Sacramento Kings table contract extension talks with 2023 NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown
Contract talks between the Kings and coach Mike Brown have stalled following weeks of speculation about his future in Sacramento.
The Kings have tabled talks with Brown after engaging in discussions over a contract extension, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reported that “there remains a gulf” between the two sides on a potential deal.
Brown, 54, was named NBA Coach of the Year after leading Sacramento to the playoffs in 2022-23, but the Kings came up short this season, losing in the play-in tournament. Brown has one guaranteed year remaining on his contract with a mutual option for the 2025-26 season.
The Kings hired Brown in May 2022 following six seasons as Steve Kerr’s lead assistant with the Golden State Warriors. Brown is a two-time Coach of the Year who has won four NBA championships, one as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs and three as an assistant with the Warriors.
Brown is reportedly seeking an extension at his market rate, which could come in over $10 million per year after Steve Kerr ($17.5 million), Gregg Popovich ($16 million), Monty Williams ($13 million) and Mike Budenholzer ($10 million) signed lucrative new deals over the past year. Brown downplayed his contract situation in April when asked if it was “top of mind” as he entered the summer following his second season in Sacramento.
“It’s not, really, at the end of the day,” Brown said. “I have one year left on my deal. Everybody knows that, but I’m excited about being here. I’m excited about our future, so I’m going to go into this summer trying to figure out how we can be better next year.”
Brown became the first unanimous winner of the Coach of the Year award last season after the Kings won 48 games to end the longest playoff drought in NBA history after 16 consecutive losing seasons.
Sacramento’s offense slipped to No. 13 after recording the highest offensive rating in NBA history last season — a point of consternation for general manager Monte McNair and owner Vivek Ranadivé — but the Kings improved from No. 24 to No. 14 in defensive rating, answering Brown’s season-long call for physicality and toughness.
The Kings nearly matched last year’s win total with a 46-36 record this season, but they fell from third to ninth in a much tougher conference with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves becoming contenders in the West.
McNair was asked how he would assess Brown’s work in Sacramento and what recommendation he would make to ownership when it comes to contract talks.
“Look at a two-year horizon here, which is when coach Brown and his staff came in, and (there are) a lot of positives,” McNair said. “We’re certainly disappointed this year, and Mike and I will sit down and try to figure out how we get back to where we want to get to.”
