According to NBA insider Shams Charania of ESPN, the Sacramento Kings have fired head coach Mike Brown.
The Kings are only 13-18 on the season. They are in 12th place in the Western Conference standings.
Brown joined the Kings in 2022. Sacramento went 48-34 in 2022-23 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
Brown won the NBA Coach of the Year Award and it appeared the Kings were on the verge of being a contender in the West.
However, Sacramento missed the playoffs last year and is off to a terrible start this year.
Brown went 107-88 with the Kings, who are dealing with De’Aaron Fox trade rumors. The All-Star guard’s agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group, met with Sacramento general manager Monte McNair and assistant general manager last week.
The discussion was focused on an existential question that needs to be answered if this partnership that began eight seasons ago between Fox and the Kings is going to continue long term: What’s the plan here?
NBA reporters Sam Amick and Anthony Slater of The Athletic have more:
“While league sources say Fox has not asked for a trade, the former All-Star and his prominent agent are reading the room in Sacramento before deciding what comes next. Fox, who hired Paul in November 2022, has another season left on his current deal,” Amick and Slater reported. “He has long raved about the Sacramento experience, lauding the passion of the fans and saying that he wants to be one of the few NBA players who spends their entire career in one location. He spent part of this week donating money and toys to families in need at multiple events in the region.
“But the Kings’ beam isn’t burning as bright as it was two seasons ago, when Fox and Domantas Sabonis led the group that broke the franchise’s league-record playoff drought. And now, the prospect of him declining an extension again this summer — or perhaps telling them ahead of time that he plans on doing so — would inevitably force the Kings to consider trading Fox rather than losing him for nothing in free agency two summers from now.”
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