Breaking down the Sacramento Kings firing of Dave Joerger

Per a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Sacramento Kings are set to fire head coach Dave Joerger after three seasons with the organization.

Despite an overwhelmingly positive season in which the Sacramento Kings finished with their best record since the 2005-2006 season, the team is set to fire their head coach Dave Joerger.

This move comes on the heels of the team giving a four-year extension to general manager Vlade Divac to extend him through the 2022-2023 season. But in a somewhat surprising move, Divac has decided to move on from Joerger and fire him with one year still remaining on his contract.

Joerger had spent the last three seasons as the head coach of the Kings taking over for George Karl ahead of the 2016-17 season. After taking a step back in the 2017-18 season finishing the year with just 27 wins, Joerger led the Kings to a 39-43 record, 13 games better than their expected win total at the start of the year.

The likes of De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield took major steps forward as Sacramento became one of the most exciting young teams in the NBA. Fox and Hield were the leaders in a high-octane offense that emphasized the fast-break and transition game.

The team was also aided by the emergence of rookie No. 2 overall draft pick Marvin Bagley who impressed despite mostly playing a part-time role for most of the season. The 19-year-old phenom averaged an impressive 14.9 points and 7.6 rebounds in just over 25 minutes per game establishing himself as one of the brightest young players in the association.

However, while the Kings looked prime for a potential playoff push at the All-Star break, the team fell apart in the second half of the season. The Kings went just 9-16 after the break and squandered any chance they had of ending their now 13-season playoff drought.

The team blew multiple fourth-quarter leads and never seemed like they were able to put away opponents late in the game. Others were quick to criticize the team’s lackluster half-court offense and lack of half-time adjustments — particularly on defense — that contributed to many late-game meltdowns.

Still, it’s fair to question if those issues are a direct result of the relative inexperience of the team. After all, the Kings host one of the youngest rosters in the entire NBA so things like this are bound to happen with a youthful team.

At the same time, some reports have come out questioning his relationship with players and management, particularly his handling of the aforementioned Bagley.

But given how well the Kings played this year and how the roster far exceeded expectations, it seems like an odd move to let him go now. While the team did blow some games late and fell apart a bit in the second half, the foundation seemed to be there to improve upon this season and push for a playoff spot next year.

Now, the Kings will go into the offseason looking for a new head coach and worrying about if his/her ideology will mesh well with their current players.

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Rumors have connected Sacramento with four potential replacements for Joerger. Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton is one name that has been tied to the Kings if he becomes available. Elsewhere, rumors have indicated that both Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Monty Williams and San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Ettore Messina could be potential targets for the Kings.

One name to look out for Spurs assistant Becky Hammon whose name has been mentioned in the head coaching carousel for quite some time now. The former WNBA All-Star would be the first female head coach in NBA history and could be given a pretty intriguing first opportunity with a young Kings team.

At the very least, the Kings should be a more desirable destination than in years prior given their young core and hopefully promising future. However, much of who they hire could depend on how much power Divac is actually willing to give up.

Given the team’s recent moves as the end of the season, it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll be willing to part with much of it.

The firing of Joerger is certainly a confounding decision. But all we could do now is hope for the best and be optimistic that whomever the Kings bring in could continue to build upon the solid foundation that has already been laid.