The Sacramento Kings made the appointment of Mike Brown as their new head coach official on Monday with a statement from general manager Monte McNair.

“Mike has consistently demonstrated his ability to lead winning teams throughout his long and successful coaching career,” McNair said. “He has worked with some of the best players in the NBA and is one of the league’s premier defensive minds. I am excited to bring his extensive experience to Sacramento.”

During the Kings’ interview process, it was widely speculated that Brown was McNair’s choice for the head coaching vacancy while Vivek Ranadivé, the team’s majority owner, preferred former Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson. The expectation among the fan base was that Jackson would get the job because he had Ranadivé’s backing, but from the outside looking in, it seems McNair was able to bring on the person he wanted.

McNair and the Kings’ brass will now be tasked with working alongside Brown to build a competitive roster around De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. Because while Brown may be capable of helping the Kings improve on the defensive end and play the fast-paced style of basketball they’ve been longing for since Fox was drafted in 2017, he needs the proper personnel and right now, there are major holes to fill, particularly at the forward positions.

If they can do that, there’s reason to be optimistic that at the very least, next season will be better than the last few under Luke Walton, who was also brought on in large part due to his experience as a coach with the Warriors. Walton was dismissed 17 games into the 2021-22 campaign.