Facing a hot seat and new lottery reforms, Doug Christie must master a high-stakes balancing act between developing promising rookies and leaning on veterans to secure wins.
There may be too many responsibilities for Sacramento Kings coach Doug Christie to balance in a season where his job security is uncertain.
Christie appeared in several hot seat rankings last season. Sacramento recorded a historic 16-game losing streak from Jan. 18 to Feb. 21.
Of course, injuries to veterans Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine played a role during that stretch. The team missed Sabonis' rebounding and LaVine's scoring to compete against others nightly.
The Kings coach took that time to develop the younger players. Nique Clifford, Devin Carter, Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell saw increased minutes; some even started games.
They were the driving force of some impressive wins in the final stretch of the season. Carter led the team in scoring twice against the Indiana Pacers (March 10) and the Golden State Warriors (April 10), while Raynaud led once against the New Orleans Pelicans (April 3).
Raynaud won Western Conference Rookie of the Month in March and earned a spot on the All-Rookie Second Team for his late explosion.
General manager Scott Perry is attempting to build around his talented youth, including rookies Darius Acuff Jr., Alex Karaban and Emanuel Sharp. He couldn't do that this offseason with the veteran's minimum as the team's only spending power and couldn't trade Sabonis or LaVine.
With the new lottery reform rules, the Kings must win games to avoid finishing with a bottom-three record. The three worst teams are punished with fewer lottery balls and reduced odds of receiving the No. 1 pick.
But to do that, Christie has to rely on his veterans to remain competitive. Some young players won't get the needed playing time to develop into contributors.
"Instability in the first like 20 to 30 games of the season is not what a young group of players needs," James Ham said on Tuesday's episode of "Locked On Kings." "It's not how you develop a guy like Darius Acuff."
Ham is right. Sacramento needs stability quickly, allowing Christie to balance youth and veterans without ruffling feathers.
Acuff is a lottery pick whom Perry trusts to lead the team for the next several seasons. His development is crucial to the Kings' success, as he's coming off a freshman season where he led the SEC in points and assists at Arkansas.
Christie has too many responsibilities to carry in his second year as the head coach. The two timelines -- youth and veteran -- paired with the new lottery reform could lead to him getting back on the coaches' hot seat list.
