Media outlet thinks Mike Brown is just an average head coach

On Monday, CBS Sports NBA Writer Sam Quinn (a great follow on Twitter if you don't have him there already) released his head coach rankings heading into the 2024-25 season. Here are those rankings (although you should definitely check out the original article, too):

Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown placed 13th on this list. He's sandwiched in between some pretty good company. Just ahead of him is Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch, who is fresh off a trip to the Western Conference. And behind Brown is his former mentor. The greatest coach of all time. San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.

But in the grand scheme of things, at 13 CBS views Brown as an average head coach in the NBA. Personally, I can't say I disagree too much with this assessment. All the names ahead of him have a legitimate case for being there.

Besides, last season, when I ran a study looking at how good coaches are at calling plays, Brown finished 11th in the league. Now, calling plays isn't the only thing coaches do, but this is an indicator that Brown is a good, but not great, NBA coach.

As an aside, there is nothing wrong with having a head coach who is just good. Michael Malone is ranked 15th by CBS, and his Denver Nuggets just won the NBA Championship in 2022-23!

Did The Kings Overpay Mike Brown This Offseason?

As many of you are well-aware, the Kings agreed to an extension with Brown at the start of this offseason that bumped is pay from four million dollars per year to 8.5 million. That raise makes Brown one of the highest-paid coaches in the NBA, which raises the question: did we overpay Brown?

The short answer is a simple "no." Brown may not be the best coach in the NBA, but he is the best coach we have had in the two decades. Brown helped us end our dreaded playoff drought (16 years without making the playoffs). And for that (and for completely changing our culture), he deserves the money we are paying him.

Plus, head coaches' salaries don't count toward the salary cap (which is the only real reason any of us should worry about how much these people are being paid anyway). So, technically, it doesn't really matter how much Brown is getting paid as long as the Kings are winning.