Sacramento Kings interviewing coaching finalists this week

The Sacramento Kings are in the process of conducting the second round of interviews with the three finalists for their head coach opening and owner Vivek Ranadive is heavily involved, Sam Amick of The Athletic reports.

Steve Clifford, Mark Jackson and Mike Brown were revealed as the finalists on Saturday.

Clifford, the former Hornets and Magic coach who most recently has done consulting work with the Nets, interviewed Sunday and continued his visit Monday, according to Amick. Jackson, the former Warriors coach and now ESPN/ABC analyst, will then come to Sacramento for his follow up interview.

Brown, now the Warriors associate head coach, is expected to speak with the Kings’ brass later this week. Brown’s interview(s) may take place in San Francisco as well as Sacramento.

The first round of interviews were conducted via Zoom and Ranadive wasn’t involved, Amick reports. GM Monte McNair, assistant GM Wes Wilcox and now former chief strategy officer Joe Dumars handled those interviews. Dumars was named on Monday the league’s executive vice president of basketball operations.

As Marc Stein noted in a Substack piece and affirmed by Amick, the Kings are seeking a defensive-minded coach.