Sacramento Kings Pick Dick Motta : Basketball: Former Dallas Mavericks coach says he is no miracle maker but promises to make the team better.

Former Dallas Mavericks Coach Dick Motta accepted the head coaching post with the Sacramento Kings today with a promise to make the Kings better but a warning that he is not a miracle maker.

The Kings, currently third worst in the National Basketball Assn. with a 7-20 record, said Motta will take the reins of the Kings after tonight’s game against Denver.

Motta retired from the Dallas Mavericks in 1987 after 19 seasons as an NBA head coach in Chicago, Washington and Dallas.

Neither the Kings nor Motta, third winningest coach in NBA history, disclosed terms of Motta’s contract, but Motta said he is “elated” to be joining the Kings.

“I think this is a situation that is suited for me, and I hope I’m suited for the Sacramento Kings,” Motta said at a news conference announcing his appointment. “I don’t consider myself a miracle worker of any type. I’m a plodder, and things will get better gradually.”

“I’m fairly old. My fangs aren’t as sharp as they used to be, but there’s still a spark there and the juices are running,” the 58-year-old Motta said.

“I’ve never failed in my life, and I’m not about to here,” Motta added. “I don’t think it’s going to be a piece of cake for the next year and a half. But I guarantee we’ll get better. . . . I’ve had three teams in the NBA, and all of them won a division. All of them won 50 games, and this one will, too.”

The team said Jerry Reynolds will coach his final Kings game tonight, with Motta observing, and that Motta will take over coaching duties for Saturday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

During his NBA career, Motta had 808 wins and 750 losses. He won one Coach-of-the-Year award, with Chicago in 1972, and an NBA title with Washington in 1978. In his last season in Dallas, Motta led the Mavericks to a 55-27 first-place record.

The Kings’ search for a new coach began Dec. 19, when they fired Bill Russell as vice president for basketball operations and announced that Reynolds would move up from head coach to a newly created position of player personnel director with most of Russell’s former duties.

Reynolds, who has coached the team both before and after Russell’s unsuccessful stint as head coach in the 1987-88 season, headed the Kings’ latest search for a new head coach.

Until today, former Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks Coach John MacLeod was considered the front-runner for the Kings post. Golden State Warriors assistant Coach Mike Schuler and Orlando Magic assistant Bob Weiss were also interviewed for the post.

MacLeod, who was fired by the Mavericks on Nov. 29, was in Sacramento last weekend to interview for the job.

“I’m not disappointed at all,” MacLeod told radio station WBAP in Ft. Worth today after learning that Motta was hired. “You don’t want to be in a situation where you’re not wanted.”

Motta is leaving his position as a Detroit Pistons broadcaster.