Doug Christie's Future With Kings Is Reportedly Being Evaluated

There is no question whether Doug Christie played a huge role in some of the Sacramento Kings' best seasons ever, including their 2002 Western Conference Finals run, but he is now in a much different role than when he was their defensive specialist. As their head coach, Christie has not had as much success.

The Kings have an underwhelming 21-59 record, and the franchise has a significant decision to make this offseason about Christie's future. NBA insider Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported that the Kings are "evaluating" Christie's future, and he may be back as head coach next season.

"I'm told that there are scenarios under consideration in which Christie would be back next season to coach the Kings despite their 21-58 struggles," Fischer wrote. "He has one guaranteed season left on his contract for 2026-27, sources say, before a team option in 2027-28. And I've heard that the Kings are still evaluating Christie's future based on the premise that Sacramento's various injury woes have made it difficult to gauge his true capability in the role."

Apr 3, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach Doug Christie during the first quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans at Golden 1 Center. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Does Christie deserve another shot?

As Fischer reports, the Kings' injury woes this season will be taken into account as the franchise evaluates Christie's future. The Kings will go the entire 2025-26 season without seeing their expected starting lineup play together, and in their last game, all five of those expected starters were out with injuries.

Of course, plenty of teams in the NBA deal with injury woes, but putting a first-year head coach in this position was unfair. The Kings' roster was already dysfunctional, and these injuries only made things worse.

Domantas Sabonis played 19 games, Keegan Murray played 23, Zach LaVine played 39, and De'Andre Hunter played just two between the trade and his season-ending injury. The Kings were ravaged by injuries, but this recent stretch of games might have saved Christie's job.

The Sacramento Kings entered this season with a projected starting lineup of:

Dennis Schroder
Zach LaVine
DeMar DeRozan
Keegan Murray
Domantas Sabonis

This lineup didn't touch the floor for a single second all season.
— Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) February 19, 2026

Despite being torn apart by injuries, the Kings are 7-9 in their last 16 games. While that does not seem like much, they have picked up some nice wins with a depleted roster. Led by DeMar DeRozan, Maxime Raynaud, Precious Achiuwa, and more, the Kings have not looked like the worst team in the NBA recently, as they did for the first 60 games of the season.

Of course, this season will be remembered by their historic 16-game losing streak in January-February, which immediately put Christie on the hot seat, but nobody should be surprised when he keeps his job heading into their 2026-27 campaign.

After going 27-24 to close out last season as their interim head coach, Christie rightfully earned a shot at the full-time position. Giving him two years guaranteed on his contract with a third-year team option was certainly a good decision, as the worst-case scenario for the Kings is that they part ways with him after another failed season. He deserves a shot at another season, with hopefully better roster cohesion and injury luck.

Fans will certainly be eager to hear the franchise's decision about Christie's future this offseason.