New Kings GM mulling whether to retain Doug Christie

New Sacramento Kings general manager Scott Perry said Wednesday that he will decide on the fate of interim head coach Doug Christie hopefully within the week.

He also said his phone has been “incessantly ringing” with interest in the Kings’ full-time coaching job.

Perry made the remarks during his introductory press conference, one day after officially being named GM of the team.

Doug Christie went 27-24 to finish out the regular season in place of Mike Brown, fired by former GM Monte McNair in late December. The Kings were 13-18 at the time. The Kings were eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks in a play-in game last week.

“We’ve had a few conversations up to this point. He’s one of the first people I met yesterday when I got into town,” Perry said of Christie. “That said, my phone is incessantly ringing for interest in this job. So, I’m going to have a few more conversations in and around about this job and hopefully I can come to some sort of resolution within the next week or so in terms of having a decision and announcement to inform everybody.”

Doug Christie, on the Kings’ staff since 2021, played 15 seasons in the NBA, including 4 1/2 for Sacramento from 2000-05.

Perry, 61, briefly served as vice president of basketball operations in Sacramento in 2017 before he was named general manager of the New York Knicks (2017-23).

He began his NBA front office career with the Detroit Pistons in 2000. He was the assistant GM for the then-Seattle SuperSonics in 2007-08, the vice president of basketball operations for the Pistons from 2008-12, and an assistant GM and VP for the Orlando Magic from 2012-17.

–Field Level Media

More Kings content from Sactown Sports

“Any successful pro sports organization, or any company for that matter, has to have an identity,” new Sacramento Kings general manager Scott Perry said at his introductory press conference Monday morning. “And that’s one thing that I don’t see here yet, but that’s what I’m all about.”

Perry is the organization’s fourth general manager since owner Vivek Ranadive became the majority owner of the Kings in 2013.

Since then, Sacramento has made the playoffs once (2022-23). Unfortunately, they do have a culture and identity, just an unwanted one of instability, rooted in constant turnovers within the front office and coaching staff — Doug Christie is the eighth head coach in Ranadive’s tenure.

Having previously spent three months with the Kings, albeit not as the general manager, Perry has a pre-built relationship with Ranadive.

“We have a shared vision, and that shared vision and mandate is to build a platform that’s going to offer sustainable success and winning for this organization that this community richly deserves,” Perry said.

That goal rings similar to former head coach Mike Brown’s introductory when he emphasized the importance of having a “vertical and horizontal alignment.” But they could not have been further from the reality that played out under Brown and Monte McNair.

Scott Perry is focused on “establishing an identity” in Sacramento

Upcoming schedule for the Sacramento Kings

• Sunday, April 20th – Start of the NBA Playoffs
• Monday, May 12th – NBA Draft Lottery
• Wednesday, June 25th – 2025 NBA Draft
• Monday, June 30th – NBA free agent negotiations can begin
• Sunday, July 6th – NBA free agents can officially sign with teams
• July 10th-20th – Las Vegas NBA Summer League
• August TBD – Release of 2025-26 regular season schedule
• September TBD – Start of NBA training camps for the 2025-26 season

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