New details emerge in coach Mike Brown’s contract negotiations with the Sacramento Kings
New details have emerged in contract talks between the Sacramento Kings and coach Mike Brown.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Thursday the Kings have made a “competitive offer” that would pay Brown $21 million over the next three years. Sources told The Athletic the offer includes bonuses that could make the contract worth as much as $27 million, but at this point the two sides have not reached an agreement.
Brown has one guaranteed year remaining on his contract with a mutual option for the 2025-26 season. Brown and the Kings have apparently resumed negotiations a week after ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported they had “tabled talks” with a “gulf” between them on a potential new deal. Brown is believed to be seeking a contract worth upwards of $10 million per year.
Brown, 54, was unanimously selected as NBA Coach of the Year after leading Sacramento to the playoffs in 2022-23. The Kings won 48 games to secure the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, ending the longest playoff drought in NBA history after 16 consecutive losing seasons.
The Kings failed to reach the playoffs this season despite winning 46 games. They beat the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the play-in tournament before being eliminated with a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Kings hired Brown in May 2022 following six seasons as Steve Kerr’s lead assistant with the Warriors. Brown is a two-time Coach of the Year who has won four NBA championships, one as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs and three as an assistant with the Warriors.
Brown also went to the NBA Finals as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2006-07. He has a career record of 441-286 (.607).
Brown is seeking a bigger contract after Steve Kerr ($17.5 million), Gregg Popovich ($16 million), Monty Williams ($13 million) and Mike Budenholzer ($10 million) signed lucrative new deals over the past year. Brown downplayed his contract situation in April when asked if it was “top of mind” as he entered the summer following his second season in Sacramento.
“It’s not, really, at the end of the day,” Brown said. “I have one year left on my deal. Everybody knows that, but I’m excited about being here. I’m excited about our future, so I’m going to go into this summer trying to figure out how we can be better next year.”
Brown became the first unanimous winner of the Coach of the Year award last season after after the Kings set a record with the highest offensive rating in NBA history.
Sacramento’s offense slipped to No. 13 this season — a point of consternation for general manager Monte McNair and owner Vivek Ranadivé — but the Kings improved from No. 24 to No. 14 in defensive rating, answering Brown’s season-long call for physicality and toughness.
The Kings nearly matched last year’s win total with a 46-36 record this season, but they fell from third to ninth in a much tougher conference with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves becoming contenders in the West.
When the season ended, McNair was asked how he would assess Brown’s work in Sacramento and what recommendation he would make to ownership when it comes to contract talks.
“Look at a two-year horizon here, which is when coach Brown and his staff came in, and (there are) a lot of positives,” McNair said. “We’re certainly disappointed this year, and Mike and I will sit down and try to figure out how we get back to where we want to get to.”
