The Sacramento Kings are 0-5, sitting among the league’s two winless teams and carrying the NBA’s worst point differential. Even with that ugly start, the latest read on Doug Christie’s future suggests the organization is not rushing to make a move.
Sam Amick reported that while there’s a leaguewide sense Christie could have been in danger if the Kings failed to win during their four-game road trip, the chatter inside the building points in a different direction. As Amick put it, “there is an internal belief that Christie deserves a fair chance to be evaluated with a team that is much healthier than this current Kings lot.”
That argument starts with the injuries, which have hit Sacramento hard across the roster. The backup center spot has been especially thin, with Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell still not having played this season, and the drop-off when Domantas Sabonis leaves the floor has been steep. Keegan Murray is also back on the shelf with ankle capsulitis, while Ben Simmons tore his Achilles before opening night and never got the chance to begin his comeback tour.
Still, the Kings aren’t the only team dealing with attrition. Sacramento lost to a New Orleans squad missing starting guard Dejounte Murray and starting center Yves Missi.
Earlier this week, Memphis beat the Kings without starting center Zach Edey, and the Clippers opened the season by blowing them out without star forward Brandon Ingram. Injuries complicate the evaluation, but they don’t erase the need to judge how a coach handles the players actually available.
Amick also noted that “development - both his and that of key young players - is considered the most important aspect of [Christie’s] duties.”
That piece of the job may matter just as much as the record, and maybe more. The Kings’ young group appears to include Darius Acuff Jr., Nique Clifford, Alex Karaban, Keegan Murray, Maxime Raynaud, and Dylan Cardwell, but three of those players are currently injured, which makes any fair assessment harder to pin down.
Acuff has shown more comfort running the offense with each game, and that stands out as a real positive. But Clifford and Karaban have barely been factors.
The two have combined for 4.3 PPG, 1 RPG, and 1.3 APG in 16 minutes per game, with Karaban logging two DNP CDs and Clifford one. If those two were getting real run and simply struggling, that would be one thing.
Instead, they’re hardly seeing the floor at all.
Christie is on the last guaranteed year of his contract, with a team option for 2027-28 at a salary well below the going rate for NBA head coaches. If the injury excuses keep piling up, Sacramento could continue leaning on that as it decides whether to pick up the option and keep him in place.
For now, though, the message appears to be patience. The Kings may be winless, but the organization seems willing to wait before making a call on Christie’s future.
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