The new head coach of the Kings was named over the weekend. Two people were left to decide. The Kings decided to go with current Golden State Warriors assistant Mike Brown over former Warriors head coach Mark Jackson. Both names are exciting, but Sacramento made the right choice with Brown. The Kings made the best choice based on what happened with Jackson and Golden State. They probably dodged a bullet not hiring Jackson. Jackson tried to turn the locker room against an injured player in order to look good. So much went down with Jackson in Golden State that Sacramento decided that it wasn't the best route. Brown is a better coach than Jackson will ever be. Brown did most of his winning during the five years he was in Cleveland. What winning NBA head coach didn't have an all-time great star? I'm not saying that Brown is a Hall-of- Fame coach, but I am saying that you need stars in this league to win. In the NBA, we hear about this a lot. Finding star players is how you win in the NBA.
Since 2005-06, the moribund franchise hasn't experienced the playoffs, so Brown is tasked with resurrecting it. Since then, Sacramento has not finished a season with a winning percentage higher than.476. Brown has a lot of work to do.
Hopefully, Brown can take what he has learned from working on Golden State's staff over the last six years and implement it in Sacramento without being too much like the Warriors. Brown will have some young talent, like Domantas Sabonis, who will work with Brown.
Since the Kings are in a stacked Western Conference and Pacific Division, it will take a couple of years before we see any noticeable improvement. The Kings would be better off if they made a Play-in Tournament appearance. Finished in the top 10 out West. The year ended in 12th place and four games out of the play-in. They were close, but not really.
If the front office stays out of the way, Brown can change the culture in Sacramento. It will not happen overnight. Brown's last head coaching tenure, which was his second in Cleveland, lasted only one season. The team was young and led by Irving. If Dan Gilbert had been more patient, the old band would have been put back together a year later.
The Kings are still enamored with former Warriors coaches, something that is glaring about the hiring of Brown. There are also the previously mentioned Brown and Jackson, as well as the others. It is about 90 minutes up the road from San Francisco. None of these guys from Golden State have worked out for the Kings. I think that is more of a front office thing, but maybe Brown can overcome that aspect. It will be difficult, but I want him to get more than one crack at it.
Only 16 teams made the playoffs when Brown was the head coach of an NBA franchise. 1/3 of The Association plays past the regular season with the play-in. Within a year or two, Brown will need to have these Kings in one of those 10 spots. The management should not sabotage his efforts by trading away more promising talent as the Kings have done before.
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