Woj: Kings, Mike Brown table extension talks

May 24, 2024, 5:51 PM | Updated: 5:52 pm

Head Coach Mike Brown of the Sacramento Kings speaks during a press conference before the game agai...

(Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

Lead Editor & Kings Beat Writer

Update: May 24th

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Sacramento Kings and Mike Brown have tabled contract extension talks.

Brown is reportedly seeking a multi-year extension in the neighborhood of $10 million per season, but Wojnarowski reports that a gap remains between Sacramento and the 2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year.

The upcoming 2024-25 season will be Brown’s final guaranteed deal of his four-year contract. A mutual option remains for 2025-26, meaning that it’s possible both sides will play out next season before deciding on a potential extension.

ESPN Sources: After engaging in contract extension discussions, the Sacramento Kings and coach Mike Brown have tabled talks. There remains a gulf on a potential deal for Brown, who has one guaranteed season left on his contract. pic.twitter.com/AvYy4gaDGR

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 25, 2024

Original Story from May 16th

Over the past two decades, many head coaches have tried–and failed–to lead the Sacramento Kings past the 82nd game of the regular season.

From 2006 to 2022, a revolving door of twelve head coaches failed to break the Sacramento Kings’ 16-season playoff drought. Then, a new era began with the arrival of Mike Brown.

Brown, who had spent the bulk of the Golden State Warriors dynasty on Steve Kerr’s bench where he acted as the team’s defensive coordinator, inked a four-year contract before the 2022-23 season–a year that would go on to become one of the most memorable seasons of Sacramento Kings basketball in franchise history.

The 48-win Kings not only ended a 17-year playoff drought but also amassed a remarkable list of accolades. At the helm of this success was Brown, who added a second NBA Coach of the Year Award to his resume.

This season was a slightly different story for Sacramento, as the ‘Beam Team’ narrowly missed a second-straight playoff appearance by dropping the eighth-seed Play-In game against New Orleans.

While the Kings fell short of the playoffs, Brown did what no Sacramento head coach has done since Hall of Fame inductee Rick Adelman’s days with the organization: Post-back-to-back winning seasons.

More on Kings head coach Mike Brown

Since the start of the 2022-23 season, Brown’s Kings have posted a record of 94-70 (.573), good enough for tenth-best in the NBA and fifth-best in the Western Conference.

With Sacramento back on the NBA map and Brown crossing the halfway point of his contract, the time is near for both sides to discuss a contract extension.

Brown’s final year of his deal is a mutual option, meaning that the upcoming 2024-25 season is Brown’s final guaranteed season with the Kings. As the time for offseason decision-making approaches, Yahoo! Sports’ Jake Fischer shed some light on what type of contract Brown is looking for from general manager Monte McNair and majority owner Vivek Ranadive:

The outcome of the Lakers’ process, and the rest of this unfolding coaching cycle — which has already included paydays for Jason Kidd and new Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer — will also provide added context for Mike Brown’s contract extension conversations in Sacramento.

With Brown’s Coach of the Year credentials and the new benchmarks for coaching salaries after Monty Williams landed $70-plus million from Detroit and Budenholzer’s recent $10 million average annual salary, Brown’s talks are expected to center around a similar eight-figure threshold as well, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Yahoo! Sports’ NBA insider Jake Fischer – May 15, 2024

Head coaches around the NBA have been receiving larger pay-days, with Detroit Pistons head coach and 2021-22 NBA Coach of the Year Award winner Monty Williams ($78.5 million over six years) and two-time Coach of the Year winner Mike Budenholzer ($50 million over five years with the Phoenix Suns) inking big deals in recent memory.

Brown, a fellow two-time Coach of the Year Award winner (unanimously in 2022-23), is next in line for a pay raise.

Although Fischer’s report indicates that Brown and the Kings will discuss an extension this summer, the head coach gave a business-as-usual response when asked about his job security.

“I have one year left on my deal; everybody knows that, but I’m excited about being here,” Brown said at his end-of-season press conference on April 24th. I’m excited about our future. So, I’m going to go into summer to figure out how we can be better next year.”

As of May 16th, there are four NBA head coaches that make $10 million or more per season:

Gregg Popovich, Spurs ($16 million)
Erik Spoelstra, Heat ($15 million)
Monty Williams, Pistons ($13 million)
Mike Budenholzer, Suns ($10 million)

Could Brown be the next head coach to join this list?

For Sacramento, the decision should be easy. Before Brown took over in 2022, the Kings lacked direction, consistency, and most of all, they lacked a winning culture.

Brown has provided stability in all of those categories, even following a 46-win season that would normally put a team in a playoff spot–but not this year in a loaded Western Conference.

Sacramento would be wise to keep the head coach that succeeded where a dozen tried and failed before Brown’s arrival placed the Kings back in the postseason and moved the franchise out of the NBA basement.

How much is this winning culture worth to McNair and Ranadive? What is the price of a winning product? It looks like Brown will get than answer in the coming months before the team reports for training camp in late September.

When is the next Sacramento Kings off-season date of interest?

The NBA Draft is now a two-night event.

Wednesday, June 26th, will act as the first night of the 2024 NBA Draft, where the Sacramento Kings will make their first-round selection (13th). The second round of the draft will be held on Thursday, June 27th, where the Kings will use its 45th overall pick.

Sacramento hasn’t had a first-round pick since 2022, when it selected Iowa product Keegan Murray with the fourth overall pick.

Stay locked into Sactown Sports for all of your Kings draft coverage, including player profiles, reports regarding pre-draft workouts, draft night coverage, and much more.

NBA Offseason Schedule