The Sacramento Kings agreeing to a contract extension with Doug Christie is a good move. Christie played for Sacramento in the early 2000s. Now, he will be the head coach of a team that finished with a 27-24 record after he took over as interim head coach. Kings’ fans will probably have mixed opinions on this move.
Kings Show Confidence in Christie
If there’s one league in the world where a head coaching job is never safe, it’s the NBA. The latest example is when the Nuggets fired then-head coach Michael Malone weeks before the playoffs started. It would’ve been easy to let Christie go and find a new head coach, and basketball fans would’ve understood due to the volatility of the position. By naming Christie’s head coach, the organization and the players now have an idea as to who will be leading their team from now on.
Kings Have Foundation for Next Season
Making the playoffs should be considered a win for any team but making the playoffs after head coach Mike Brown was let go in December is a win for the Kings. The team survived and made the play in the tournament despite trading De’Aaron Fox to the Spurs in February and even faced a change in leadership following their play-in tournament loss. Ownership should be happy with the results that came about this season.
Christie Clearly Wanted to Stay in Sacramento
If you have someone who wants to stay with your organization and knows what the standard is, it’s always easy to implement the culture of the team. Going into next season, Sacramento will have ownership that believes in him and won’t have to worry about whether he’ll get fired or not.
Now it’s time for Sacramento to do what every other NBA team is going to do in the offseason. Find the right players that match the team and see if they can mesh to go deeper in the playoffs.
Kings Don’t Need a Full Rebuild
Sacramento still has Sabonis, one of the best players in the NBA. Anytime he’s on the court he makes a difference, and that’s a player you can’t replace. There seems to be optimism within the team that they can make it back to the Kings of a few years ago. Without Fox, however, the team is going to have to find a new way to make the playoffs.
Fox and Sabonis were key contributors when the Kings were going further in the playoffs. Someone will have to emerge and take the production that Fox gave.
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