Now that Mike Brown has been named as Sacramento Kings head coach, the next big question is how Brown will assemble his coaching staff. Will he retain any members of the current staff, or will he start completely fresh?
I want to first clarify that regardless of any fondness I may have for any members of the previous coaching staff, my overriding desire is for Brown to build his coaching staff as he sees fit and without any input for Kings management or ownership. Who knows if that will happen, but it’s my biggest hope as the Kings attempt to move towards operating like a normal organization.
With that said, the Kings do have some interesting names on the bench who currently stand in limbo.
First, I would be very surprised if Doug Christie returns to the Kings bench next season. Nothing against Doug, obviously, but he was reportedly ownership’s preferred choice for interim head coach when Luke Walton was fired. If I’m Mike Brown entering the world of Kangz, the last thing I’d want is to be looking over my shoulder and wondering how long before Vivek decided that it was Doug’s turn. If the organization wants Doug to remain involved, I think it would make sense for him to join Bobby Jackson’s staff in Stockton unless Doug wanted to leave for an opportunity outside of the Sacramento area.
For me, the name I would most like to retain is Rico Hines. He’s known and respected by players throughout the league, but doesn’t seem to have head coach aspirations. I have no idea if he has any relationship with Mike Brown, or if Brown will want him to stick around, but he’s the assistant I’d be most disappointed to see leave.
On the player development side, the Kings also have Lindsey Harding and Stacey Augmon. Harding has been discussed as a rising star, and was a finalist to become head coach for the Stockton Kings.
Mike Longabardi, who was brought in just last season, was supposed to be the team’s defensive coordinator. The Kings ranked 27th in defensive rating, barely better than the previous year’s 30th ranked defense. I’d be surprised if he was retained, especially since Brown was hired specifically for his defensive acumen.
The last notable member of the current staff is Jonah Herscu. Herscu came from the Lakers with Luke Walton three years ago. He’s supposed to be well-liked by the team, but beyond that I don’t know much about him.
Aside from what happens to the current staff, I’m also curious to see what new staff Brown will bring to Sacramento. I’m hopeful we see him bring on a really strong lead assistant, and hopefully someone who is a bit of offensive guru.
I doubt we get much clarity on Brown’s staff until after the Warriors are finished with the playoffs, especially since Brown might bring an assistant or two from the Warriors staff, much like Ime Udoka brought Will Hardy with him from San Antonio to Boston.
We’ll provide updates when staffing announcements are made.
After last nite seems he best hire a defensive guru as well as one on offense .
This is ridiculous. 21 year history in the NBA with 21 years of proven success on the defensive end and you’re going to make a comment about the current best defense in the league that is organized and led by Mike Brown because of one PLAYOFF GAME where the warriors didn’t perform well. 🙄
Do us all (including yourself) a favor and leave these thoughts trapped in your head.
it’s merely my opinion Rock Bottom but a comment like this just makes you look bad.
You must be fun at parties.
I am.
I also don’t like dumb shit
… said a Kings fan.
One of us will look bad and I hope it’s me . Thanks but I just believe the Kings made a mistake by not going for a younger type like Ham ( someone has to be the next Udoka, Jenkins, Finch, Bickerstaff or Green ). . I stand on hire top assistants that can help in all areas .
I’m probably a long ways away from worrying about how Mike Brown coaches in the 5th game of a 2nd round playoff game.
I’d also ignore the fact that the Warriors are playing a playoff game where they didn’t have a ton of motivation to win in Memphis after a short turnaround and a long flight to Memphis from SF. It’s a recipe for horrible basketball, IMO.
As much as I hate the Warriors, personally, I think it’s silly the NBA doesn’t give an extra day off for long in conference flights like SF to Memphis. Let’s not do ourselves a disservice and act like it doesn’t take a toll in a 7 game playoff series. Especially when one of the teams is Memphis and the other is based in the Pacific TZ.
Meh. Flying as an NBA player isn’t the same as you and me. They literally don’t have to do anything except pack a change of clothes and show up to a place at a time. No security checks, no lining up for boarding, no delays, no knees in your chin, no flight attendants crop dusting your row, no fistfights over masks, no driving, parking, paying for bad food, rude gate agents, taxiing for 45 minutes, bathroom the size of a coffin, waiting 90 minutes for a rental car, and on and on. Traveling after a night game I can sympathize with due to the sleep interruption, but otherwise it feels like an excuse.
This isnt the first time it’s been a problem, or the last. That said, I’d agree this isn’t like flying commercial, but you and I aren’t playing basketball on live TV. The impact is different.
Will the Dubs make that excuse? No, but they weren’t in the game at any point last night. They were mentally checked out, and the travel probably had 5% to do with it (if that high). But it takes a toll on the Grizzlies, too.
I think it’s one of those things that seems not like a big deal, but I think it’s a bigger deal than sometimes get credit for.
……and they do it for years on end. Kind of used to it.
They were flat. Thought they had it made. Warriors are actually good enough to take a game off and rest. They will be fine.
Warriors after 36 consecutive flights around the earth vs KanGZ fresh without any real or fake injuries = Warriors win by more than 20.
Yea that’s a lame excuse, especially for the Warriors. they’ve done this how many times now? Klay showed up in the first quarter then after that they all looked lost
It’s not an excuse, but it is a factor. It certainly doesn’t help anything.
It’s a factor for all the teams left in the playoffs not just them. I mean look at Milwaukee: down double digits on the road against Boston without their second/ third best player and Giannis/Jrue come up big in the clutch to steal game 5. They also played into June last year.
It’s a problem for Dallas Phoenix too. It’s a Western Conference issue.
Wonder if Andre Iguodala could be convinced to join a coaching staff. Would love to see him on the Kings bench with Mike Brown. Brown has coached him for a total of 4 seasons in Golden State. With his defensive abilities as a player and knowledge of Mike Brown’s system, I think Iggy would be a great assistant coach for us.
Plus, he owes us one from 2013 free agency! Now that I think about it, the same thing will happen. He’ll use a coaching offer from the Kings to help him sign a better contract with the Warriors and replace Mike Brown as defensive coordinator. D’oh!
Does he have any experience coaching or any coaching aspirations for that matter?
This seems rhetorical.
Obviously, no coaching experience and I have no clue about his aspirations, hence me wondering about it.
I think it’s a fair thing to wonder. He’s essentially been a player-coach most of this season.
It would be the bee’s knees if Brown could somehow bring Atkinson with him from Golden State.
I’d be surprised, but I agree. I’ve seen Jill Adge mention Chris DeMarco as a possibility to come over from Golden State. He’s a younger guy who has started as an advanced scout and video coordinator and worked his way up to assistant coach.
Atkinson will be hired by Lakers or Hornets .
Jerry mentioned in the pod that Brown has to have full autonomy in choosing his staff as in the past other coaches have had to deal with Vivek placing certain guys in as assistant coaches which has undermined the HC at the given time. So I’d like to see DC and others retained, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Brown cleans house to get his guys and to avoid any future drama.
My hope is Vivek F’s off and lets Brown and McNair do their thing.
I hope he gets to choose. I would like Rico Hines to come back and Harding .and then DC. But if none, ok
I heard he may be interested in some of his coaches from the Nigerian National team. Kenny Atkinson would be fine except that “they” killed Kenny. He needs a defensive coach since he is now head coach. Get one of those young guys- like Charles Lee.
Looks like we’ll have to wait a while to find out about Brown’s staff. The Kings won’t announce anything until the Dubs finish their playoff run:
https://www.sacbee.com/sports/nba/sacramento-kings/article261375662.html
I’ll be very interested to see how this plays out. Although I think DC13 is a good choice to add to a staff even if he’s not a Mike Brown guy. Rico Hines, too.
The issue is that it should be Mike Brown’s choice, not the organizations. And therein lies the rub.
Yeah, as much as I might like those guys, Vivek has a history of putting people on coaching staffs that probably shouldn’t be there, not because there’s anything wrong with them but because the coaches likely don’t want them. Nancy Liberman with George Karl comes to mind, as does Gentry with Luke F. Walton. Both of the coaches in those instances were the problem (and not their assistants) but I’d rather not have the potential conflict of someone on staff who might be loyal to the owner in place of the coach.
I fully expect at least one assistant coach to be a Vivek stooge. Until that pattern is broken, it remains a pattern.
I don’t think it’s so much Vivek wanting a specific guy but rather a matter of budget, mostly.
We’ll see how this goes.
Budget? ok double up on jobs- Slamson can moonlight and the woman who ushers my row at the games and plate lady.
So keep the KaNGz as is?
Looking good!
That’s what I said? Otay, whatever.
You did say that Christie and Hines would be good choices.
Pretty sure they have coached here before. Lost a couple of games too.
So you are just purposely mischaracterizing my point so you can argue yours. Got it. Obfuscate away!
No not really. You did say you were ok with keeping Christie and Hines. Two existing coaches.
Keeping the same coaches…..same KanGZ but want a different result.
Do you take offense to everything?
Do you think that keeping the existing coaches when an entirely new culture is needed is a good idea?
This is literally a mischaracterization of what I said. I offered no opinion of whether assistant coaches contribute to a winning or losing culture. Your opinion seems to be such.
You aren’t important enough to be offended by. But it is annoying to have someone purposely mischaracterize my argument and obfuscate to the point where your weave a piece of my argument to fit your preferred narrative. It is the antithesis of quality conversation, or at least in my opinion it is.
I think there is value in continuity. I think assistant coaches are reflective of the tone, attitude and general feeling around a particular organization. But, like almost every player, they are individual contractors. They are neither cause nor cure, to use a phrase said often around these parts by a guy.
Which is why I said this:
FWIW, they have turned over assistants. The organization, simply put, has a culture problem, not an assistant coach problem. And that culture problem stems from the top (Vivek Ranadive), and a lack of continuity (not aligning Brown and McNair’s contracts would be a bad mistake) and, I would add, inappropriate use of resources to boot (constantly hiring/firing coaches, limiting budgets on coaches etc).
The reason to move on from assistants is simple: The head coach wants his/her own staff that he is comfortable with.
Too much garbage to read. Intelligence and usefulness both trump word count.
Yeah, I knew you were a dipshit.
Finally a clear and concise thought. You are capable.
My thought before that was clear and concise, too. It’s not my fault you expected a 5 paragraph idea to be condensed into grunting noises and 2 1/2 syllable words.
Your word count and personality are taking over again. There are ups and downs in everything.
Wut?
Your spelling has regressed to the level of your personality.
No front office or organizational moles, please.
Do you consider Doug Christie or Rico Hines moles? I really don’t, but I can see how it might be interpreted that way.
I would say that anyone that is on the staff at the behest of Vivek and/or Monte is a potential mole. Brown should have full autonomy and say in crafting his staff. If he is comfortable having Hines and/or Christie (or B-Jax, for that matter) on his staff, fine. If he is not, he should be free to select his own guys/gals.
I agree with this. I would also point out there are more talented coaches than there are spots for them. Comfort level matters, as you point out.
Heaven help with these comments. This may be the humdinger of all time.
They are part of the most losing culture in the history of the NBA.
Both great people and good coaches. Take the opportunity to eliminate any miniscule part of the losing culture.
No matter how the coaching staff is built, this is still my play-in starting 5:
Point Guard – Andy Sims
He always have a point.
Shooting guard – Marty
He shoots well, albeit with his camera
Center – Rik Smits
7’0″ Dutch waistline
Small Forward – 1951
Consistently bricking only 19 shots out of 51
Power Forward – Adamsite
He has powerful arguments. Doesn’t back down on anybody’s counterpoint.
With Greg as coach, no doubt.
You want to see Kings players with shorts down?
Didn’t realize Greg had a shorts down thing going on. But no, I prefer the players with their shorts on, unless somehow they play better with their shorts down I guess.
I would listen to Greg as the coach like Buddy listened to Luke Walton.
Anyone who has been there more than thirty seconds must be replaced. Time for a new culture.
Unfortunately Vivek and half of the roster have to stay…..
OT: With Philly collapsing once again, and likely looking to re-tool around Embiid, if they call up and offer Tobias Harris and Maxey for Fox, salary filler (Holiday?) and a future first, do you listen?
I’d listen. The financial commitment that frees up down the road on top of a new look roster to compete now has some appeal. Seeing if fox and Sabonis can figure something really cool out has another.
It’s an interesting thought exercise. You’d be surrounding Sabonis with potentially three 40% from 3pt shooters in Barnes, Harris, and Maxey. If the Kings drafted a shooting wing at #7 and apply Brown’s defensive schemes, you may have something. It’s not long term, but could it be the beginning of a turn around and new culture for the team?
I personally wouldn’t do that unless you’re absolutely convinced De’Aaron Fox is incapable of improving at this point. I realize the majority of TKH is down on Fox, but that’s just a horrible deal to make IMO.
I’m not worried about selling low on Fox. I’m worried that the Kings will have never made a good faith run at getting the best from De’Aaron Fox and they will have left money on the table by moving on out of frustration.
De’Aaron Fox is guilty of some things, no question. But the franchise is guilty of more and I’d like to know for sure that Fox isn’t that guy. Right now there’s so much doubt about the organization as a whole during Fox’s 5 years that I’d like to see what he does with an aligned FO and HC that has a better chance at success than any time previously in his 5 years.
I also realize this is the minority opinion and as such, I expect the common refrain is to say ‘what’s in the body of work that suggests such’? And my answer will remain the same: Faith. Faith, and a belief that this go around does work out better.
Which again, I know what the response to that is. And all I’m going to do is shrug. It’s all one can do at this point.
Aree- I would not do this trade. Fox has suffered from too many coaches and, I think, some unclear expectations as a PG. Once Hali left, Fox “improved”. Kings need some shooters to help with Fox and DS.
I think Philly fans revolt if Maxey is dealt, there’s just been too much tangible growth and improvement.
I just can’t see any universe where this happens. Maxey might be more valuable than Fox on day 1 of next season.
Do you remember when Doc Rivers was the genius coach? My point, any NBA coach can win a championship with the right roster even Doc Rivers.
I disagree a bit. Doc has had some of the best rosters this century on multiple teams, in fact I don’t think he’s had less than two all-stars/future hall of famers every year, but has been generally disappointing in the playoffs. He often gets out coached by teams with inferior talent but better coaching, see Spolstra, Pops, etc.
I, for one, have never really seen him as a genius coach, but a coach with gifted rosters that eventually disappoint.
You’re agreeing with me in case you didn’t know. Any NBA coach can win a championship with a talented roster even Doc.
And I’m saying average to sub-par coaches still loses with very good rosters.
Put it this way, I believe there are coaches in the league, 5 or so, that can pull blood from turnip of a roster and squeeze out more wins than the average coach can, especially in critical moments in the playoffs. Timely timeouts, substitution matchups, set plays, play calling a critical moments, etc. separate the good coaches from the rest of the league.
You are a coach, I’ve coached, so we both know the impact a coach can have on a game. Is it the difference from a Giannis star type player and Buddy Hield type player? No, talent still trumps all, but to say ANY coach can win a championship with a talented roster is just not true. Does Luke Walton take this year’s Miami Heat team to the Eastern Conference Finals?
Logically, Christy would depart. But, Matina loves the nostalgia hires and Vivek needs at least one 90s-player-friend on the payroll that has to take his calls. So, he’s probably coming back
I also like Doug, but is he and/Hines helping this team in any area?
I mean, Doug are probably bought in to improve the defense, but the result is not good. (It’s maybe on the player, maybe on the assistant coach)
All I know is that Doug / Hines and other assistant coaches did not contribute to any improvement/win.
I don’t mind Mike Brown pick his own assistant. Meanwhile, let Doug Christie back to do the broadcasting commentator.
Hines is well known as a shooting and development coach.
I’ve said it before. I don’t think the coach matters much. We need better players in this roster, period. That said, although I agree it probably won’t happen, I hope they keep Doug.
This is currently my favorite REALISTIC off-season move: Harrison Barnes-Richuan Holmes-Mo Harkless-Alex Len, for Tobias Harris. The salaries match almost exactly. It cleans-up our books, and they need to move him in the worst way. No picks involved!
How does it clean up the books? Harris is on the hook for another year beyond Barnes, Mo, and Len. Only Holmes goes a year past Harris on his player option of $12M. I think I’d prefer to keep the smaller more moveable pieces than acquire the one large unmovable piece.
I could see adding Harris if you’re in win now mode, which the Kings are. I can’t see swapping Barnes for Harris. Not enough improvement from one to the other to be worth the extra salary.
Yeah, solid point. It’s sort of like swapping Barnes for Jerami Grant. It’s kind of a wash in the end.
That’s why they do it. You can’t expect Monte to fleece anyone (especially not Morey!) It’s not a big come-up. It doesn’t add much (if any) talent. It just cleans-up the books, (and theirs) consolidates and aligns talent,(IMO) and relieves the pressure of having to deal with Barnes’ expiring after the season.
Keep in mind: REALISTIC.
Of course it would be even better if Monte could find a way to work J. Holiday into that deal.
Harris is definitely a “win-now” player. The “extra salary” I propose trading for Harris is exactly that, EXTRA. It’s just taking up space, both on the bench, and against the cap.
It consolidates four lesser talents into one. The Kings have too many small pieces that are unmovable by themselves. They need starters and “needle-movers.” This gives Harris a season to become that in Sac.. He can bring shooting and exp. to the 4 spot and basically replace Barnes with another year on his contract. In terms of value, and stats, he’s almost identical to Barnes, just twice as expensive.
The reasoning is as follows. Holmes, Harkless, Len represent which is basically $19 mil. of dead salary. Add Barnes almost $20 mil. and you have the ballast to take on Harris. This puts-off the decision on Barnes for one more season without losing the 6’8″ floor-spacing wing you need to be competitive this season (they’re never cheap!.) The main difference, as I see it, between the two, is Harris is almost strictly a 4. Barnes moves between 3-4 more easily. Harris is a bit stronger. Then we can concentrate on finding a 3.
This puts that $19 mil of dead salary to work by clearing out 3 roster spots while securing our best trade chip for another year. If Harris doesn’t work out, he’s traded as a very large contract which can be replaced with a star player looking for a home. It opens almost another max spot in their salary structure to bring in a star, or to use on Sabonis (whose contract aligns with Harris’) after the ’23/’24 season.
I realize this is a lot to digest, and I had a difficult time explaining (not a writer), but I think if you look at the depth charts after the trade it makes more sense.
A side note here is it would open a spot for D. Jones, who most on this site didn’t think was worth waiving…sorry still trying to remember his name… DeQuan something or other.
Nine guaranteed contracts next season:
Fox, Barnes Sabonis, Holmes, Holiday, Mitchell, Harkless, Davis, Len. One Significant FA: DiVencinzo.
One Lesser FA: Jones.
Three Team Options: Lyles, Metu, Queta.
Execute Harris/Barnes trade: NEW DEPTH CHART
Fox
DiVencinzo
Draft Pick: A.J. Griffin (or, B. Mathurin, or S. Sharpe, etc.)
Harris
Sabonis
FIRST FIVE
Mitchell
Holiday
Jones
EIGHT DEEP
Lyles
Davis
TEN DEEP
Still needs work , but better. Same price.
Philly- won’t do that.
I really hope the vast history of stops Mike Brown has had warrants some interesting options. I know the spurs used to have summits of ex coaches, its very much an alma mater and the overlap with international leagues could produce some interesting options.
On the international side, I really think the NBL league is a very interesting place to look for assistants, especially for offensive minded coaches. Trevor Gleeson with the Raptors, Will Weaver who is now with the Rockets were head coaches that took assistant jobs in the league. Seen a few videos of interesting ingenuity with motion offenses down under that might overlap with our passers and Browns preferred slow pace. If Brown is looking for some help especially on that end it might be a viable place to look.
Wipe it clean and start over. No hanger-ons.
If Doug’s a good coach he’ll get plenty of offers like Vlade did, oh wait.
honestly I wonder how the hires and relationship between monte and Vivek will have an affect on this.
no one is really talking about it but monte’s people or monte clearly leaked that he wanted brown and Vivek wanted Jackson. With the size of the ego 🤙🏼 well documented I wonder if this is yet another battle monte won but is about to lose the war.
Badge Legend