Kings Finalizing Deal to Sign Christie as New Head Coach

From player to interim, now head man in charge.

The Sacramento Kings are in the home stretch of completing a deal that would promote interim head coach Doug Christie to the full-time head coaching role.

ESPN’s senior NBA insider Shams Charania informed the NBA community that the Kings and Christie are finalizing a multi-year contract to make him the franchise’s next head coach: The Sacramento Kings and interim coach Doug Christie are finalizing a multi-year contract to make Christie the franchise’s next head coach, sources tell ESPN. Christie’s agent, Andy Miller of Klutch Sports, negotiated a new deal for the Kings’ full-time job this week.

Christie posted a 27-24 record, three games over .500, once he took over for former head coach Mike Brown, who was relieved of his duties in late December.

Christie spent a large chunk of his career with the Kings from 2000-05. He had the most productive years of his career playing in Sacramento, where he was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team in 2003 and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team three times.

Christie launched his career in the booth as a broadcaster with the Kings as a color commentator for NBC Sports during the 2018–19 season. In August 2021, he transitioned from the broadcast table to the bench, joining the Kings’ coaching staff as an assistant.

The Kings finished their season with a 40-42 record, which was good enough for the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference. Unfortunately, the Kings were unable to win the Play-In tournament game they hosted against Anthony Davis and the Dallas Mavericks.

That put a bow on their season earlier than expected, but there is hope and optimism for the Kings moving forward as they not only will have a new head coach controlling the sidelines, but also a new general manager, Scott Perry. Perry recently took the reins over from former general manager Monte McNair. McNair and the team mutually agreed to part ways after their loss to the Mavericks.

Christie is now at the helm of things, but the real question is what kind of roster will he coach in 2025-26? As things stand currently, Perry is not 100% committed to a rebuild.

“First and foremost, we need to establish an identity of what it means to be a Sacramento King. So when teams play us, you got to know what you’re facing. That is order No. 1,” Perry said. “… It’s got to be based on toughness, a defensive mindset, a sharing-of-the-ball mindset, a lot of accountability, discipline, hard work.”

“Those got to be all of the components and variables of what it means to be a Sacramento Kings player and a part of the Sacramento Kings team. So, that needs to be reflected on a daily basis, even when the fans aren’t watching,” Perry continued. “But when we get on that court, win, lose or draw, we want that to shine through.”

This offseason will be critical one for the Kings and their direction moving forward. Nonetheless, Sacramento feels they now have the coach who can lead them back to prominence.