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Oct 5, 2018; Seattle, WA, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach Dave Joerger watches fourth quarter play against the Golden State Warriors at KeyArena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Dave Joerger Makes a Ton of Sense for Doug Christie's Staff

Originally posted on Sacramento Kings on SI
By Will Zimmerle | Last updated Apr 30, 2025 1:14 PM ET

After the Kings officially named Doug Christie their next head coach, the next steps of the offseason are set to get underway. Scott Perry has ample work to do with the roster, and now Christie can start building out his coaching staff.

After taking over for Mike Brown last season, Christie finished the year with Brown's staff of assistants, and even saw one of the lead assistants, Luke Loucks, leave during the season.

Not only will Christie get a chance to work with a hopefully more balanced roster next year, but he'll also be able to bring in his choice of assistants. Time will tell if any of Brown's staff will be back, but either way, the Kings need more bodies on the bench.

ESPN 1320's James Ham brought up an interesting name on The Insiders, the daily 10:00 - 12:00 radio show with Ham and Kyle Madson. "We've heard Dave Joerger's name mentioned in Sacramento for the last...month. In just weird ways, like it's popped up."

It's not clear what capacity Joerger was brought up in conversations, but it's hard to argue that he's not an experienced coach who could help support Christie. As a first time head coach, the best thing the Kings could do is give him the opportunity to surround himself with experienced help on the bench.

Doug can be a good coach. 90% of the battle is getting the players to believe in you, and they did. Buy-in >>>> tactics every time

But Doug needs some serious help. He was badly outcoached in the Play-In, and that was at home. Heard whispers of Dave Joerger, which would be solid
— Professor OAK (@o_a_khan) April 29, 2025

Joerger previously coached the Kings for three years, from 2016-17 through the 2018-19 season, and finished with a 98-148 (.398) record. Prior to that, though, he led the Memphis Grizzlies to a 147-99 (.598) record over three years.

He followed up his time in Sacramento with three years on the Philadelphia 76ers staff and Milwaukee Bucks this last season.

While Doug Christie wasn't on Joerger's staff throughout his Sacramento tenure, the two did form a relationship as Christie worked as the Kings' color commentator during the 2018-19 season.

It's well known how much Christie loves to talk about basketball, and I would be surprised if he didn't spend time talking with Joerger while they were on the road or around each other.

The other aspect that makes the duo seem like a great fit is that Christie wants the Kings to push the pace and get up a high volume of threes, even approaching 50 per game. The most memorable aspects of the Kings during Joerger's tenure was Sacramento's pace and relentless attack in transition.

In the 2018-19 season, the Kings' pace was 103.88, third highest in the NBA. For comparison, Sacramento finished last season with a pace of 98.91, 19th in the league. Interestingly enough, the number actually went down after Christie took over, as the Kings had a pace of 98.59 after he took over.

Joerger did so out of necessity to compete, as he had an extremely young roster built around De'Aaron Fox, but Christie appears to have aspirations to push the pace as well. Pair that with Joerger's strong defensive background (Grizzlies were #7, #3, and #19th ranked defenses under Joerger), and the duo of he and Christie makes a lot of sense.

This article first appeared on Sacramento Kings on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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