A Royal Pain
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Sacramento Kings: Bold predictions for season’s homestretch

By Jonathan Roberts

SACRAMENTO, CA - OCTOBER 26: Buddy Hield #24 of the Sacramento Kings shoots over Jeff Green #32 of the Washington Wizards during an NBA basketball game at Golden 1 Center on October 26, 2018 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - OCTOBER 26: Buddy Hield #24 of the Sacramento Kings shoots over Jeff Green #32 of the Washington Wizards during an NBA basketball game at Golden 1 Center on October 26, 2018 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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SACRAMENTO, CA – MARCH 14: Head coach Dave Joerger of the Sacramento Kings coaches against the Miami Heat on March 14, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA – MARCH 14: Head coach Dave Joerger of the Sacramento Kings coaches against the Miami Heat on March 14, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /

This is directly tied to the Sacramento Kings making the playoffs. If they don’t, it’s unlikely Dave Joerger brings home the Coach of the Year honors despite a stellar job this season. If they do make the playoffs, however, Dave Joerger could go from First Team All-Coaches to Coaching MVP.

As we highlighted in this story here, since 1990 only two coaches, Doc Rivers (ORL) and Sam Mitchell (TOR), have won Coach of the Year without winning at least 50 games. Should the Sacramento Kings make the playoffs, however, that could be Dave Joerger’s golden ticket to coaching immortality.

In fact, if you look at the parallels between this Kings team and the 2006-07 Toronto Raptors (Sam Mitchell), Dave Joerger could have a pretty strong case should his team make the playoffs. In his third season as the Head Coach of the Raptors (sound familiar?) Mitchell guided the team to a 20-win improvement from the season before when Toronto won just 27 times, leading them to their first playoff appearance in four years. Eerie right? That’s really where the parallels stop, though that Raps team was also led by a third year player in Chris Bosh and got some solid contributions from a rookie power forward off the bench.

While the Sacramento aren’t going to win 47 games this season (they’d need to end the year 15-4), they should still see significant improvement from the year before. FiveThiryEight has the Kings finishing with a record near 40-42 or 41-41 and while both project the Kings to miss the playoffs, that would mark an incredible 13-14 game turnaround from last season — one of the largest in the NBA.

Dave Joerger’s coaching rebirth has the Kings on the right track. light. More

Should the Kings hit that mark, or better, and luck into the playoffs, Dave Joerger might just be the favorite for CoY.

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