Official (Shams): Christie no longer just interim for Kings

[Texas Chuck]

Discuss

[Scoot McGroot]

Vivek gets what Vivek wants.

Personally, I have no idea why they didn’t at least “farcically” interview some other possibilities? Like, they Ben or just to build some rapport around the league? It’s not like Christie was such a home run they can’t afford to risk losing him.

[Texas Chuck]

its popular with fans
Christie probably comes cheaper than most
Sabonis probably signed off

I'm fine with the hire. But the roster is the real issue here. This at least clears up who is coaching and he can work with the FO on what he feels like he needs.

[sackings916]

Has a chance to be a good hire, Doug is a good basketball mind, passionate, a leader and a hard worker. He needs a strong and experienced staff around him like LA did with Redick. Jay Triano, Dave Joerger, Mike Budenholzer, Frank Vogel are the kind of experienced assistants he needs.

[gswhoops]

Vivek gets what Vivek wants.

Personally, I have no idea why they didn’t at least “farcically” interview some other possibilities? Like, they Ben or just to build some rapport around the league? It’s not like Christie was such a home run they can’t afford to risk losing him.

Yeah, I don't get why they didn't at least kick the tires on Taylor Jenkins or some of the other top candidates (other than Mike Malone, lol)

Agree with TC that the real problem is the roster though. Need to make some big moves there unless they're happy being the perennial 10 seed.

[LightTheBeam]

I truly enjoyed having Christie as the coach. The larger part of this issue is the signal that Vivek is still the only one actually in charge.

Trade for LaVine who Vivek wanted for 6 years.

Monte fired the night we lose the play-in, no interviews, Perry hired 12 hours later.

Doug the coach Vivek wanted, now hired full time without a single outside interview conducted.

The team is destined for repeat failure until this guy gets the hell out of the way. It's so hard to watch the guy who saved my franchise also hold it hostage.

[schaffy]

It feels just sort of meh. He was fine, they were slightly over .500 with him. Its not objectionable. It just feels like they didnt try, but probably thats by design.

I guess to Scoot's idea, could they have at least tried to interview some other guys too? There is no shortage of former HCs or top assistants who you could have at least talked to -- Vogel, Bud, Jenkins, (clearly not Malone). Maybe waited a week or 2 to try and talk to Adleman, Nori, Brooks. Hell even talk to Ham (I wasnt impressed but some guys get better their 2nd go at it). I dont think anyone was going to try and steal Christie away from you that you couldn't kick over a few stones first.

[codydaze]

I'm happy for Doug but fear we are not putting him in a position to succeed. I would have been really happy to bring him back if the plan was to rebuild and start over with a young team but unless we fix the roster significantly we're going to be putting unfair expectations on him if the goal is to win and be a competitive playoff-caliber team.

[BoogieTime]

Bad stuff from a bad owner

[Astaluego]

Okay, now give him the personnel that best fits his game plan... he was an excellent defender in his time as a player and I assume he will prioritize this part of the game... The Kings might have the worst defensive personnel among the teams trying to compete... Are there any big roster changes coming?

[jayjaysee]

Agree with the trend. It’s mostly fine if the team fixes its issues. Or if they’re fine being a play-in team that might exceed expectations if Murray or Carter take huge steps.

Seemed good with the players and the fans. And that’s really important.

And Sac has a decent cap situation and they can trade up to six firsts. So you’d think there’s a Demar++ for defense deal out there.. find a PG, trade Monk or use him as the 3rd guard either way.

[jbk1234]

I don't mean to pile on, but I'm not sure how important the coach is until there's a competent front office in place that's allowed to do its job sans interference. The best move the Kings have made since trading Boogie was trading Fox, and even then, they couldn't get back the swap rights they sent to the Spurs six months earlier.

Team building is tough and it involves some degree of luck, but the Kings make borderline inexplicable moves as far as roster construction all the time.

[BoogieTime]

I don't mean to pile on, but I'm not sure how important the coach is until there's a competent front office in place that's allowed to do its job sans interference. The best move the Kings have made since trading Boogie was trading Fox, and even then, they couldn't get back the swap rights they sent to the Spurs six months earlier.

Team building is tough and it involves some degree of luck, but the Kings make borderline inexplicable moves as far as roster construction all the time.

Why was it the best move they made? If its because he was overrated, which I agree, that answers why they didn't. they shouldn't have gotten too much more value than Lavine, who I think isnt a worse player imo

[ReggiesKnicks]

Mediocre franchises stay mediocre due to mediocre decisions from the top

[jbk1234]

I don't mean to pile on, but I'm not sure how important the coach is until there's a competent front office in place that's allowed to do its job sans interference. The best move the Kings have made since trading Boogie was trading Fox, and even then, they couldn't get back the swap rights they sent to the Spurs six months earlier.

Team building is tough and it involves some degree of luck, but the Kings make borderline inexplicable moves as far as roster construction all the time.

Why was it the best move they made? If its because he was overrated, which I agree, that answers why they didn't. they shouldn't have gotten too much more value than Lavine, who I think isnt a worse player imo

If the Spurs were willing to trade their 2027 1st, the unprotected Minny 31 pick, and all those 2nds, it's difficult to understand why those swap rights couldn't have been substituted instead (and the possible explanations as to why that didn't happen aren't great). I agree the end result of adding draft capital and swapping Fox for LaVine was a positive outcome.

[LightTheBeam]

Okay, now give him the personnel that best fits his game plan... he was an excellent defender in his time as a player and I assume he will prioritize this part of the game... The Kings might have the worst defensive personnel among the teams trying to compete... Are there any big roster changes coming?

Well here is the problem.

Vivek wants to build a team that drops 130 but gives up 135.
By all accounts Perry and Doug want a team that scores 110, but gives up 105.

To start, Monk, Lavine, Derozan, JV should all be on the block. Maybe you keep one of the scoring guards. But you cannot build a defensive team around Sabonis when 4 of the other top 7 are 1 sided offensive guys.

I really hope that Perry comes out guns blazing and shakes the hell out of this roster. Even if its just a shuffle to a solid defense. Kings fans are hungry for a good defensive team, we haven't had one in an eternity.

[LightTheBeam]

I don't mean to pile on, but I'm not sure how important the coach is until there's a competent front office in place that's allowed to do its job sans interference. The best move the Kings have made since trading Boogie was trading Fox, and even then, they couldn't get back the swap rights they sent to the Spurs six months earlier.

Team building is tough and it involves some degree of luck, but the Kings make borderline inexplicable moves as far as roster construction all the time.

Why was it the best move they made? If its because he was overrated, which I agree, that answers why they didn't. they shouldn't have gotten too much more value than Lavine, who I think isnt a worse player imo

If the Spurs were willing to trade their 2027 1st, the unprotected Minny 31 pick, and all those 2nds, it's difficult to understand why those swap rights couldn't have been substituted instead (and the possible explanations as to why that didn't happen aren't great). I agree the end result of adding draft capital and swapping Fox for LaVine was a positive outcome.

LaVine sucks. He's a terrible player on an even worse contract. I don't think its really possible to win with him.

However I understand people think Fox wasn't special either. So why not just trade Fox for the picks, and keep Huerter/Collins who would have been solid size expirings this year? Then let the new GM come in and put his stamp on the team. It could have been a positive, but not getting our swap and being stuck with LaVine made it a major negative.

[jbk1234]

Why was it the best move they made? If its because he was overrated, which I agree, that answers why they didn't. they shouldn't have gotten too much more value than Lavine, who I think isnt a worse player imo

If the Spurs were willing to trade their 2027 1st, the unprotected Minny 31 pick, and all those 2nds, it's difficult to understand why those swap rights couldn't have been substituted instead (and the possible explanations as to why that didn't happen aren't great). I agree the end result of adding draft capital and swapping Fox for LaVine was a positive outcome.

LaVine sucks. He's a terrible player on an even worse contract. I don't think its really possible to win with him.

However I understand people think Fox wasn't special either. So why not just trade Fox for the picks, and keep Huerter/Collins who would have been solid size expirings this year? Then let the new GM come in and put his stamp on the team. It could have been a positive, but not getting our swap and being stuck with LaVine made it a major negative.

That's what I would've done, but you can at least see the argument for LaVine being the better fit with Sabonis in terms of spacing. I can get a two-way way wing, plug in two defenders, and maybe field a balanced starting unit. The Kings appeared no worse to me after swapping Fox for LaVine.

But as you pointed out elsewhere the owner continues to embrace the delusion that you can win without starting a single good defender, and nothing else really matters until that changes.

[LightTheBeam]

If the Spurs were willing to trade their 2027 1st, the unprotected Minny 31 pick, and all those 2nds, it's difficult to understand why those swap rights couldn't have been substituted instead (and the possible explanations as to why that didn't happen aren't great). I agree the end result of adding draft capital and swapping Fox for LaVine was a positive outcome.

LaVine sucks. He's a terrible player on an even worse contract. I don't think its really possible to win with him.

However I understand people think Fox wasn't special either. So why not just trade Fox for the picks, and keep Huerter/Collins who would have been solid size expirings this year? Then let the new GM come in and put his stamp on the team. It could have been a positive, but not getting our swap and being stuck with LaVine made it a major negative.

That's what I would've done, but you can at least see the argument for LaVine being the better fit with Sabonis in terms of spacing. I can get a two-way way wing, plug in two defenders, and maybe field a balanced starting unit. The Kings appeared no worse to me after swapping Fox for LaVine.

But as you pointed out elsewhere the owner continues to embrace the delusion that you can win without starting a single good defender, and nothing else really matters until that changes.

Hard for me to put a lot of stock into the pre and post Lavine Kings of last year. Fox/Brown were both mentally checked out, Fox was injured the entire season also. Huerter was one of the worst players I have seen play basketball prior to reviving his career in Chicago, he knew he was on the block and played like it. We also made other moves like getting a competent backup center added another defensive wing, and moved Keon to being a starter which made a positive impact,

Comparing the team from the last 2 years to the post LaVine Kings and it was beyond obvious.

I get on paper LaVine is a better fit, but he really isn't. Majority of what he likes to do is based on iso ball, which renders Sabonis useless offensively. Just look at Sabonis stats the first 4 months vs immediately after the trade - https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/sabondo01/splits/2025

And it wasn't like Fox was a huge part in getting Sabonis involved, he just wasn't a low IQ ball hog like LaVine. Most of LaVines turnovers are lazy passes that result in an easy breakaway dunk by the opponent. He falls asleep at the wheel 80% of games, and then comes out looking like prime Kobe and you are wondering how this could be the same player.

And post LaVine in the Doug era, he started Keon over Monk which was a huge improvement. We finally had 2 capable defenders in the game. But when they are being paired with LaVine and Derozan who haven't contested a shot in 4 years, its impossible to have any impact. Fox created extra possessions often being at the top of the league in steals, he also would create opportunities for Keon to step in passing lanes and get steals (look at end of last year when those two started and suddenly our defense was passable). Where LaVine is literally a traffic cone offering zero resistance.

I personally don't see a path forward with LaVine, but even if you could convince me Sabonis/LaVine and a ton of 3&D guys creates a winner, we are so far away from that, that the trade didn't make sense. Look at the roster

Sabonis/JV
Keegan
Demar
LaVine/Carter
Keon/Monk

We basically need to add at minimum 2 forwards who play defense, a backup center who plays defense, get a real point guard who plays defense, and find a way to keep Keegan, Carter, Keon who are the only plus defenders on the roster now. So swap Monk, JV, Demar and come out with a starting PG, PF, a backup Center, and a backup forward. Tall task for any GM to build that overnight.

The path towards building the team last year was soo much more obvious. You needed to add a guy like Naji/DJJ in the off-season instead of Demar using the MLE, and you could have even transitioned Barnes to the bench. The team would have been a defensive backup center away from being competent (which we had Huerters contract to do so)

Sabonis
Naji/Barnes
Keegan
Keon/Monk
Fox/Carter