The latest volley was lobbed Thursday night in the far-too-public Mike Brown contract negotiations. The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Kings have made a “competitive” offer for 3 years and $21 million, with incentives that could bring it as high as $27 million.
The Sacramento Kings have made a competitive offer to head coach Mike Brown on a contract extension – three years and $21 million through 2026-27, up to $27 million with bonuses, sources say. So far, no agreement. Brown is believed to be seeking around $10 million annually.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 31, 2024
The inclusion of calling this a “competitive” offer is both laughable and painfully transparent that this intel came from the Kings organization and/or ownership. $7 million per year a day after Ty Lue signed a 5 year deal worth $14 million per year is so completely tone deaf.
But the real issue here is the way the Kings are showing their cheapness so publicly. Let’s be clear, it seems likely that a deal gets done and Mike Brown will probably end up making somewhere between $8-$9 million per year. But it’s embarrassing that the Kings are dragging out negotiations, and making them public in a way that only harms the reputation of the organization. It’s unbelievable that the org is willing to sacrifice their public image over a couple million dollars.
And yes, I know a million dollars is still a ton of money, but not in NBA terms. If you own an NBA team, a million here or there (especially when it doesn’t count against the cap) is simply the cost of the business you’re in. If that’s an issue, get out of the industry. For context, the Kings paid $550k to Nerlens Noel and Neemias Queta for a couple weeks of training camp before cutting them to sign JaVale McGee. $3 million per year is less than the Kings are paying Chris Duarte. That’s the difference you’re going to upset your coach and your fans over?
The Kings have every right to negotiate with Mike Brown. That’s smart business. But airing your dirty laundry and exposing how cheap you’re being is just foolish, especially when free agency is coming up and the Kings are going to try to convince players that this is a serious organization worth joining. The Kings are also still trying to convince Malik Monk to return for less than what the open market can offer him. And don’t kid yourself, the players will notice how the organization is handling this.
I feel confident that an extension will get worked out, the Kings just need to quit leaking the ugly details of the process.
😂😂😂 – courtesy Greg:
Lol. Got a good chuckle out of this one 🙃
Lmao. Peak use of the meme.
How does this not have more upvotes??
Vivek’s ego continues to drag the Kings down.
I don’t like him as an owner, and I never have. It’s why I can’t stand that he brings Vlade back. And that he’s always lurking. And maybe that’s why they didn’t do anything this year when they should have.
Either way, just get the fuck out of basketball. That would be the best way for the kings to get better. Vivek sucks
The Kings trade for Cash Consideration damn near every year, but can’t afford to pay a head coach the market rate.
What are the odds of Mr. Considerations coming back during the upcoming draft? I wouldn’t be a surprise to see them trade back from #13 or even simply sell the 2nd rounder (once again) to see Cash in a Kings jersey again.
Since the Kings seem to often take the cheap, low-upside, crap on the fans route, I’d say it’s something like 50% that they make the pick at all. Odds of trading the 2nd for cash are more like 75%. Which is a shame, as Monte seems to be pretty decent at picking in the 2nd round (Hardy, Queta, Tillman are all on NBA rosters, while Hardy just got playoff run on a Finals-bound team).
The Hardy and Tillman picks were probably made by other teams as a deal was already in place. So basically Monte just selected the player that those teams wanted.
Queta didn’t do much.
K J Martin
I just don’t know why anyone is surprised by this. Vivek has been cheap from the moment he bought the team. He’s still a bad owner. One playoff appearance hasn’t changed any of that.
We had one full season that had no drama in 2022-23. It was nice while it lasted…
Meh, better if this didn’t leak, but not a big deal imo.
Wait until after next season(he still has things to prove) or if they really feel they need to get it done, increase the bonus money. If Brown isn’t willing to bet on himself I don’t want him long term anyway.
If you’re Mike Brown, do you have any confidence in this front office to improve the team this offseason? Hard to feel good betting on yourself with one hand tied behind your back. Mike was overall underwhelming this season (particularly on the offensive side of the ball), but I keep coming back to 1) getting this roster to the top half of DTRG with this frontcourt 2) the sh&t sandwich that was the wing rotation.
If he feels that way, he should be looking to get out of here asap anyway. Maybe that’s what he’s doing
The defense improved once Huerter went down and he was basically forced to start Keon. If Huerter did not get injured, I don’t know how much better the defense would have improved because he would have kept playing Huerter.
The guy who started KZ Okpala, brought in Chima Moneke and Javale (who he played over Len) and refused to play Keon until he had no choice? Yeah, i don’t care much about what his thought on the FO are.
Definitely some of the lowlights of the Brown era, no question. I still think Brown can’t be that confident in this FO. It’s nice to have confidence in your boss.
This is speculation.
It might be that Monte and Brown together decided that roster stability was paramount and would lead to internal improvement?
Head coaches almost never remain until the end of their contract. They are either extended the summer prior or are fired. He’ll be thrown under the bus if anything goes bad this next season. Whether Monte doesn’t improve the roster, If Monk walks, if Sabonis has a season ending injury, it will Brown who will be the fall guy to save face for Kings brass. That is why coaches don’t want to go into a lame duck season.
Then why not pick the option up and tell Vivek that he expects an extension soon . Still has a guaranteed 10 million ? Seems blame all around .
If I’m not mistaken, it’s a mutual option.
There’s a few of us like me and you that are fine with letting the contract situation ride into the season and see what MB can do with the roster. If we don’t make the playoffs next season, I don’t think he deserves some massive contract or perhaps even to retain the job.
How do we know that Vivek & FO are leaking this and not Brown. It would make sense he would do this by putting pressure on them and making them look bad.
I think this one and the original Woj post about the gulf in negotiations were leaked by Brown’s agent more than likely
Shams editorializing that the offer is “competitive” smacks of a FO leak, not a Brown leak, as does Cunningham’s undocumented comment that the offer mirrors Jason Kidd’s recent extension. The Brown camp would have no reason to convey this offer as competitive or in line with Kidd’s offer.
Are they trying to publicly insult Mike? Because that’s what this looks like.
I should like to be “insulted” by being offered 21 million guaranteed over 3 years, with a possibility to make it 27 million.
Let’s say that you are aware that someone in your industry – with a similar resume and track record of success – just got paid twice that much as what your employer is publicly offering you? How are you feeling about that offer?
I did a quick look for top 10 coaches by pay rate. https://www.basketballinsiders.com/news/top-ten-highest-paid-nba-coaches/
I note that at 7 mil per year I am making the top 10 but just barely, and some of these deals are going to go up in price. Like Spolestra who will ultimately get to 15 or so with his new deal. So am I insulted at 7 which again puts me in the top 10? Nope, do I want more than that? Yes I do, but do I find it insulting no I don’t. At my requested 10 mil per year I would currently be paid as a top 3 coach on this list. (understanding that will drop as other deals get added to the list) So yeah still not insulted at 21 mil.
This list is out of date.
Kerr is at $17.5M
Pop at $16M
Spo at $15M
Lue is around $14M
Monty $13.5
Budenholzer $10M
Nurse $8M
Kidd also got a raise but the numbers aren’t out there. Safe to assume he’s somewhere in that range as well.
$7M per year is not in the top 10 anymore, and as other coaches have their contracts come up they will be getting bigger raises as well. Locking into $7M/yr now means you’re going to be in the bottom half of coaching payrolls within a year or two.
(hat tip to Omer who had compiled these numbers)
Top of the bottom half sounds like play-in teams that didn’t make the playoffs.
Coach salaries should only be determined by the prior season’s standings?
Should they be solely determined by the highest contracts?
i have constantly asked what Brown’s leverage is in a league where many fight for a spot as head coach.
The leverage is that if the Kings don’t get a deal done, Monk may walk, you compromise yourself in free agency with a lame duck coach, and you risk what positive momentum that you have with the current roster.
Brown won’t be destitute if a deal does not get done, but the Kings greatly increase the likelihood that they will be wrecked.
The leverage is two parts:
1. If they have another good season, I think they will be happy to pay. That is one of the main issues. Having to commit after one great season and one okayish season.
2. How many coaches have walked away in the past after their team placed an offer on the table? I can’t remember an instance.
Are OKC and Twolves cheap with their more successful coaches ?
Kidd was making like $8M/yr before, and just got a raise that hasn’t been made public. So, yeah, all due respect to Sean, I’m calling BS on this one.
Not lost on me is that fact that Dallas played well over .700 ball over the last 33 games of the season, in which they separated themselves from the Kings, finishing four games better than Sacramento. The Mavs made trades for both Gafford and Washington, both of whom have helped the team immensely. Advantage: Mavericks front office, by a wide, wide margin. But Monte has his extension in his pocket, so…
My hot take? Give Brown the Mavs roster and he delivers a better record than Jason Kidd.
And that is the thought process that results in seven head coaches in eleven years of ownership.
This.
What are the coaches of Minneasota / OKC making ? I bet less than Brown is turning down and small markets with more success . He is not being insulted by 21 million guaranteed .
I think an 8-9 mil offer is good, for 3 years with possibilities for bonuses. And the contract starts next year, so after year 2 of the new deal if they’re still spinning their wheels at 45 wins, and getting bounced out in the play in/1st round…maybe time to move on, or give him one last shot in his 5th year. Don’t understand why so many fans and media are getting bent out of shape over this, I honestly don’t think Brown deserves 10-11 or more and be paid like a top 5 coach..at least not right now. He hasn’t really done all that much when you think about it, one good 48 win season…but that year, the West and most of the league were having down years. There’s really no way 48 should get you 3rd in a conference and win a division title. And that was with being insanely healthy. It was nice he helped us snap that hideous drought, but then McNair also added Keegan, Monk & Huerter. It was Domas’ first full season, and Fox had the 2nd best year of his career. So the success wasn’t all because of Brown. I just think Brown and his strategy/decisions seemed really off last year.
Well, the latest is that they are offering Brown $7m (guaranteed – the rest is tied up in incentives) a year, not $8-9m.
For what it’s worth, he has had this team for two seasons and has beaten the Vegas over/under both seasons. Other than Erik Spoelstra, I’m hard pressed to think of a coach that could have coaxed more wins out of this imbalanced roster.
You’re not only paying for Brown. You’re paying for symmetry and continuity and stability, which is something that this organization has had only during the Adelman years. 31 years of shitshow vs. 8 years of Adelman. And while the Kings should not simply give money away, it is important to note that none of Brown’s salary counts against the salary cap.
When you take the time to factor risk vs. reward, as well as pros and cons and the odds of getting someone better / worse than Brown in here?
Pay the man.
I see your points Rob but I just think honestly think Brown didn’t look so great last year….sure he has a great personality and is good at motivating/leading, but think he’s severely lacking when it comes to the finer points, of strategy, adjustments etc. Didn’t like quite a few of his late game decisions, and timeouts or lack of a timeout. He seemed a little out of the loop when it came to challenges also, would challenge things that seemed unlikely they would win, but wouldn’t challenge calls that seemed blatant or obvious. His rotations were really weird also, especially the first half of the season.
The measuring stick is 23 bad or really bad years, but it’s good also to have higher standards, even for an under performing franchise. I don’t always like continuity just for continuity’s sake, it has to be the right person. Even though it was a screw job on Malone when he was fired because Cousins had meningitus, there’s no proof Brown can lead this team to being a real contender and win it all like Malone did with Denver. If the Kings can’t get 50-52 wins and get out of the first round next season, I would consider going in another direction. Could always give him a 4th year as one last shot but I think if they retain Monk, and upgrade over HB..there’s no real reason this team can’t be a top 5-8 team. They have the talent.
Meant to say 8-9 would be good/fair.
I’m really not all that worked up about this.
It’s a business that partly takes place in public, even such negotiations. But it is a business.
Few owners throw around money like Balmer, and the Pistons got ridiculed for the deal they gave Williams. Unless a coach is a hot commodity, their leverage isn’t all that great. Unless some team assured Brown that they will pick him up after next season (and a lot can change in a season), he’s far from guaranteerd another HC job in such a small and crowded what-have-you-achieved-lately market.
Also, what is your measuring stick? Lue and Williams, or guys like Nick Nurse and Jason Kidd, who make about $ 8 million?
Also, the hand-wringing of people in Twitter that this makes it harder to re-sign Monk or will chase away Sabonis and Fox. They know it’s a business too.
Brown is a decent coach, maybe even good. We were able to attract decent coaches when we were a mess (who mostly didn’t succeed because of bad rtosters and bad GM’s) and we will also find decent coaches if Brown is leaving.
More important is what Monte does on the draft/trades/FA signing front.
The timing of this seems suspect. There is an art to leaking information and this one happened to drop almost immediately after a certain presidential legal bomb dropped in NY. Stinks of a Friday news dump.
Yeah, not a fan of that, but even so, it’s a small blimp on the NBA radar.
In a vacuum, I agree with you. But the history of organization shitnanigans cannot be denied or ignored. I mean, was Anjali in Stockton as a lark, or was she testing the waters to eventually become GM of the Kings? That is a laughable question for many NBA teams, but it is a question that resonates more here due to the track record of Kings ownership and front offices.
I’m not worked up over it as much as I am just (a) shaking my head and (b) preparing for the worst case scenario (nice working with you, Mike – Hello Mark Jackson!), with the soundtrack of “This is why we can’t have nice things” playing in my head.
Anjali in Stockton was not to make her future GM but to get her exposure to the business that she will one day be running as owner. Training future owner on how NBA operations work makes sense to me particularly in Stockton which is where everyone goes to get more experience and improve.
And yet, you cannot completely rule out shitnanigans, because “Kangz.” Which was my point as it pertains to the Brown contract situation. Because of their history – even restricted to the Ranadive years – this organization needs to be above reproach. And I think they are missing the mark right now.
Why did she quit soon after one of Stockton’s players was charged with murder ?
based on your comment, it appears you are overlooking how an early extension to Brown might improve the chances of resigning Monk. That’s where the analysis should be.
How? Whatever you say, it would be pure speculation.
Maybe Monk would think that with another coach he’d get a starting spot?
that’s your blind spot. and it’s reaaaalllly important.
Maybe convince me with a persuasive argument?
Every article, radio show, podcast, etc. mentions Malik Monk at some point when talking about this issue, including Greg’s article here. Although they do not go into the detail I would like, they all mention it.
With that in mind, instead of putting the onus on me to convince you, I’d prefer an open discussion of whether an early extension for Coach Brown would improve the chances of resigning Monk on a separate thread with input from others.
The mentions of Monk’s situation that I’ve seen in articles about MB’s contract negotiations simply point to it as something that also will require the attention of the FO. I have not seen anything that leads me to believe that Monk will be more or less likely to stay here based on an extension for MB.
I don’t get conflating MB’s contract situation with Monk’s. Monk is worried about getting his bag and MB his. I don’t think either gives a sh!t about what the other gets and under what circumstances.
I think most agree that if the team had to decide this summer whether or not to continue with Brown as coach, the answer would be yes. we can stack up all the criticisms we want but the sum total of the pros and cons is positive.
the early extension issue is all about improving the chances of resigning Monk. Just go through it, step by step: prior to June 30, then June 30, and after.
How is the sum total positive?
I recently had a whole comment detailing his pros and cons and it was overwhelmingly cons. And those were specific coaching issues, not roster issues.
I read those and said they were mostly fair criticisms. I never said that you listed the positives or did any final weighing of the pros and cons. the conclusion you had was to wait and see how the year goes.
What neither you nor I factored in at the time was the Malik Monk situation. and that is still absent in your analysis.
Why would you believe that ? Monk will take the most money he can get and that isn’t speculation .
If Monk hasn’t explicitly stated that he will take the most money he can get, then it is speculation.
So..what has Monk said?
Monk wants to start and Brown likes him off the bench so how is Brown an asset to signing Monk?
Because Brown gave Monk the freedom and the system to showcase skills he didn’t or couldn’t elsewhere, worthy of sixth man of the year, so that this coming summer Monk now has the opportunity to make many more millions of dollars than he probably would have under another coach.
Also, if starting is a sticking point in negotiations, Brown can change his mind.
Are your Celtics trying to get Monk?
Well said RS. You’ve nailed it consistently on the MB situation.
Leopards don’t change their spots.
Vivek Ranadive was listed as the NBA’s worst owner (and GM Divac the worst GM) when they last showed the polling (life before COVID stuff).
He beat out Jimmy Dolan at the time, and that was quite a feat considering the large number of NYK fans. And Charles Oakley (I kid, I kid).
He fires Michael Malone. He places The Substitute Teacher at the helm (sorry, Ty Corbin, you are a good guy, but that was silly). He hires George Karl, but refuses to follow his advice (trade Boogie Cousins). He fires D’Alessandro in a weird way, and places “advisor” Vlade Divac, sports ambassador, but no GM experience, in his stead.
Is this a good time to bring up the Sacramento draft history with Luka Doncic looking regal for the Mavericks? There was no way on this green Earth that Bill Duffy (his agent) was having Luka coming to the Vivekly owned, small market located Sacramento Kings. No effin’ way. I digress. Stauskas? Anajli, Stockton King GM?
This guy has never been able to look past the mirror.
To the point: Vivek Ranadive is “our” franchise owner, but he has never been a good Governor. Ever. This is just another example.
.
the reason why Brown should be extended early is to improve the team’s chances of resigning Monk.
the numbers are not far apart. they can close that deal. don’t wait until June 30 to do it.
Yep. Unless you’re stealing Spoelstra from Miami, there is really no upside to prolonged (and public) contract talks, as it is doing you no favors when it comes to settling a roster with obvious holes.
I’m beginning to think Monte is already planning on loosing Monk. Paying Monk, paying the #13, and using the MLE to round out the roster puts the Kings into the tax. I’m still of the belief that he doesn’t have that blessing from ownership.
My glass half empty perspective is they could be setting up Brown to be the fall guy. 95% of the time the coach is fired when a team underperforms, even when it’s unwarranted (see Mike Malone). If Monte knows he’s not going to be able to improve the roster this summer, it would behoove him to have Brown on an expiring deal, and not on a multi-year extension, when the mid-season firing comes.
I’ll also add the other elephant in the room is Fox’s pending extension this summer. Potentially paying him $45M+ per year could be casting a long shadow on retaining Monk and extending Brown.
I am a Mike Brown supporter and think they should pay the man his 10 mil and be done. However I am not convinced that attempting to pay him less than that is an embarrassment. There is sentiment here on this site that is highly critical of Mike Brown. I don’t share those sentiments and think some of them are a bit unfair, especially considering the turn around accomplished on the defensive front, but criticism that is none the less regularly leveled here. Could some of that be baked into the consideration of MB and his contract by the front office, could be. Maybe they don’t see him with the same purple colored glassed I do. Perhaps they have a more balanced view than I or the hyperbolic MB haters.
Also feels like people are bad at understanding negotiating. If you start high you have nowhere to go. You start low and far apart and slowly work toward a place where people can be satisfied. Is this offer on the low side? Yes. Is it so low as to be insulting I say no. Was his demand on the high side? I say yes. Was it so high as to be insulting I again say no.
Mike Brown had publicly made known his number and now the team is doing the same. We now know the two outer bounds of what have been offered and should expect some settlement someplace in between. My guess is they land on a higher base salary which doesn’t hit 10 mil and with incentives that can push it to 10 mil or maybe past 10 mil. But what those incentives are and what triggers said incentives can be strongly negotiated by both sides. In football they even categorize them as Likely to be Earned or Unlikely to be earned. Same thing here. Probably a combination of both types would be needed to make this all work.
This is where I land, too. Kangziness is always going to rear its ugly head with Vivek, but negotiating a coach’s salary isn’t that big a deal to me. Even if it’s ill-advised to publicize the terms, I don’t find the offer to be particularly insulting. This feels like much ado about nothing.
I wonder why Brown’s team would make this public?
Is there a pattern with coaches and Vivek?
Brown’s team didn’t make this public.
If Brown’s team leaked it with this wording they are brilliant and devious.
Brown’s team is smart or someone in the Kings front office is smart?
Hard choice…
How do we know who did?
Just saying…using public shame against an owner that has history of stupidity is not a bad tool for a negotiation.
The more I think about this, the more I’m convinced Brown leaked the “negotiations have been tabled” report from last week. That report put a lot of external pressure on ownership and makes them look bad. I can see no conceivable reason why Vivek, as careless as he is, would have leaked the initial report. There was simply no advantage to the kings in doing that. So I chalk this up to a shrewd negotiating tactic by Brown.
Brown’s camp didn’t make this public.
Because Greg said so?
Players do it all the time. Same agents representing coaches.
He’ll never do it, but if Vivek is gun-shy about paying the new market rate for his incumbent head coach that–this past season’s questionable decisions notwithstanding–is the best HC the team has had since Adelman and has earned an extension, he should sell his controlling interest in the team (at a massive profit) and become the wealthiest Kings fan in the world. Or become a Warriors fan again. Who cares. Just sell, if $2mil/yr means that much to you in the context of the modern NBA.
Of course, well run organizations don’t do this. They negotiate quietly and reach an extension with their coach. But, even so, if the Kings reach an agreement with Brown over the summer, this will be forgotten within a few weeks.
Get this over with. Soon. It is embarrassing. Pay the man the money. Over 8 million and up to 10.
There are more important issues like getting an improved roster.
If this continues like it’s going and then later this summer Monk signs elsewhere, I believe that the Kings are going to lose fans.
And what seemed like a window to an improved roster and coaching staff and winning basketball will start closing far sooner than I’d hoped.
Enjoying the games during the regular season, I can forget how Kings ownership is such a mess.
Do not agree on Monk . He will sign where he can get the most money . Also, that may be the Kings since only a few teams have cap room and may not need Malik .
At this point, Monk’s motivations are pure speculation. Monk’s demand on the market is also guesswork. I think that Spurs ownership would love the idea of a Monk-Wemby pick-and-roll, but who knows? We’ll see when we see.
As for the Kings value of Monk, I’ve heard the Kings cap situation explained elsewhere, and I’m fairly certain that resigning Monk is the Kings’ top priority, because if they lose him, they won’t have all of that offer to find a replacement.
And on a team that needs more rather than less playmakers, that sounds like a bad idea.
KANGZ! They should be 100% focused on improving the roster. They should have figured out whether to extend Brown in April, when the team sank like a rock after Monk was injured. And leaking is for losers. Tell Brown you’re disappointed with the lack of internal improvement since that was obviously the agreed-upon strategy last year, and he can wait until next year to negotiate. And keep your mouth shut. KANGS LIVE, unfortunately.
While Brown is trying with some clearly measurable success to change the culture of the locker room into a winner, ownership seems to be doing its best to subvert those efforts.
As Greg wrote in the article, it’s “so completely tone deaf.”
It fails in many ways.
The problem with the small amount of success the Kings had the last ywo hears is that it felt more like something that was bound to happen randomly eventually rather than the product of much changing. Vivek is still a problem, Monte and Brown are really just above average or pretty good IMO but would be viewed as average on a good franchise. This fanbase has suffered enough I’m hoping something lucky happens and we get better because the basketball Gods and karma are our only chance.
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