The Sacramento Kings plan to keep Doug Christie on as head coach, according to Sam Amick.
“With the Kings (22-59) falling well short of their internal expectations, and league-wide speculation that they might move on from Christie at season’s end, the decision has been made to continue forward with the 55-year-old, first-time head coach.”
Amick goes on to report that the main reasons for the Kings keeping Christie is because there were roster issues beyond his control (recovering from the work that still needs to be done following the De’Aaron Fox trade and all of the injuries this season.) This “made an already-challenging situation worse in the eyes of the team’s decision-makers and led to the conclusion that Christie deserves more time to prove himself in the position. As such, the choice has been made to keep Christie at the coaching helm for the start of next season and continue the evaluation from there.”
Christie signed a three-year deal last offseason. According to Amick, “that contract includes two guaranteed seasons (approximately $2 million annually) and a team option for the 2027-28 campaign that would include a significant raise if it was exercised.”
The Kings end the season 26th in offensive rating, 28th in defensive rating, and 28th in net rating. Sacramento took a league-low 30.3 three-point attempts per game and shot 34% from three, tied for last. The Kings were 28th in points per game (111). On the other side of the ball, the Kings allowed opponents to shoot 49.4% from the field (29th) and 37.9% from three (29th).
The development of some of the team’s young players this season was a positive, specifically Maxime Raynaud, who finished the season averaging 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds on 57% from the field.
It was a disappointing season all around though. It is worth pointing out that Amick reported that Christie will be the coach for the start of next season and that the “evaluation” will continue from there.
We’ll keep you updated as news in the aftermath of this painful season unfolds.
The only coach who can beat the tanking allegations. lol
When you are judged by excuses and not accomplishments, you get what you pay for.
Excuses provided by ownership/FO
Well said.
Doug is coach for three reasons:
Id be more impressed if the FO released this statement:
Because Christie did such a fantastic job toeing the company line we have decided to retain him for the 26-27 season. In addition his below market rate also played a major role in this decision. While we are always looking for ways to improve the organization we feel it is important to keep operating costs low.
They probably realized that no decent head coach would want this job for next season or until major roster and organizational changes are made and kept Christie as the puppet. Is that harsh? Sure. Is it also probably at least partially true? Sadly I think it is.
The Kings will never get a decent head coach until Vivek is willing to accept the role of owner/fan. Sit courtside and cheer. That should be his role and we as fans shouldnt hear anything else from Vivek.
The team did themselves no favors by trying to “explain” why they decided to keep going with Doug.
It reminds me of when they tried to “explain” that Monk had impressed them with his high energy when they couldn’t find a trade for him in the off-season. Doug is being retained simply because he’s a cheap yes-man. The connection to the glory years helps but in the end I don’t think is a deciding factor.
If the Kings draft 5th or later, I get it. Doug is cheap and is simply a placeholder for another shitty season.
If, however, the Kings land one of the top 3 prospects, Perry needs to think long and hard about getting a proper young and eager coaching staff to develop with said prospect. OKC did it with Daigneault, Spurs have done it with Mitch Johnson, Nets are doing it with Jordi, and Utah is doing it with Hardy.
Not to be an agist, but Doug is one of the oldest, yet least experienced, coaches in the league and so is his bench. If you give him a young prospect to share the court with Sabonis, LaVine, or even DDR, he’s going to prioritize winning and feeding those vets at the expense of development. I stress that by saying the only reason Maxime, Nique, Carter, and Dylan got minutes this year was because of injuries and the total lack of depth on an unbalanced roster. Had Sabonis, Keegan, or even Hunter been healthy, the Kings young bucks would have been floundering in Stockton. The Kings stumbled into their prospect development not by intent, but by necessity.
If you land a franchise cornerstone, clean slate everything from top to bottom and prioritize him and the future.
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