Mike Brown and the Sacramento Kings are parting ways, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Brown was hired by the Kings in 2022 after six seasons as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors from 2016-2022. The Kings went from 30 wins the previous season to 48 in Brown's first season of 2022-23, losing in the first round to the Warriors. Brown was rewarded for his effort with Coach of the Year recognition in 2022-23, and coached the team to a 46-36 mark last season. Prior to the last two seasons of 48 and 46 wins, the franchise had not had a 40-win season since 2005-06, when they won 44 games under Rick Adelman.
This season, the 13-18 Kings have been plagued by inconsistency. After they began the year 0-2 with close losses to the Minnesota Timberwolves (117-115) and Los Angeles Lakers (131-127), the Kings won five of six before winning just three of their next 10 games. After three wins from December 8-12 to get to the .500 mark, they lost five straight, four of the contests by close margins. On December 16, the Kings lost 130-129 to the Denver Nuggets, lost to the Lakers 103-99 on December 21, and 114-113 to the Detroit Pistons on December 26.
Off-season acquisiton DeMar DeRozan has played well in 26 games, averaging 20.7 points on 48 percent shooting. De'Aaron Fox leads the team in scoring with 26.2 points, while star big man Domantas Sabonis is averaging 21.1 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 6.0 assists.
A subject of interest around the team has been Fox, who was eligible to sign a 3-year, $165 million maximum extension with the team, a deal that he turned down in the off-season. At the end of this current season, Fox is eligible for a 4-year, $229 million extension, but on Draymond Green's podcast Fox said that "it has all to do with just the team, the organization where we are going."
With Brown's departure, it appears that the franchise is heading in perhaps the opposite direction that Fox wants, so it will be interesting to see what happens with him.
As for Brown, he will be 55 and March and has a career coaching record of 454-304 in the regular season and 50-40 in the playoffs. He compiled a 107-88 regular season record with Kings. If he decides to continue to be a head coach, he will be an asset for a team.
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