Kings Add Two Big Names With Front Office Ties to Coaching Staff

If you’re looking for news on Jalen Duren, Jonathan Kuminga, or Ben Simmons All-Star takes, you should be able to get your fill elsewhere because today we’re going to take a little break and get into the Sacramento Kings’ coaching staff. We know Doug Christie is in year two of his de facto “prove it” deal, and Mike Woodson is still sitting in his associate head coach seat. After Bobby Jackson, Dipesh Mistry, and others departed the staff, changes had to be coming. According to NBA insider Mike Scotto, the Kings are adding some new names to the staff and promoting some recent hires as well.

The Sacramento Kings will add Brendan Suhr and Jason Maxiell as assistant coaches, league sources told @hoopshype.

Suhr has spent over 25 years as an NBA coach and executive and 15 seasons as a college coach.

Maxiell was as an assistant coach for the Stockton Kings (G League). pic.twitter.com/t2ELrTtKBl
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) September 14, 2026

Family Ties

The NBA is very much a “who do you know” league in many cases, and these hires are another example of basketball operations leaders bringing in their guys. Sometimes this means that teams skipped over better fits, but I wouldn’t say that is the case this time. Brendan Suhr is one of the most respected coaches in basketball, winning back-to-back titles with the Detroit Pistons in 1989 and 1990. Jason Maxiell also has ties to the Pistons, playing eight seasons in Detroit before finishing his career with stints in Orlando and Charlotte for the Magic and Hornets.

Kings’ GM Scott Perry crossed paths with Suhr in the 2000-2001 season, Perry’s first season with the franchise and Suhr’s final stint before heading to the New York Knicks. While that might be where Suhr and Perry first got acquainted, the two connected for the Hoop Genius Podcast ( also featuring Assistant GM BJ Armstrong. Suhr has a wealth of basketball experience, and although he hasn’t been coaching for some time, the two rings speak for themselves.

Jason Maxiell with the block of the year on Tyson Chandler back in 2008! pic.twitter.com/HJqgjz0Dn4
— ThrowbackHoops (@ThrowbackHoops) August 14, 2018

Jason Maxiell isn’t new to the Sacramento Kings’ organization, having served as an assistant in Stockton last season. He and Perry were both part of the Pistons from 2005-2008, before Perry moved on to the Seattle Supersonics. The pair also connected again in Orlando in Maxiell’s penultimate year in the NBA. Maxiell was known for his tenacity on the glass and as a shot-blocker despite being undersized as a power forward, and it would be great to see some of that effort that Maxiell brought night after night rub off on this Kings team.

A Surprising Link

Beyond his NBA coaching history, Suhr has also coached for the University of Detroit, Fairfield, UCF, Stetson, and LSU. Suhr was LSU’s associate head coach from 2015-17, where he crossed paths with another new addition to the Kings: Ben Simmons. Simmons only spent one year at LSU, and it didn’t necessarily go how everyone expected, with the Tigers missing out on the tournament, but Suhr got an up-close look at Simmons before he was drafted number 1 overall. This is just a guess, but I would say that Suhr and Simmons joining the Kings this summer isn’t a coincidence.

Ben Simmons talent was UNDENIABLE at LSU 😳

19.2 PPG 11.8 RPG 4.8 APG 🔥

One of the most dominant freshman seasons in college basketball history before becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. pic.twitter.com/wJtZaIOv7L
— Expo Hoops (@ExpoHoops) June 12, 2026

Although LSU wasn’t great as a team, Simmons was great individually and made it impossible to let him fall past the first overall pick, as long as you overlooked the noise around his mentality. The same concerns about Simmons’ competitiveness that eventually (along with injuries) led to his exit from the NBA were starting to bubble up during his time at LSU, but Suhr has remained positive about Simmons in the media. On top of that, David Patrick, Simmons’ godfather, former coach, and current associate head coach at Arizona State, called Suhr his “mentor and friend” when his role with the Kings was announced.

CONGRATS to my mentor & friend @brendansuhr SACRAMENTO is a special place. https://t.co/eZuiiQVq73
— David Patrick (@CoachDPatrick) September 14, 2026

Having someone on the staff that Simmons is comfortable with will be huge for his confidence, but it also shows that Perry and the Kings have done their due diligence on him before signing him. Suhr clearly vouched for Simmons’ time at LSU, and while I doubt the Kings are getting anything close to that version of the Aussie guard, he should help get the most out of this version of the former All-Star. I’m hopeful that won’t be Suhr’s only contribution, but these ties can be more important than they seem on the surface, especially when it comes to Simmons’ past in the league.

Other Changes & What The Future Holds

The Kings also promoted DJ Ham, son of former Lakers Coach, Darvin Ham, to an assistant coaching role after previously working as the Head of Player Development. Taking over for Ham is Joe Ajike, who ran player development for the Rio Grande Vipers in the G-League after a run with the Washington Wizards. Wyatt Lohaus will also serve as an assistant video coordinator, and fans may remember his father, Brad, from the short time he spent with the Kings as a player in 1989. Finally, Drake Lamont, a former Western Michigan Bronco, will also join as an assistant video coordinator.

All of these hires and their ties to the front office beg the question: Is Doug Christie going to last the season? Christie isn’t exactly Perry’s hire after serving as the interim head coach after Mike Brown was fired, and the modest contract he signed last season isn’t exactly a show of confidence from the front office. As always with the Kings, it could be nothing, or it could be another big change on the horizon.

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