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Why Kings Should Consider a Coaching Change, and Why They Shouldn't

The Sacramento Kings are reportedly hesitant to fire Doug Christie this season.
Eric Sperlazza|
Nov 8, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach Doug Christie looks on during the third quarter against the Miami Heat at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Marshall-Imagn Images
Nov 8, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach Doug Christie looks on during the third quarter against the Miami Heat at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Marshall-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Sacramento Kings

The NBA is no stranger to midseason coaching changes, and the Sacramento Kings have been one of the biggest proponents over the years. While changing a coach mid-year rarely results in much more success, it also rarely leads to much less, on average. 

For Sacramento, a change may not be about wins and losses, though. For a team that is struggling with basically every facet of the game right now, are they right to think that keeping Doug Christie will be better for Darius Acuff Jr.?

"The messaging is, preferably for them, would be no [coaching change] all season long ... They are sensitive to the idea that Darius Acuff potentially would have three different head coaches in his first season. They don't want that," NBA insider Sam Amick said on Sactown Sports 1140.

The Argument for Continuity

As Amick alludes to, the Kings’ brass clearly fears putting their rookie star through too much change early in his career, as they’ve done with the majority of their recent lottery picks. 

DeMarcus Cousins played for six different head coaches, and De’Aaron Fox played for five in seven seasons. Clearly, changing the head coach that often is not ideal, and likely contributed to Fox and Cousins’ dismay with the organization. Beyond the optics, coaches are going to come in and establish new systems, which is another challenge as a young player.

With Christie, Acuff has learned a certain playbook, certain coverages on defense, and is being coached to play a certain way in general. While some of the basics may hold true for any coach, you can look at the Kings under Mike Brown and the Kings under Christie to see how different a similarly built team can look on the court. 

Rookies already have to get accustomed to so much after making the jump to the NBA; having to work with two different head coaches is a lot to ask of a teenager.

How Many Stars Had Multiple Coaches in Their Rookie Year?

While it isn’t all that common, there are some notable examples of other rookies who have to endure a coaching change in their first year. One of the more recent examples is Devin Booker, who started his career with Jeff Hornacek, who was then fired, with Earl Watson taking over. 

Similar to the Kings, the Phoenix Suns were not a great team when Booker entered the league and went through a run of coaches from Booker’s rookie year until landing on Monty Williams in 2019.

Paul George also played for two head coaches in his first season, Jim O’Brien and Frank Vogel. Vogel took on the interim tag and hired him on full time after he let George loose and helped guide the Indiana Pacers to the playoffs. Christie isn’t suppressing Acuff’s minutes like O’Brien was for George and Hornacek was for Booker (the opposite, actually), but there’s still a chance that this isn’t the right developmental environment for him either.

The Detroit Pistons and Cade Cunningham famously went 14-68 in Cunningham’s third season before finally making a big change at the head coaching spot. Oddly enough, Monty Williams was the one who couldn’t make it work with Cunningham, Jalen Duren, and Ausar Thompson, while J.B. Bickerstaff found a way to put it all together. Not only was Cunningham not impacted by all of the change, but he also took a huge jump when Bickerstaff signed on.

Another young star, Anthony Edwards, had his first coach fired in season, and it’s very clear that was the right decision as well. Chris Finch is still coaching the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Edwards thrived immediately under Finch and developed into one of the best players in the NBA despite the early dysfunction. Minnesota as a whole also looked better under Finch, who made major changes to their system, and that could very well be the case for Sacramento.

Changing for the Sake of Change

Many say you shouldn’t make a change if you don’t have your end goal in mind yet, and the Kings certainly don’t. They have some pieces, including one key piece in Acuff, but they don’t know who their J.B. Bickerstaff, Ausar Thompson, or Jalen Duren are yet. 

Letting Doug Christie ride out the season on a cheap deal makes sense if you aren’t excited about giving an interim tag, but the Kings need to take a look in the mirror.

The Kings are 27th in offense and defense, and were 26th and 28th last year, with no obvious signs of improvement on the same issues that impacted them all last season. Injuries have certainly given Christie a tough hand to play, but some of the issues, like allowing teams to shoot nearly 50% from the field and over 37% from three, are heavily impacted by coaching. 

If Acuff is the player the Kings think he is, he’ll develop regardless of who sits in the first seat, and if making a change gives him a chance to develop while winning a few more games, the Kings shouldn’t hesitate.

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Eric Sperlazza
ERIC SPERLAZZA

Eric Sperlazza covers the NBA and Sacramento Kings for Sacramento Kings On SI.

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