The Sacramento Kings Are Showing Signs of Stability in Management

The Sacramento Kings have kept their coaching staff in its’ entirety this offseason. The front office saw little turnover and seeked the addition of Veteran Executive Scott Perry as VP of Basketball Operations. These decisions won’t grab the headlines, but are some of the smarter moves management has made in recent years.

Building a sustainable and successful product in any business rarely takes place overnight. Patience is required in creating something from the ground up, but it all begins with the CEO/owner of a company and their outlook for the future.

You need a leader with a clear vision and people to execute this plan over a set period of time. And within that group of people, each individual must have a clear and concise role on how they fit into the organization.

This is called organizational infrastructure and has been missing from the Sacramento Kings organization over recent seasons. Paul Westphal (’09-’12) has been the only head coach to survive more than two seasons since 2006 and his record was 51-120 (.298%) over the course of his 171 games.

Sacramento has juggled through coaches at an alarming rate. While some coaches saw their time cut short for reasons besides the on-court product, it’s tough to place the blame on coaches who were given such a short leash. It’s impossible to implement one’s philosophies when you are looking over your shoulder to be the next coach canned by the front office.

Honoring Dave Joerger’s four-year contract that he signed last year in May would be a nice change by management. Joerger is a five-time champion across three minor basketball leagues, so getting the most out of young-lesser talent is nothing new for him. He also built elite defenses in the past with the Memphis Grizzlies and has the pieces to create another one in the modern game.

Joerger’s assistant coaches are retained as well, a bench that has 65 years of combined experience in his top two assistants Elston Turner (35 years) and Duane Ticknor (30). It’s important these coaches develop a trust with the players. There’s a direct correlation with the young talent not developing as we’d hope it would and the constant upheaval of the coaching staff. Player-coach relationships are crucial to communication between the two, something that can only develop over time.

The front office has shown some stability with Vlade Divac holding post as President of Basketball Operations and General Manager since August of 2015. Divac has taken the time to catch up to speed with the demands of the job but showed he can make the difficult decisions such as trading your star player midseason.

The former All-Star received backing this offseason when the team hired Scott Perry as VP of Basketball Operations. Perry was a front office member of the 2004 Detroit Pistons team that won the NBA championship that season and previously worked stints with the Seattle Supersonics and Orlando Magic. Perry’s experience will go a long way in assisting Divac in the day-to-day operations with the latter holding final say.

This is another aspect of the Kings future that should excite fans. The team is making smart basketball decisions in management that will translate on the court if they are given the time. Owner Vivek Ranadive has put together an experienced staff as he himself grows as an owner. The coaches are in place, the young talent is in place with more on the way, and the organization knows the rebuild is underway from top-to-bottom. Patience may be required, but stability is the first step back to winning.