Sacramento Kings Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Kings Hiring Mike Miller, Chris Darnell As Assistant Coaches

May 30th, 2025 at 1:38pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings are adding veteran assistant coach Mike Miller to Doug Christie‘s staff, according to James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link). Sacramento is also hiring Chris Darnell as an assistant, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).

Miller spent over three decades as an assistant and head coach at the college level from 1989-2013 before transitioning to the NBA. He worked with San Antonio’s G League affiliate for two seasons from 2013-15 and then served the Westchester Knicks’ head coach from 2015-19.

Miller became an assistant for the Knicks’ NBA club ahead of the 2019/20 campaign and then was promoted to interim head coach following the mid-season firing of David Fizdale. He subsequently worked as an assistant for the Thunder (2020/21) and Wizards (2021-24).

While the timeline we just outlined probably makes it obvious, it’s worth clarifying that this isn’t the same Mike Miller who played in the NBA from 2000-17 and won a Rookie of the Year award, a Sixth Man of the Year award, and a pair of championships. That Mike Miller is currently working as a player agent.

Darnell, meanwhile, has worked for Phoenix, Utah, and Cleveland since being hired as a basketball operations intern by the Suns in 2012. He was a player development coach and video assistant with Cleveland for two years from 2019-21, then served as the Cleveland Charge’s associate head coach from 2021-24 before bring named the G League club’s head coach last September.

In his first and only season as the Charge’s head coach, Darnell led the Cavs’ NBAGL affiliate to a 16-18 regular season record.

According to Ham, the Kings are also hiring Paul Jesperson as their head of player development. Jesperson has previously been employed by the Hawks, the Oklahoma Sooners, and – most recently – the Valley Suns in the G League. He was an assistant coach for Phoenix’s G League team last season.

After deciding to remove Doug Christie‘s interim tag and make him their permanent head coach, the Kings are gradually filling out Christie’s new-look staff. The team previously hired Mike Woodson as its associate head coach and Bobby Jackson as an assistant.

Pacific Notes: Holiday, Clips, Hayes, Knecht, Bronny, Kings

May 29th, 2025 at 5:03pm CST by Rory Maher

A recent report indicated that the Clippers are expected to show interest in Celtics guard Jrue Holiday this summer. In an appearance on The Garden Report podcast with Bobby Manning of CLNS (Twitter video link), Law Murray of The Athletic said he thinks L.A.’s interest in Holiday was overstated, pointing to his contract and James Harden‘s likely return as reasons why it might be unrealistic for the Clippers to pursue a Holiday trade.

“For what Jrue does well, you already have a player like that in Kris Dunn, who is going to make like $25 million less than Jrue (next season), who is younger than Jrue, who arguably is at least as athletic, right around around the same size,” Murray said. “And the key thing for me is the role. This doesn’t sound like something that would come from the Clippers’ side of things.”

As Murray noted, there’s a sizeable gap between Holiday’s ($32.4MM) and Dunn’s ($5.43MM) salaries for 2025/26 (and beyond). And while Holiday certainly has a more accomplished résumé than Dunn, he’s also nearly four years older (Holiday turns 35 in June, whereas Dunn turned 31 in March) and is coming off a down year in ’24/25.

Here are a few more notes from around the Pacific:

Jaxson Hayes‘ second season with the Lakers was more successful than his first, but it’s uncertain if he’ll return in ’25/26 following a disappointing playoff showing against Minnesota, writes Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group. The 25-year-old center will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Lakers are known to be looking for upgrades in the middle.
Lakers rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny James each experienced “roller coaster” debut seasons in different ways, according to Price. Knecht, who had some big scoring outbursts early on in ’24/25, was sent to Charlotte in the Mark Williams deal, only to have the trade rescinded by Los Angeles due concerns over Williams’ medicals. “Anything can happen,” Knecht said during his end-of-season media availability. “Crazy year.”
As for James, he had a slow start to his rookie campaign, most of which was spent in the G League. But the late second-round pick played some his best basketball of the season toward the end of ’24/25, Price notes. “It’s a huge difference in my confidence,” the Lakers guard said. “The start of the year, I was under a lot of pressure. And it was getting to me a little bit. So just having those games like the Bucks game, just having those games in the G League, just built my confidence every day and proved to me I know what I can do and I’m ready to keep growing as a player.”
The Kings hosted a pre-draft workout with six prospects on Thursday, tweets James Ham of The Kings Beat. Brooks Barnhizer (Northwestern), Saint Thomas (USC), Jabri Abdur-Rahim (Providence), Stefan Todorovic (Pepperdine), Matt Cross (SMU) and Tyson Degenhart (Boise State) were the six participants. Abdur-Rahim, whose father Shareef Abdur-Rahim played in Sacramento, said Thursday’s workout was his first with an NBA team, but he has more scheduled in the coming weeks (Twitter video link via Sean Cunningham of NBC Sacramento). The Kings control the 42nd pick in next month’s draft.

And-Ones: Trade Market, Top FAs, Award Ballots, Kemp

May 28th, 2025 at 3:30pm CST by Luke Adams

With so little cap room available around the NBA this year and most top free agents expected to remain with their current teams, executives across the league are projecting a significant amount of activity on the trade market during the upcoming offseason, writes Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).

“It’s gonna be a crazy summer,” one Western Conference exec told Fischer. “There’s going to be a lot of movement.”

“Trades are going to be the marquee aspect because there’s a number of high-level players (available) and there aren’t really any marquee free agents,” another team’s salary cap strategist said.

Kevin Durant is among the biggest names expected to be available via trade this summer, and it’s possible two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo could join him on the trade block if the Bucks forward decides he wants to seek a change of scenery.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

ESPN’s Kevin Pelton has shared his top 25 NBA free agents for the summer of 2025. Kings guard Keon Ellis is perhaps the most surprising entry near the top of Pelton’s list (he’s at No. 10), though Sacramento holds a minimum-salary team option on the guard, so he’ll likely only become a restricted free agent if the team has a very good idea of what it will take to lock him up long-term.
Keith Smith of Spotrac takes a closer look at the top shooting guards in free agency this offseason, with Malik Beasley, Quentin Grimes (restricted), and Nickeil Alexander-Walker leading the way. We took our own deep dive into the 2025 free agent market for shooting guards in a Front Office article earlier this month.
While we’ve heard plenty about in recent weeks about the tax- and apron-related challenges facing teams like the Celtics, every team in the league will have difficult financial decisions to make this summer. Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report identifies the biggest decision facing each team, such as whether the Pacers will go into tax territory, how much the Hawks should pay Dyson Daniels on an extension, and whether the Heat will extend Tyler Herro.
Owen Phillips of The F5 digs into the ballots submitted by the NBA’s award voters this season, evaluating which media members made the most and least unique choices, while also considering whether “groupthink” has become an issue.
Shawn Kemp, the former SuperSonics forward and six-time NBA All-Star who played in the league from 1989-2003, has pleaded guilty to a second-degree assault charge for shooting at two men inside a vehicle in a Washington state mall parking lot, per The Associated Press. Prosecuting attorneys having recommended that Kemp be sentenced to nine months in jail — that hearing will take place in August.

International Notes: Jokic, Bogdanovic, Valanciunas, Micic, Hayes-Davis, Biberovic

May 26th, 2025 at 9:20am CST by Arthur Hill

Serbian basketball federation president Nebojsa Covic is counting on having a full team for this year’s EuroBasket tournament, including Nuggets star Nikola Jokic and Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, according to a BasketNews report. The Serbians have never won the gold medal in the event, but they would be among the favorites if all their stars are available.

The event will take place from August 27 to September 14, which Covic believes will give everyone plenty of time to recover from the rigors of an NBA season.

“I expect us to have a complete squad. I think that those constant questions about Jokic playing can create an unhealthy environment. We are all working on having a complete squad ready,” he said. “NBA stars like Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic now have three months of rest after the seasons they had and that were very demanding.”

Jokic was one of the stars of last year’s Summer Olympics in Paris as Serbia captured a bronze medal and narrowly missed defeating the United States in the semifinals. He has been representing his country in international competitions since 2013.

There’s more international news to pass along:

Kings center Jonas Valanciunas speculated about finishing his career in the EuroLeague as he attended the league’s Final Four in Abu Dhabi, BasketNews relays in a separate story. It won’t happen for a while, as Valanciunas has two years remaining on his current contract. “I want to play in the EuroLeague, I want it for this atmosphere,” he said in an interview with SPORT24. “I want to play basketball, I want to enjoy this atmosphere.” Valanciunas played four seasons in Lithuania before coming to the NBA in 2012.
Suns guard Vasilije Micic wants five million euros ($5.685MM) to play in Europe next season, according to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando. Phoenix holds an $8.1MM team option on Micic for 2025/26, but that’s likely to be declined because he barely played after being acquired from Charlotte in February. Micic has received interest from Hapoel Tel Aviv and Crvena Zvezda, but Maggi states that not many European teams can meet his salary demand.
After capturing the EuroLeague title over the weekend, Fenerbahce is preparing for the possible loss of Nigel Hayes-Davis and Tarik Biberovic to the NBA, per Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. Hayes-Davis, 30, had brief stints with three NBA teams during the 2017/18 season, while Biberovic, 24, is a draft-and-stash prospect who was selected by Memphis in the second round in 2023. “There is serious interest in Tarık and Nigel from the NBA,” Fenerbahce general manager Derya Yannier said. “I don’t know what will happen over there. These are factors that could actually weaken our hand and prolong the process during the summer. Even before they leave, it’s difficult to have a clear view in terms of budget and roster planning.”

Western Notes: Shannon, Murray, Hetzel, Jokic

May 25th, 2025 at 9:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rookie Terrence Shannon Jr. has earned more playing time in the Western Conference Finals after his performance in Game 3, according to Timberwolves coach Chris Finch. Shannon delivered 15 points in 13 minutes as Minnesota blew out Oklahoma City, cutting the Thunder’s series lead to 2-1.

“I’ve been wrestling with getting another guy in the rotation,” Finch said, per Cassidy Hettesheimer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “A guy that could stretch the floor in transition, be a downhill player, got a good body, physicality. … We kind of knew coming into the game that we were going to get to him. You’re definitely going to see him more.”

We have more from the Western Conference:

Even though Keegan Murray took a step back in his third season, signing the Kings forward to a rookie scale extension would probably be a wise move this offseason, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith writes. Murray can play either forward spot and he could handle a bigger offensive role. A five-year contract in the $130-140MM range feels like the sweet spot for both parties, in Smith’s estimation.
Nets assistant Steve Hetzel is one of many candidates for the Suns’ head coaching job, a search that has moved into the next phase. Hetzel has also been an assistant with Detroit, Charlotte, Orlando and Portland and is known for his calm, unflappable demeanor, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic writes.
Nikola Jokic needs to hold the Nuggets’ management more accountable if they want to keep him there, Mark Kiszla of the Denver Gazette writes. Jokic is eligible for a two-year extension this offseason but he ought to decline it and force ownership and the front office to improve the roster, in Kiszla’s view.

Draft Notes: Lendeborg, Kings, Beringer, Knox, Mock

May 22nd, 2025 at 5:18pm CST by Rory Maher

Former UAB forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who reportedly has a lucrative offer on the table to transfer to Michigan if he opts to return to college, is among the prospects who will be working out for the Kings on Friday, tweets James Ham of TheKingsBeat.com.

Lendeborg comes in at No. 26 on ESPN’s best available prospects list, making him a possible late first-round pick. Interestingly, Sacramento currently only controls a second-rounder — No. 42 overall — in June’s draft.

While there have been no reports (that we’re aware of) to this point indicating the Kings are interested in acquiring an earlier selection, it also wouldn’t be surprising at all if they do — there are always teams on the hunt for young players on cost-controlled contracts. For what it’s worth, the Nets — who have a league-high five picks (all in the top 36) — are expected to be active in trade talks around the draft.

The other five prospects joining Lendeborg on Friday will be Zakai Zeigler (Tennessee), RJ Felton (East Carolina), Ben Henshall (Perth), Cameron Matthews (Mississippi State) and Jalon Moore (Oklahoma). Henshall (No. 63) and Moore (No. 73) also appear on ESPN’s big board, while the other players do not.

Here are a few more draft-related notes:

French center Joan Beringer, a late bloomer who is the third-youngest player in the 2025 class, is drawing late-lottery interest, sources tell Grant Afseth of RG.org. The 18-year-old big man comes in at No. 16 on ESPN’s board. According to Afseth, scouts have pegged the Hawks (No. 13) as a potential fit, since Clint Capela is an unrestricted free agent and the team could be looking for a younger option at backup center behind Onyeka Okongwu.
Guard Kobe Knox is withdrawing from the draft and will transfer to South Carolina for his senior season, reports Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Knox is the younger brother of Warriors forward Kevin Knox and the older brother of early entrant Karter Knox. The middle Knox brother averaged 10.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals on .463/.331/.767 shooting in 30 games in 2024/25 with South Florida (28.6 minutes per contest).
Cyro Asseo de Choch of HoopsHype recently released the website’s latest aggregate mock draft, which compiles 10 mock drafts from various outlets for a composite ranking. The aggregate mock also features a scouting report on each prospect in the first round.

Kings Hire Bobby Jackson As Assistant Coach

May 19th, 2025 at 7:44am CST by Luke Adams

The Kings have added Bobby Jackson to Doug Christie‘s staff as an assistant coach, agent Andy Miller tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Sean Cunningham of NBC Sacramento first reported earlier in May that Jackson was expected to return to the Kings as an assistant, with Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee following up to say that it wasn’t a done deal yet. Anderson, who now confirms that Jackson is joining Christie’s staff, reports that the two sides didn’t actually have any formal discussions until this past week.

An NBA guard from 1997-2009, Jackson had two separate stints in Sacramento as a player and was teammates with Christie from 2000-05. The Kings won five playoff series during that stretch, advancing to the Western Conference Finals in 2002.

Following his retirement as a player, Jackson transitioned to scouting and coaching and has once again had multiple stints with the Kings. He has held multiple titles in Sacramento, including assistant coach, regional and collegiate scout, and head coach of the Stockton Kings, in addition to spending one season as a player development coach for the Timberwolves.

After coaching Stockton from 2021-23, Jackson spent the past two seasons as an assistant under Nick Nurse in Philadelphia.

The Kings elected not to make another head coaching change at season’s end, instead naming Christie their permanent head coach, but they’re in the process of reshaping his supporting staff. Besides bringing back Jackson, Sacramento also hired Mike Woodson as Christie’s lead assistant.

2025 NBA Draft Picks By Team

May 16th, 2025 at 1:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets and Jazz were among the teams who left Monday’s draft lottery disappointed, as Brooklyn slipped two spots to No. 8 while Utah, the NBA’s worst team during the 2024/25 season, ended up at No. 6.

Still, while they won’t be picking as high in the lottery as they might like, the Nets and Jazz will enter this year’s draft armed with plenty of ammunition. Brooklyn controls a league-high five 2025 draft picks, including four first-rounders and an early second-rounder. Utah, meanwhile, is one of just two teams (along with the Magic) controlling four picks in this year’s draft, including a pair of first-rounders.

Four other clubs – the Spurs, Hornets, Wizards, and Thunder – own three picks apiece, so those seven teams combine to control 25 of the 59 selections in the 2025 draft.

In addition to those teams with three or more picks, 12 more clubs own a pair of 2025 draft selections, while another 10 control one apiece. That latter group includes the Mavericks, whose No. 1 overall pick is their only selection in this year’s draft.

That leaves just a single NBA team without a draft pick this year: the Nuggets. Denver traded its 2025 first-rounder to Orlando back in 2021 as part of a package for Aaron Gordon in a deal that has worked out exceedingly well for the 2023 champions and sent out its 2025 second-rounder last offseason in a Reggie Jackson salary-dump. The Nuggets could still trade into this draft, but for now they’re the only team on track to sit it out.

To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2025 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 59 selections by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…

Teams with more than two picks:

Brooklyn Nets (5): 8, 19, 26, 27, 36
Utah Jazz (4): 5, 21, 43, 53
Orlando Magic (4): 16, 25, 46, 57
San Antonio Spurs (3): 2, 14, 38
Charlotte Hornets (3): 4, 33, 34
Washington Wizards (3): 6, 18, 40
Oklahoma City Thunder (3): 15, 24, 44

Teams with two picks:

Philadelphia 76ers: 3, 35
Toronto Raptors: 9, 39
Houston Rockets: 10, 59
Chicago Bulls: 12, 45
Atlanta Hawks: 13, 22
Minnesota Timberwolves: 17, 31
Indiana Pacers: 23, 54
Boston Celtics: 28, 32
Phoenix Suns: 29, 52
Los Angeles Clippers: 30, 51
Memphis Grizzlies: 48, 56
Cleveland Cavaliers: 49, 58

Teams with one pick:

Dallas Mavericks: 1
New Orleans Pelicans: 7
Portland Trail Blazers: 11
Miami Heat: 20
Detroit Pistons: 37
Golden State Warriors: 41
Sacramento Kings: 42
Milwaukee Bucks: 47
New York Knicks: 50
Los Angeles Lakers: 55

Teams with no picks:

Denver Nuggets

Kings To Consider DeMar DeRozan Trade?

May 13th, 2025 at 12:06pm CST by Rory Maher

As Jake Fischer of The Stein Line writes (Substack link), rival teams are curious about which direction the Kings will take after hiring Scott Perry to replace Monte McNair as general manager.

According to Fischer, “there have been no shortage of rumbles” about the possibility of the Kings considering a trade involving DeMar DeRozan this summer.

DeRozan, 35, was acquired by Sacramento in a sign-and-trade last offseason. He will earn approximately $24.6MM in 2025/26 and $25.7MM in ’26/27 before hitting free agency in two years.

While DeRozan remained productive on an individual level in ’24/25, averaging 22.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG and 4.4 APG in 77 appearances, the team had a disappointing season, finishing just 40-42. The Kings were eliminated from playoff contention in the play-in tournament when they lost to Dallas.

The six-time All-Star talked last month about how “uncertainty” weighed heavily on the team during the season — Sacramento fired head coach Mike Brown, replacing him with Doug Christie, and traded De’Aaron Fox for a package that included former Bulls teammate Zach LaVine. And all of that was before the McNair/Perry change last month.

DeRozan will be entering his 17th NBA season in ’25/26 and openly wondered what his future would hold, despite being under contract for two more years.

Mavericks Win 2025 NBA Draft Lottery; Spurs, Sixers, Hornets In Top 4

May 12th, 2025 at 6:26pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks have won the 2025 NBA draft lottery, jumping all the way from No. 11 in the lottery standings to No. 1 in the draft.

Dallas had just a 1.8% chance of claiming this year’s top pick. Those are the longest odds for any team that has won the lottery since the NBA revamped the format prior to the 2019 draft.

The Mavs’ unlikely lottery victory puts them in position to select consensus top prospect Cooper Flagg, the Duke star who led the Blue Devils to the Final Four as a freshman and was named the ACC Player of the Year, as well as the Naismith College Player of the Year.

The full lottery order for the 2025 draft is as follows:

Dallas Mavericks
San Antonio Spurs
Philadelphia 76ers
Charlotte Hornets
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards
New Orleans Pelicans
Brooklyn Nets
Toronto Raptors
Houston Rockets (from Suns)
Portland Trail Blazers
Chicago Bulls
Atlanta Hawks (from Kings)
San Antonio Spurs (from Hawks)

It’s an incredible turn of events in Dallas, where general manager Nico Harrison and his front office have been hammered by fans and pundits alike for the last three-plus months for their decision to trade franchise player Luka Doncic to the Lakers at February’s deadline. Now the Mavs are poised to add another cornerstone and a potential All-Star in Flagg, who will join Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving on the new-look roster.

As Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News tweets, this is the first time in 17 lottery appearances that the Mavs ended up with a better pick than their odds dictated.

The lottery results feature plenty of fascinating stories beyond Dallas’ win, starting with the Spurs‘ pick moving up from No. 8 in the pre-lottery order to No. 2 in the draft. Dylan Harper of Rutgers is widely viewed as the second-best prospect in this year’s class behind Flagg and will be the frontrunner to join an up-and-coming San Antonio roster that already features Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, and Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle.

When it was revealed on ESPN’s broadcast that the Mavericks and Spurs had moved into the top four, it momentarily looked as if the Sixers would lose their top-six protected pick, which appeared poised to slide to No. 7 and be sent to the Thunder. However, Philadelphia was among the lucky clubs to move up, claiming the No. 3 pick and hanging onto the selection for at least one more year. The 76ers will now owe their 2026 first-rounder, with top-four protection, to Oklahoma City.

The Hornets, who entered the lottery as one of three teams tied for the best odds at the first overall pick (14%), moved down one spot from No. 3 to No. 4. The Jazz and Wizards, who posted the NBA’s two worst records during the regular season, were even less fortunate, falling four spots each and coming in at No. 5 and No. 6.

That’s a worst-case scenario for those two clubs, who came into the night hoping to add a centerpiece like Flagg or Harper for their rebuild and instead dropped as far as they could have. There was a 47.9% chance Utah would end up at No. 5, but just a 20% chance Washington would slide all the way to No. 6.

The Pelicans were among the night’s biggest losers as well, slipping from No. 4 in the pre-lottery order to No. 7 when three teams leapfrogged them. The Nets and Raptors each dropped two spots to No. 8 and No. 9, respectively, while the Rockets (No. 10, via the Suns) and Trail Blazers (No. 11) slid one spot.

Although the Bulls didn’t move from their pre-lottery slot of No. 12, they had one of the biggest heartbreaks of the night — they finished with the same regular season record as the Mavericks and lost a coin flip last month for the No. 11 spot in the lottery. If they had won that tiebreaker, it would be the Bulls, not the Mavs, whose ping-pong ball combination was drawn for the top pick on Monday.

The lack of movement at the very back of the lottery means the Kings‘ pick, which came in at No. 13, will be sent to the Hawks, as expected. That selection – from the 2022 Kevin Huerter trade – was top-12 protected, so Sacramento only would have kept it if it had jumped into the top four.

The Spurs’ second pick of the lottery, courtesy of the Hawks, didn’t move from No. 14.

The NBA has posted a 13-minute video of the lottery drawing on social media.