like if Karl wanted [him] to be traded, then he wanted to be traded too," a source close to situation said, according to Spears.

Kings Vice President of Basketball Operations Vlade Divac stood firm amidst the rumors that the team would not be trading Cousins.

"It's going in a good direction," Divac said recently. "I have a goal for the two to be in a great place. And they will be."