Kings Need (Good) Players that Fit Christie's System

As the playoffs continue, the Sacramento Kings' busy offseason so far feels like it's coming to a slowdown. After an overhaul to both the coaching staff and front office, the next major steps will be reshaping the roster after a disappointing season.

While it's still unknown what Doug Christie's schemes will look like on both sides of the ball, one thing is perfectly clear: Scott Perry and the Kings need to surround Christie with players who fit his system.

When Mike Brown was first hired as the head coach of the Sacramento Kings, the first thing that everyone talked about was his renowned ability to coach defense. But instead of creating a defensive juggernaut in Sacramento, the Kings finished with the league-leading offense. Meanwhile, they finished with the 24th-ranked defense in the 2022-23 season.

It was a great job of Brown adapting to his players and leaning into the offensive side of the ball, but in year two, the talk of improved defense didn't take long to surface.

The Kings brought in Chris Duarte during the offseason, and Brown played with the idea of starting him over Kevin Huerter to strengthen Sacramento's defense. The idea backfired, as Duarte's play on the court never panned out, and Huerter's confidence and trust seemed to disappear and never return.

It was one of a number of attempts that Brown took to add defense to the court. KZ Okpala, Chima Moneke, and Kessler Edwards were all brought in with the hope of helping build the Kings' defensive prowess, but like Duarte, none worked out in the long run.

It's not that Monte McNair didn't try and bring in the types of players that Brown seemed to desire, but the defensive players that he did bring in were never good enough to be playable in the Kings offensive system.

And last offseason, the big move was to bring in DeMar DeRozan, when the Kings needs were clearly a defensive wing to add to the mix. DeRozan didn't have a bad year, but the fit in what Brown and the Kings were trying to do never felt like a great match.

That's where the Kings will have to be careful as they retool. A focus on fit, not only in the system, but the whole makeup on the roster, can be crucial to go from a play-in participant to a playoff lock.

As previously mentioned, it's unknown what system and schemes Christie will look to employ, but it seems clear he wants the Kings to be at the top of the league in three-point attempts. That, along with defense and hustle, appears to be at the top of the list for the first-year head coach.