Mike Brown Says He’s “Excited At The Direction” The Kings Are Heading

New Sacramento Kings’ head coach Mike Brown is excited at the opportunity to break the franchise’s 16-year playoff drought.

Brown joined Jim Rome on The Jim Rome Show Wednesday to discuss his plans for the Sacramento Kings, the roster, and if the arena can feel like the early 2000s playoff games.

When Jim Rome pointed out that the Kings have not made the playoffs since 2006 and have had 12 coaches since then, Coach Brown said he and his staff are embracing the challenge ahead.

“We feel like with the talent that we already have assembled, the nucleus that’s there, and the guys that we’ve brought in, getting some organization to this group, and challenging them and motivating them in the right direction, is something we feel like we can do,” Brown said.

Since Coach Brown joined the team, the Kings used their number four pick in the 2022 draft on forward Keegan Murray, signed free agent Malik Monk and traded for Kevin Huerter. These moves are expected to help the team with shooting and defense. Murry has already shown he can be an immediate impact after being named the NBA Summer League MVP. 

Brown said general manager Monte McNair and assistant general manager Wes Wilcox have done a “fantastic job” of putting the team together.

“They’ve already been really responsive to us…everybody is looking forward to getting this thing started, everybody is on the same page. And again, with the talent of this nucleus, we feel we can get over the hump. You add the arena, the practice facility, the area, and the fans, and to me, it’s an exciting challenge that we feel more than confident that we’ll be able to get done.”

.@SacramentoKings HC Mike Brown on trying to break the longest playoff drought in NBA history. pic.twitter.com/DL7wn3MTDg

— Jim Rome (@jimrome) July 20, 2022

If Coach Brown is able to bring the team back to the playoffs, Jim Rome asked if the arena could be as imposing as it was in the early 2000s.

“That’s what we’re striving for. The fans have been great. They’re fired up…and I believe we can have that same chaotic, crazy crowd that had back in the day,” Brown said, adding the only aspect he wasn’t sure of was if the cowbells would also make a return.

One player who could help the team reach that level again is De’Aaron Fox. Mike Brown pointed out that he coached Fox at an Adidas Nations camp years ago and thought he was going to be a “high-level defender just because of his quickness, tenacity and ability to track the ball.” Coach Brown said he’s already talked to Fox and the franchise is going to challenge their star player to “get back to what I felt was he was good at on the defensive end of the flood, which is getting into the ball, making it tough on our opponents’ point guards and seeing if everybody behind can follow his lead.”

If the Fox and the team are able to do that, Coach Brown believes the team will make “huge leaps” on the defensive side, which will help them in the long run.

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