Doug Christie will return for a second full season as coach of the Sacramento Kings despite the team having one of the worst seasons in franchise history.
A person familiar with the decision said Sunday that Christie will return next season for the second year of a contract that also has a team option for 2027-28. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team hadn't announced the decision, which The Athletic was first to report.
Christie was initially hired on an interim basis after Mike Brown was fired early in the 2024-25 season. Sacramento went 27-24 the rest of the season before getting knocked out in the play-in tournament.
The Kings hired Scott Perry as general manager after last season and made the decision to retain Christie. This season didn't go nearly as well, with injuries to key veterans like Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, Keegan Murray and DeAndre Hunter derailing the campaign almost from the start.
Sacramento had a league-worst 12-46 record in mid-February following a 16-game losing streak. The team showed some life late in the season, going 10-14 the rest of the way to harm their position in the draft lottery. The Kings finished tied with Utah for the fourth-worst record in the league and have a 45.2% chance of picking in the top four of the draft in June.
The 60 losses for Sacramento are the second-most in franchise history, behind the 65 the team had in 2008-09. The Kings have gotten solid contributions from rookies Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell, but are hoping for good fortune in the lottery to find a player to build around after the team traded away star De'Aaron Fox last season.
The Kings have made the playoffs just once in the past 20 seasons, losing in the first round to Golden State in 2023 in Brown’s first season as coach.
Sacramento has the fourth-worst record in the NBA since Vivek Ranadive took over as owner in 2013. The team has had five lead executives and nine head coaches — including interims — in that span.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
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