Kings Notes: Christie, Perry, Westbrook, DeRozan, Assistant Coaches
Doug Christie‘s success in developing young players was a major reason why the Kings decided to keep him as head coach, Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee writes in a subscriber-only piece. The team only won 22 games this season, but general manager Scott Perry said during Wednesday’s exit interviews that he’s encouraged by the progress of rookies Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell, who improved significantly throughout the season.
“That was one of the main reasons in making sure Doug Christie came back as head coach,” Perry told reporters. “Doug’s relentless energy, his leadership that he exhibited with these young guys, his patience, never wavered throughout a challenging year.”
Christie, who also spoke at the event, promised to eventually produce a winner “come hell or high water.” Perry noted that injuries played a role in this year’s failure, as Christie was forced to use 34 different starting lineups. He got just 19 games from Domantas Sabonis, 23 from Keegan Murray and 39 from Zach LaVine.
“It would be nice to plug those guys in and have all that,” Christie said. “We didn’t have it, but I can see how all of that would fit because the ability to shoot, the ability to defend and the ability to rebound are absolute musts, and those guys help in all those categories.”
There’s more from Sacramento:
- Perry indicated that he’ll be looking to make changes this summer to a roster that’s filled with expensive veterans, Anderson adds. The Kings currently project to be about $20MM over the luxury tax and nearly $4MM above the second apron. “There are a lot of mechanisms to work around the cap,” Perry said. “I will just say this. From the time I started in this league 23 years ago, my philosophy is never to be a team going into the luxury tax unless we were a roster worth of that, ready to compete for a champion. We’re not there yet, so we have a number of avenues over the next three, four, five months to make sure we’re in compliance with that and also put the very best roster we can out there for next season.”
- The Kings are open to bringing back Russell Westbrook next season, per Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area. The 37-year-old point guard, who said he’d like to remain with the team, will be a free agent again after signing a one-year deal with Sacramento shortly before the start of the season. He wound up playing 64 games and averaging 15.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists in 29 minutes per night. “Russell’s always welcome with me,” Perry said. “I loved working with Russell Westbrook this year. I mean, he was phenomenal. I can’t say enough. … Extremely competitive. I wish I had an opportunity to work with Russell earlier in my career as well, because I really like what he stands for. And again, we will keep the lines of communication open and we will see what happens and what’s available for us this offseason.”
- An important offseason decision is looming regarding DeMar DeRozan, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN. DeRozan has been extremely reliable since joining the team in 2024, but the final year of his contract only carries a $10MM guarantee on his $25.7MM salary. Parting with him could be a way to ease the tax concerns. Marks also addresses the need to build a younger roster in a video outlining the Kings’ offseason.
- Christie confirmed that assistant coaches Dipesh Mistry and Jimmy Alapag won’t return next season, relays James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link).
Kings Officially Announce Doug Christie’s Coaching Staff
After removing the interim tag from head coach Doug Christie and signing him to a new multiyear contract earlier this offseason, the Kings have finalized and formally announced the coaching staff that will be working with Christie in 2025/26.
Here’s the team’s new-look staff, per a press release from the team, with links to our stories on the assistants whose deals were previously reported:
- Associate head coach Mike Woodson (story)
- Assistant coach Bobby Jackson (story)
- Assistant coach Mike Miller (story)
- Note: This is the former Knicks interim head coach, not the former Heat player.
- Assistant coach Chris Darnell (story)
- Assistant coach Leandro Barbosa (story)
- Assistant coach/player development Dipesh Mistry
- Head of player development Paul Jesperson (story)
- Player development coach Jimmy Alapag
- Player development coach Garrius Adams (story)
- Coaching assistant/advance scout Will Scott
- Head video coordinator Shandon Goldman
- Assistant video coordinator Steph Ingo
“I’m excited for the opportunity to work alongside such a talented and experienced coaching staff – a group that truly reflects our values and the culture we’re building,” Christie said in a statement. “Their passion and leadership will shape not just how we play, but who we become as a team. I’m looking forward to the season ahead.”
According to Sean Cunningham of NBC Sacramento (Twitter link), Mistry will be the head coach of Sacramento’s Summer League team in July. He’s one of several names on the above list who is a carry-over from Mike Brown‘s staff. Among the front-of-bench assistants, Barbosa fits that bill too, while Woodson, Jackson, Miller, and Darnell are new additions.
Pacific Notes: Davis, LeBron, Alapag
Lakers star center Anthony Davis‘ new three-year maximum extension, projected to be worth $186MM, effectively makes him the full-fledged face of the team, opines Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times.
The 6’10” big man is now under team control until the 2027/28 season, when he will turn 35. As Plaschke notes, Davis has already had major injury problems during three of his four seasons with L.A.
After he proved to be the club’s most essential player in leading the Lakers back to the Western Conference Finals this spring, Davis earned the vote of confidence, in Plaschke’s view. That said, Los Angeles will now rise and fall with Davis. Though his offense can be somewhat inconsistent, he remains one of the league’s best defenders. When healthy, he has helped L.A. reach two Western Conference Finals and win one title.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- The Davis signing seems to indicate that the Lakers hope to retain 38-year-old All-Star forward LeBron James even beyond his current contract, which takes him through the 2024/25 season, per Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. James has a player option for the last year of that deal, his age-40 season. “Nothing happens in a vacuum in all this,” a Western Conference executive told Deveney. “You sign AD to this deal, there is the Klutch connection there, and LeBron has a certain level of responsibility for what Davis does with the Lakers. So of course, there is communication there.” Deveney notes that James is widely anticipated to remain a Laker for the rest of his playing career.
- Following a two-season stint with the Kings‘ NBAGL affiliate in Stockton, Jimmy Alapag has been promoted to a player development coaching gig with Sacramento and will join the coaching staff of reigning Coach of the Year Mike Brown, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Alapag, who was an 11-time All-Star while playing for the Philippine Basketball Association, initially coached in that league before joining the Kings’ Summer League bench in 2019.
- In case you missed it, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. has suggested that Golden State is amenable to four-time champ Andre Iguodala playing for a 20th season – and a ninth with the Warriors – but the club is not counting on his return like it did last summer. Iguodala, 39, only appeared in eight contests last year due to injuries. He has yet to officially retire.