On Tuesday, the Sacramento Kings announced that they would be removing Doug Christie's interim tag and making him the official head coach of the team heading into the 2025-26 NBA Season. This decision marked the first major one of the Scott Perry regime.
The move indicated that the Kings would have some continuity on the bench heading into what could be a new era for the team. However, it seems like there won't be that much continuity in that category outside of Christie.
Multiple Kings assistant coaches not retained for next season
On Saturday, it was reported that, while Christie will be back,multiple assistant coaches will not be retained. The list of coaches that will not be back includes lead assistant Jay Triano (the most decorated coach on last year's staff, not including Mike Brown), Jawad Williams, and three other assistants. That leaves five open slots to be filled.
Leandro Barbosa, a former 14-year NBA veteran who has been with the team since 2022, has survived the cuts and will remain with the team.
One candidate to replace Triano as the lead assistant seems to be Mike Woodson. Woodson is one of the few guys out there with even more experience than Triano. He played in the NBA for over a decade (from 1980 to 1991) before becoming an NBA assistant coach in 1996. He stayed in the NBA for a quarter of a century, including head coaching stints with the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks. Woodson then left the NBA game to be the head coach at Indiana. He parted ways at the end of this season after four years with the Hoosiers.
The Kings will also be without Luke Loucks. Loucks came to the Kings in 2022 after a half decade run with the Golden State Warriors. He did such a great job in Sacramento that he was able to leverage his experience into a head coaching gig at Florida State. Next season will be his first year as the leading man of the Division I university.
Remember, Christie has also been with the Kings since 2022. So, he spent time as an assistant on this staff before his promotion. However, this was not the staff he picked himself. These changes will give him the chance to handpick his own guys. Let's see what he ends up doing with this freedom.