Kings Retaining Doug Christie As Coach, Signing Him To Multiyear Contract

The Sacramento Kings have their man, and guess what? They already had him.

That would be none other than Doug Christie, who finished the season as the Kings’ interim coach. Now, that interim tag will be removed as the sides finalize a multiyear contract, per Shams Charania of ESPN.

Sacramento made a second-half push despite some major trades and the firing of coach Mike Brown in late December. Still, the Kings failed to make the playoffs.

“Sacramento went 27-24 this season under Christie, ranking ninth in offensive efficiency during that span and going 13-10 in clutch time games compared to 6-13 earlier in the campaign, per ESPN Research,” Charania wrote.

The Kings parted ways with general manager Monte McNair immediately after the season, replacing him with new head of basketball operations Scott Perry. Last week, Perry said he’d take some time to decide on Christie’s future with the organization. 

Sacramento finished ninth in the Western Conference before losing the play-in game against the Dallas Mavericks.

Charania wrote: “The Kings won 20 of their first 31 games under Christie but finished 7-13 in the last 20 games of the season. Christie is expected to restructure his coaching staff in the offseason after inheriting Brown’s assistants in the coaching change.”