By NBA Insiders | ESPN, 2025-05-03 02:20:00
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
上个月，NBA 的第四个主教练职位空缺出现，菲尼克斯太阳队在迈克·布登霍尔泽(Mike Budenholzer)五年合同的第一年后解雇了他。在此之前，丹佛掘金队在常规赛还剩不到一周时解雇了迈克尔·马龙(Michael Malone)以及总经理卡尔文·布斯(Calvin Booth)。
丹佛的决定是在孟菲斯灰熊队解雇长期教练泰勒·詹金斯(Taylor Jenkins)不到两周后做出的（孟菲斯此后取消了教练图马斯·伊萨洛(Tuomas Iisalo)的临时头衔）。萨克拉门托国王队成为本赛季第一支解雇教练的球队，国王队在 12 月下旬的连败期间解雇了迈克·布朗(Mike Brown)。
与此同时，圣安东尼奥马刺队已经任命米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)为他们的新主教练，篮球名人堂成员格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)转型为球队的专职篮球运营总裁。
未来几周是否会有更多职位空缺？上赛季，有七支球队更换了教练，其中包括三支进入季后赛的球队——骑士队、湖人队和太阳队。
以下是我们一年一度的 NBA 教练更迭情况分析，包括每个空缺职位的利弊以及谁可能填补这些空缺：
空缺的教练职位
菲尼克斯太阳
- 2024-25 赛季战绩： 36胜46负（西部第11名）
- 前任教练： 迈克·布登霍尔泽
- 主要管理人员： 詹姆斯·琼斯(James Jones)（2018 年聘用）
优势：老将人才
虽然老板马特·伊什比亚(Mat Ishbia)不到一年前宣称“29 支球队中有 26 支”不会与太阳队进行交易的说法与事实相去甚远，但太阳队仍然拥有——至少目前——德文·布克(Devin Booker)和凯文·杜兰特(Kevin Durant)在他们的阵容中，这在评估教练职位空缺方面是一个很好的起点。
除了球星之外，菲尼克斯还拥有坚实的老将深度，包括布拉德利·比尔(Bradley Beal)、格雷森·艾伦(Grayson Allen)、尼克·理查兹(Nick Richards)和罗伊斯·奥尼尔(Royce O’Neale)，以及瑞安·邓恩(Ryan Dunn)和奥索·伊格霍达罗(Oso Ighodaro)这两位有潜力成为一支不错的 NBA 轮换阵容核心的新秀。
劣势：不稳定，以及缺乏阵容、资金和选秀灵活性
我们从哪里开始？
在解雇了布登霍尔泽之后，菲尼克斯将迎来四个赛季中的第四位教练，布登霍尔泽是去年春天大张旗鼓地聘请的。伊什比亚拥有球队才两年多一点，就已经解雇了三位教练——对于取代布登霍尔泽的人来说，这并不是一个鼓舞人心的记录。
总的来说，太阳队在很多方面都陷入了困境。球队已经交易了未来几个赛季的选秀权，并且远远超过了 NBA 工资帽中可怕的“第二土豪线”，这导致球队阵容非常昂贵，而且几乎没有改善的工具。杜兰特有可能在今年夏天被交易，此前菲尼克斯曾在交易截止日时考虑过这个想法，但这位 36 岁的未来名人堂成员进入合同的最后一年后，还能有多少价值还有待观察。杜兰特将寻求超过每赛季 6000 万美元的续约合同。
谁可能得到这份工作？
让我们以伊什比亚执掌球队的过去两年为先例。在解雇了教练蒙蒂·威廉姆斯(Monty Williams)后，他们聘请了冠军教练弗兰克·沃格尔(Frank Vogel)。去年，在解雇了沃格尔后，他们聘请了另一位冠军教练布登霍尔泽。以此类推，马龙——一位最近被丹佛解雇的冠军教练——自然而然地成为了这份工作的候选人。
然而，考虑到接受这份工作所带来的所有复杂因素，目前尚不清楚未来几周谁会进入太阳队的视野。但伊什比亚已经表现出毫不畏惧在组织的各个方面进行投资，人们的假设是，无论在菲尼克斯发生什么，都不会是因为在寻找球队的下一任主教练时缺乏积极性。
– Tim Bontemps
丹佛掘金
- 2024-25 赛季战绩： 50胜32负（西部第4名）
- 前任教练： 迈克尔·马龙（周二被解雇；助理教练大卫·阿德尔曼(David Adelman)以临时身份接任）
- 主要管理人员： 无（总经理卡尔文·布斯于 2020 年晋升，也被解雇）
优势：冠军级人才
这类职位很少出现空缺。尼古拉·约基奇(Nikola Jokic)可能会在今年最有价值球员奖项上输给沙伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大(Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)，但他几乎被普遍认为是地球上最好的球员。贾马尔·穆雷(Jamal Murray)是一位精英级别的挡拆搭档，在季后赛中表现挣扎后，他已经恢复了高水平的发挥——在夏天与加拿大国家队以及本赛季初都是如此。阿隆·戈登(Aaron Gordon)是一位多才多艺的防守者，在攻防两端都与约基奇完美契合，而克里斯蒂安·布劳恩(Christian Braun)表现出色，度过了一个精彩的赛季，这让他进入了最快进步球员的考虑范围。
虽然西部联盟强队众多，但在周二马龙在执教掘金 10 年并取得无与伦比的成功后被解雇的惊人消息传出之前，丹佛仍然可以说是最有希望进入季后赛的球队，仅次于俄克拉荷马城。任何接受这份工作的人都会相信他们可以立即赢得总冠军。
劣势：有限的财务和阵容灵活性
众所周知，丹佛从来没有大开支票来支付教练和管理人员的薪水，但这与试图让这支球队保持在冠军水平上的长期限制相比，只是一个次要的担忧。与大多数长期的冠军争夺者一样，这支球队已经交易了很多选秀权，并且锁定了长期合同。好的一面是，球队的核心球员至少还有几年的合同。坏的一面是？球队几乎没有改善的手段，可能不足以达到丹佛现在想要达到的目标。
谁可能得到这份工作？
名人堂教练里克·阿德尔曼(Rick Adelman)的儿子阿德尔曼将有机会以临时身份担任这份工作，如果他在季后赛中获胜，肯定有可能长期担任这份工作。但有了这样一个诱人的职位摆在桌面上，可能会有很多教练感兴趣，丹佛应该有很多选择。
– Bontemps
已聘用的职位
圣安东尼奥马刺
- 2024-25 赛季战绩： 34胜48负（西部第13名）
- 新教练： 米奇·约翰逊
- 前任教练： 格雷格·波波维奇（转型为专职篮球运营总裁）
- 主要管理人员： RC·布福德(RC Buford)（2019 年晋升为 CEO）
优势：令人兴奋的年轻核心，大量资产
圣安东尼奥是一个稳定且支持性的组织，拥有强大的所有权历史，这是对它的定义。马刺队已经连续两年选出了年度最佳新秀，分别是潜在的超级巨星维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)和后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔。他们拥有今年选秀中的两个彩票签，既有自己的签，也有亚特兰大老鹰队的签，加起来他们大约有 30% 的机会获得前四顺位。他们拥有所有未来的选秀权，包括第一轮和第二轮，并且今年之后还有两个额外的首轮选秀权，九个额外的第二轮选秀权，以及 2027 年与老鹰队、2030 年与小牛队或森林狼队以及 2021 年与凯尔特人队的首轮选秀权互换。马刺队还交易来了一名球队控球后卫达龙·福克斯(De’Aaron Fox)，他有望在今年晚些时候签署一份长期续约合同。
劣势：市场规模、所有权方的支出能力、巨大的压力
虽然圣安东尼奥是一个不断发展的城市，但它仍然是联盟中较小的市场之一，对引进球员有各种影响，尽管马刺队的组织享有极好的声誉。在过去的 13 年里，所有权方仅支付了 500 万美元的奢侈税，随着福克斯和文班亚马的大合同即将到来，以及高工资带来的新挑战，支出是需要关注的事情。也就是说，自从马刺队上次成为争夺者以来，他们已经吸收了新的资金雄厚的合作伙伴，包括亿万富翁计算机大亨迈克尔·戴尔(Michael Dell)和投资公司 Sixth Street。还面临着在波波维奇之后接手的挑战，波波维奇在过去的 29 年里赢得了五次总冠军，并建立了巨大的遗产。
谁得到了这份工作： 约翰逊在波波维奇 11 月份轻微中风后被任命为代理教练，现在永久接任主教练的职责。波波维奇在过去几年里一直依靠约翰逊，在准备和比赛中都给予了他越来越多的责任。约翰逊也已经与文班亚马建立了牢固的关系。在波波维奇缺席的情况下，约翰逊带领圣安东尼奥取得了 31 胜 45 负的战绩。
– Brian Windhorst
孟菲斯灰熊
- 2024-25 赛季战绩： 48胜34负（西部第8名）
- 新教练： 图马斯·伊萨洛（5月2日聘用）
- 前任教练： 泰勒·詹金斯（3月28日被解雇；伊萨洛以临时身份接任）
- 主要管理人员： 扎克·克莱曼(Zach Kleiman)（2019 年聘用）
优势：一个有希望的年轻核心
尽管整个赛季都饱受伤病困扰，但灰熊队仍然位居西部联盟前五名，并且拥有联盟第五好的净效率值——仅次于俄克拉荷马城雷霆队、克利夫兰骑士队、波士顿凯尔特人队和休斯顿火箭队。
凭借贾·莫兰特(Ja Morant)、戴斯蒙德·贝恩(Desmond Bane)和小贾伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson Jr.)，孟菲斯的核心阵容正在进入他们的巅峰时期，这应该让灰熊队在本十年剩余的时间里都有争夺冠军的实力。克莱曼已经表明他可以找到有天赋的第二轮和落选秀球员，这给了孟菲斯一支除了明星天才之外，还拥有一支深度和多才多艺的阵容。
一位 NBA 高管表示，如果一切顺利，这支球队让人想起上赛季克利夫兰骑士队，之后肯尼·阿特金森(Kenny Atkinson)加入，球队在本赛季有所进步。克莱曼和灰熊队相信这种提升是可能的。
劣势：小市场，近期不稳定
孟菲斯远非 NBA 的魅力市场，而且这支球队在过去一年里有很多摩擦和不确定性。
灰熊队在去年夏天几乎解雇了詹金斯的整个教练团队，引进了——其中包括——伊萨洛和诺亚·拉罗什(Noah LaRoche)来填补空缺。然后，不仅詹金斯在周五被解雇，而且拉罗什也被解雇了，他聘请了几位球员发展教练。
现在，让我们谈谈阵容。除了无数的伤病之外，灰熊队多年来还与莫兰特发生了一系列场外问题。由于其他两位球星杰克逊和贝恩的出色表现，球队已经缓解了莫兰特的缺席，并且直到被解雇为止，詹金斯在场边的表现也功不可没。
谁得到了这份工作：图马斯·伊萨洛
联盟的预期是，在球队在 3 月下旬与詹金斯分道扬镳后，伊萨洛将长期得到这份工作。灰熊队在上个休赛期从欧洲引进了他，并将他安排在詹金斯的教练团队中，他在球队的最后阶段的比赛和进入第一轮的过程中表现出了足够的实力。伊萨洛现在是 NBA 历史上第一位芬兰裔主教练。
– Bontemps
萨克拉门托国王
- 2024-25 赛季战绩： 40胜42负（西部第9名）
- 新教练： 道格·克里斯蒂(Doug Christie)
- 前任教练： 迈克·布朗（12月被解雇；助理教练道格·克里斯蒂以临时身份接任）
- 主要管理人员： 总经理斯科特·佩里(Scott Perry)（在蒙特·麦克奈尔(Monte McNair)与球队分道扬镳后于 4 月 17 日聘用）
优势：经验丰富，即战力人才
很难预测萨克拉门托凭借其阵容赢得总冠军。但是，一位教练接手一支拥有多曼塔斯·萨博尼斯(Domantas Sabonis)、德玛尔·德罗赞(DeMar DeRozan)、扎克·拉文(Zach LaVine)、基根·穆雷(Keegan Murray)和马利克·蒙克(Malik Monk)的球队，将有机会在每场比赛中都具有竞争力。考虑到空缺职位上的典型人才水平，这提升了国王队的空缺。
考虑到所有这些球员都至少在接下来的几个赛季内都受球队控制，他们有一些一起比赛的空间，这增加了对新教练的吸引力。
劣势：小市场，数十年的不稳定
以下是你需要了解的关于国王队的一切：自从 1984 年搬到萨克拉门托以来，只有两位教练至少有一个完整赛季的胜率超过了 50%：里克·阿德尔曼，他在 1999 年至 2006 年连续八个赛季做到了这一点，以及迈克·布朗在过去两个赛季做到了这一点。在阿德尔曼没有执教的 33 个赛季中，萨克拉门托三次进入季后赛，这突显了这份工作的难度。
长期 NBA 高管斯科特·佩里现在取代了麦克奈尔，麦克奈尔在球队在附加赛中被淘汰后与国王队分道扬镳。球队还看到了助理总经理韦斯·威尔科克斯(Wes Wilcox)的离职，他本月早些时候接受了犹他大学的总经理职位。另一个缺点是俱乐部不愿意支付奢侈税，这是老板维韦克·拉纳戴夫(Vivek Ranadive)一直避免的事情。
谁得到了这份工作： 消息人士周二告诉 ESPN 的沙姆斯·查拉尼亚(Shams Charania)，克里斯蒂正在敲定一份多年合同，成为球队的下一任教练。克里斯蒂与球队有着长期的联系，可以追溯到在阿德尔曼执教下的 21 世纪初的那些标志性球队，而且自从接替布朗以来，他在过去几个月里做得很好。根据 ESPN Research 的数据，在本赛季克里斯蒂的带领下，萨克拉门托取得了 27 胜 24 负的战绩，在此期间进攻效率排名第九，并且在关键时刻的比赛中以 13 胜 10 负的战绩领先，而此前在布朗执教下，这一战绩为 6 胜 13 负。
– Bontemps
点击查看原文：NBA coaching carousel - Pros, cons, what's next for every open job
NBA coaching carousel - Pros, cons, what’s next for every open job
The NBA’s fourth head coaching job opened last month when the Phoenix Suns fired Mike Budenholzer after the first year of a five-year contract. Before that, the Denver Nuggets moved on from Michael Malone, along with general manager Calvin Booth, with less than a week to go in the regular season.
Denver’s decision came less than two weeks after the Memphis Grizzlies fired longtime coach Taylor Jenkins (Memphis has since removed the interim tag on coach Tuomas Iisalo.) The Sacramento Kings became the first franchise to fire its coach this season when the Kings dismissed Mike Brown amid a losing streak in late December.
Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs have named Mitch Johnson their new head coach, with Basketball Hall of Famer Gregg Popovich transitioning to a full-time role as the team’s president of basketball operations.
Will more jobs open over the next several weeks? Last season, seven teams changed coaches, including three – the Cavaliers, Lakers and Suns – that did so after making the playoffs.
Here’s our annual look at the NBA’s coaching carousel, with the pros and cons of each vacancy and who could fill them:
Open coaching jobs
Phoenix Suns
- 2024-25 record: 36-46 (No. 11 in West)
- Previous coach: Mike Budenholzer
- Lead executive: James Jones (hired in 2018)
Positive: Veteran talent
While owner Mat Ishbia’s proclamation less than a year ago that “26 out of 29” teams wouldn’t trade places with the Suns was way off base, the Suns still do – at least for now – have both Devin Booker and Kevin Durant on their roster, which is a pretty good place to start in terms of evaluating a coaching vacancy.
Beyond its stars, Phoenix has solid veteran depth in Bradley Beal, Grayson Allen, Nick Richards and Royce O’Neale, plus a couple of rookie finds in Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro that could form the core of a decent NBA rotation.
Negatives: Instability, plus lack of roster, monetary and draft flexibility
Where do we start?
Phoenix is headed toward its fourth coach in as many seasons after firing Budenholzer, who was hired with great fanfare last spring. Ishbia has owned the team for a little over two years and has already fired three coaches – not exactly an inspiring track record for whomever replaces Budenholzer.
Overall, the Suns are stuck in a multitude of ways. The team has traded control of its draft picks for the next several seasons and is well over the dreaded “second apron” of the NBA’s salary cap, creating a wildly expensive roster with few tools to improve it. There’s a chance Durant is traded this summer, after Phoenix flirted with the idea at the trade deadline, but it remains to be seen how much value the 36-year-old future Hall of Famer will have as he enters the final year of his contract. Durant will be looking for an extension at more than $60 million per season.
Who could get the job?
Let’s use the past two years under Ishbia as precedent. After firing coach Monty Williams, they hired Frank Vogel, a championship-winning coach. Last year, after firing Vogel, they hired Budenholzer, another championship-winning coach. That would, by extension, make Malone – a recently fired championship-winning coach with Denver – a natural name to look at for this job.
However, with all the complications that come with taking on this job, it’s unclear who will be on the Suns’ radar in the coming weeks. But Ishbia has shown no fear of spending on every part of the organization, and the assumption is that whatever happens in Phoenix, it won’t be for a lack of aggression in finding the franchise’s next head coach.
– Tim Bontemps
Denver Nuggets
- 2024-25 record: 50-32 (No. 4 in West)
- Previous coach: Michael Malone (fired Tuesday; assistant David Adelman takes over on interim basis)
- Lead executive: None (GM Calvin Booth, promoted in 2020, was also let go)
Positive: Championship-level talent
These kinds of jobs rarely come available. Nikola Jokic might lose out to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for this season’s Most Valuable Player award, but he’s nearly universally seen as the best player on the planet. Jamal Murray is an elite pick-and-roll partner and, after struggling in the playoffs, is back to playing at a high level – over the summer with Team Canada and at the start of this season. Aaron Gordon is a versatile defender who fits perfectly next to Jokic at both ends, and Christian Braun has come on and had a terrific season, putting him into Most Improved Player consideration.
While the Western Conference is deep with contenders, Denver still arguably was set to enter the playoffs as a favorite behind Oklahoma City before Tuesday’s shocking news of Malone’s dismissal after 10 years and unparalleled success with the Nuggets. Whoever walks into this job will believe they can win a championship immediately.
Negatives: Limited financial and roster flexibility
Denver has never been known to open the checkbook to pay for coaches and executives, but that’s a secondary concern to the long-term constraints on trying to keep this team at a championship level. Like most longtime championship contenders, this is a franchise that has traded away a lot of draft picks and is locked in on long-term contracts. The good part about that is the team’s core players are all under contract for at least a couple more years. The bad? The roster has few means to improve and might not be good enough to get where Denver wants to go now.
Who could get the job?
Adelman, son of Hall of Fame coach Rick Adelman, will get a chance to have the job on an interim basis, and, if he wins in the postseason, certainly could get it on a long-term basis. But with a job this appealing on the table, there will likely be a long line of coaches interested, and Denver should have its pick of choices.
– Bontemps
Hired jobs
San Antonio Spurs
- 2024-25 record: 34-48 (No. 13 in West)
- New coach: Mitch Johnson
- Previous coach: Gregg Popovich (transitioning to full-time role as president of basketball operations)
- Lead executive: RC Buford (promoted to CEO in 2019)
Positives: Thrilling young core, loads of assets
San Antonio is the definition of a stable and supportive organization with a history of strong ownership. The Spurs have drafted the Rookie of the Year in back-to-back years with potential superstar Victor Wembanyama and guard Stephon Castle. They have two lottery picks in this year’s draft, both theirs and the Atlanta Hawks, combined giving them about a 30% chance of getting a top-four pick. They own all their future draft picks, both first and second round, going forward and beyond this year have two additional first-rounders, nine additional second rounders, and first-round pick swaps with the Hawks in 2027, the Mavericks or Wolves in 2030 and the Celtics in 2021. The Spurs also traded for a franchise point guard, De’Aaron Fox, who is in position to sign a long-term contract extension later this year.
Negatives: Market size, ownership spending power, big shoes
Though San Antonio is a growing city, it still is one of the league’s smaller markets and has various effects on acquiring players, though the Spurs’ organization enjoys an excellent reputation. The ownership has paid just $5 million in luxury tax in the past 13 years and with big contracts coming for Fox and Wembanyama plus the new challenges that come with high payrolls, spending is something to monitor. That said, since the Spurs were last contenders they have taken on new deep-pocketed partners, including billionaire computer magnate Michael Dell and investment firm Sixth Street. There is also the challenge of coming behind Popovich, someone who won five championships and established a massive legacy over the previous 29 years.
Who got the job: Johnson, who was named acting coach after Popovich suffered a mild stroke in November, now takes over head coaching duties on a permanent basis. Popovich had leaned on Johnson over the past several years, giving him increasing responsibility both in terms of preparation and in-game. Johnson has developed a strong relationship with Wembanyama already as well. Johnson led San Antonio to a 31-45 record in Popovich’s absence.
– Brian Windhorst
Memphis Grizzlies
- 2024-25 record: 48-34 (No. 8 in West)
- New coach: Tuomas Iisalo (hired on May 2)
- Previous coach: Taylor Jenkins (fired March 28; Iisalo took over on interim basis)
- Lead executive: Zach Kleiman (hired in 2019)
Positive: A promising young core
Despite suffering injuries throughout the season, the Grizzlies are still in the top five in the Western Conference standings, and with the league’s fifth-best net rating – trailing only the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets.
With Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis’ core is entering its prime, which should give the Grizzlies runway to contend for the rest of this decade. Kleiman has shown that he can find talented second-round and undrafted players, giving Memphis a deep and versatile roster behind that star talent.
One NBA executive said this is a team that, if things break right, is reminiscent of the Cleveland Cavaliers last season before Kenny Atkinson came in and the franchise improved this season. That’s the kind of boost Kleiman and the Grizzlies believe is possible.
Negatives: Small market, recent instability
Memphis is far from an NBA glamour market, and this team has had a lot of friction and uncertainty over the past year.
The Grizzlies fired virtually Jenkins’ entire coaching staff last summer, bringing in – among others – Iisalo and Noah LaRoche to fill it out. Then, not only was Jenkins dismissed Friday, but so was LaRoche, who hired several player development coaches.
Now, on to the roster. In addition to numerous injuries, the Grizzlies have had a series of off-court issues with Morant over the years. The team had mitigated Morant’s absence thanks to its other two stars, Jackson and Bane, its impressive depth and, until he was fired, Jenkins’ work on the sidelines.
Who got the job: Tuomas Iisalo
The expectation around the league was that Iisalo would get a long look for the job after the franchise moved on from Jenkins in late March. The Grizzlies brought him from Europe last offseason and put him on Jenkins’ staff, and he showed enough through the team’s final stretch of games and run to the first round. Iisalo is now the first Finnish-born head coach in NBA history.
– Bontemps
Sacramento Kings
- 2024-25 record: 40-42 (No. 9 in West)
- New coach: Doug Christie
- Previous coach: Mike Brown (fired in December; assistant Doug Christie takes over on interim basis)
- Lead executive: GM Scott Perry (hired on April 17 after Monte McNair parted ways with the team)
Positive: Veteran, ready-to-win talent
It’s hard to project Sacramento winning a title with its roster. But a coach taking over a team with Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Keegan Murray and Malik Monk has a chance to be competitive in each game. That gives the Kings’ vacancy a boost, given the typical level of talent at open jobs.
With all of those players under team control for at least a couple of more seasons, there is some runway for them to play together, adding to the appeal for a new coach.
Negatives: Small market, decades of instability
Here’s all you need to know about the Kings: Since moving to Sacramento in 1984, two coaches have had at least one full season with a winning record: Rick Adelman, who did it for eight straight seasons from 1999 to 2006, and Mike Brown the past two seasons. Sacramento has made the playoffs in three of the 33 seasons not coached by Adelman, underscoring the difficulty of this job.
Longtime NBA executive Scott Perry Perry now replaces McNair, who parted ways with the Kings following their elimination in the play-in tournament. The team had also seen the departure of assistant general manager Wes Wilcox, who took the GM job for the Utah Utes earlier this month. Another drawback is the club’s unwillingness to pay into the luxury tax, something owner Vivek Ranadive has avoided.
Who got the job: Christie is finalizing a multiyear contract to become the franchise’s next coach, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Tuesday. Christie has long-standing ties to the organization, going back to being a starter on those iconic teams of the early 2000s under Adelman, and he had done a solid job the past few months since taking over for Brown. Sacramento went 27-24 this season under Christie, ranking ninth in offensive efficiency during that span and going 13-10 in clutch-time games compared to 6-13 earlier in the campaign under Brown, according to ESPN Research.
– Bontemps
By NBA Insiders | ESPN, via ESPN