Inside The Kings

Doug Christie Bluntly Admits What Kings Fans Have Already Been Saying

The Sacramento Kings' head coach came to the same realization that many fans have been thinking.
Apr 16, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings interim head coach Doug Christie reacts during the fourth quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at Golden 1 Center.
Apr 16, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings interim head coach Doug Christie reacts during the fourth quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at Golden 1 Center. | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

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The Sacramento Kings suffered a crushing 121-95 loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night, getting outscored by 27 in the second half after leading at the break. The Kings have now dropped four consecutive games to fall to 5-17 on the season, and it is getting to a breaking point.

The Kings have not seen any type of success this season, yet head coach Doug Christie is still unwilling to experiment. Since the Kings are not winning any games regardless, they might as well try some things out, right? Whether it be shifting their focus to the young guys more or moving Zach LaVine to the second unit, it does not hurt the Kings to at least try something new.

After Wednesday's loss, Christie actually had that same thought.

"I mean, yeah, you could play one point guard and four power forwards, but that's gonna be difficult and difficult to score," Christie said." I mean, probably could have done it because we had a difficult time scoring anyway."

Thank you, Doug Christie. He said exactly what fans have been saying for weeks. Sure, they have not exactly been preaching the team to play one point guard and four power forwards, but his point about how they could have done it because they were struggling anyway is exactly what fans have been preaching.

Why not try?

If the Kings are going to be in 14th place in the Western Conference with the NBA's second-worst point differential, regardless, then why are they so worried about what is supposed to work?

Of course, by the time February's trade deadline has passed and the Kings are likely without at least one or two of their current stars, then they will start to throw their young guys on there and will be forced to experiment a bit more. However, there is no reason for them not to be doing all of that right now.

In Wednesday's loss, rookie center Maxime Raynaud finished with 25 points on 10-15 shooting, and this should undoubtedly be a sign that he deserves more minutes. If the Kings completely shifted their focus toward guys like Raynaud, Nique Clifford, Keon Ellis, and Keegan Murray, not only would the team likely play better, but it would set them up for success in the long run.

The Kings are on the verge of blowing it up entirely, but if Christie follows his own mindset that he slipped in his postgame press conference on Wednesday night, then it will make that transition so much easier.

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Logan Struck
LOGAN STRUCK

Logan Struck is the Deputy Editor for Inside the Kings - SI.com's team website following the Sacramento Kings.

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