Every failing operation has one thing in common: a scapegoat.
Whether deserved or not, there’s always one person who has an unfair amount of blame placed on their shoulders for their failures. In the sports world, that scapegoat usually is the one to lose his job, as the ones in charge ignore the rest of the team’s flaws and think that the scapegoat is the only thing that needed to change.
A very recent example is what the Philadelphia Eagles are doing with offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. Yes, even a Giants fan, I can see he’s pretty bad at his job. But did he force Jalen Hurts to throw into triple coverage on third and fourth down to lose the game on Sunday? Did he get walked down by Brock Purdy and the Niners’ fifth and sixth-best receivers? Is he behind AJ Brown’s ego-fueled diva-ness that saw him have as many drops as catches?
Where am I going with this? Scapegoats often get other jobs elsewhere, whether a lateral move or a demotion. As such, they all eventually get a chance at revenge. Tonight, Mike Brown will get a chance to get revenge after being scapegoated.
The Sacramento Kings (10-30) fired Mike Brown on December 27, 2024, after a 13-18 start. Yes, the Kings were disappointing to start the season, but Brown had brought the franchise never-before-seen stability. Let’s not forget, they didn’t make the playoffs **_once_** from 2006 to 2022. He had them as the No. 1 offense in basketball, for Pete’s sake!
He was replaced by former NBA veteran and associate head coach Doug Christie, who did make the Kings play better down the stretch. They got washed out in the play-in tournament, sure, but they gave Christie the full-time job. What’s the worst that can happen?
Turns out the Kings’ regression has a lot more to do with baffling roster construction than anything. They’ve essentially rebuilt the 2023 Chicago Bulls, but with Domantas Sabonis instead of Nikola Vucevic. Who would’ve thought that wouldn’t work?
Anyway, Brown’s in a much better situation now and has already proven he was a ridiculous scapegoat for organizational failure. The Kings are an oddly constructed bunch that has yielded the worst offense in basketball, the third-worst defense, and the second-worst net rating. The only teams with a [worse defense](https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced?dir=D&sort=DEF_RATING) are the Jazz and Wizards. The Wiz are the only team with a [worse net rating.](https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced?dir=D&sort=NET_RATING)
They have won two in a row entering this one; however, despite missing Keegan Murray, Sabonis, and a suspended Dennis Schroder, beating both the Rockets and Lakers by double digits is impressive, but how real is it for a team that, halfway through the season, is on pace to lose 60 games?
**Russell Westbrook** is a future Hall of Famer who’s turned from the loyal face of the OKC Thunder to a journeyman as his career winds down. Since 2019, he’s played for the Rockets, Wizards, Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets, and now he’s in Sacramento at age 37. He no longer has the brutal burst that made him unstoppable in his prime, but he still fills the statsheet, adding four more triple-doubles to his NBA-record 207. I don’t think you want 2026 Russ to be commanding as much of the offense as he has been, though.
**Zach LaVine** has been an interesting case for the last half-decade. Since the Bulls’ collapse in early 2022, he’s gone back-and-forth in the NBA landscape as an injury-prone, extremely overpaid volume scorer and a genuine all-star in a bad situation. After a run of hyper-efficient basketball, he’s down to 19.9 points a game and averaging his least amount of rebounds and assists in a decade. His 61.6 TS% is still pretty good!
I’m only three players in, and I’m already tired of this roster construction. **DeMar DeRozan** remains the midrange maestro that he’s been his entire career, posting the most efficient season of his career with his lowest usage since he was a rookie in 2010. At age 36, it’s the best way to optimize him, but as you can see, it hasn’t turned into wins for the Kings.
OAKAAK **Precious Achiuwa** is where you’d usually see the three-point extraordinaire Keegan Murray if he weren’t hurt. Instead, we get an alternate revenge game from a man who was a sneakily good Knick over 1.5 seasons and, honestly, could be useful to have right now as spot depth behind OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson at the 4. Precious is averaging 7.1 points and 5.3 rebounds and has made some big plays since being thrust into a surprisingly big role.
**Maxime Raynaud** is one of the few promising young faces on this team. The No. 42 overall pick from France (by way of Stanford) is averaging 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds. He’ll have the task of guarding Karl-Anthony Towns, and we know the Bodega KAT _loves_ to feast on young bigs. Raynaud isn’t a pushover, though, standing at a stout 7’1”, 250 pounds.
_Note: **Malik Monk**_ will get a starter-like minutes, as he has for the last five years. It’s just hard to fit him in a lineup with all those guards who don’t play defense.
The Knicks haven’t comfortably won a game in over a month. After the first 25-ish games were either uncompetitive or over by the time crunch time hits, the Knicks’ last 16 games have either been super competitive or saw them get punched in the mouth. Now, the condensed schedule doesn’t help, but the team still needs a comfortable win.
Good thing they’re coming off their first two-day break since before they won the NBA Cup! They also shouldn’t have the same lodging issues that Houston did. With a back-to-back looming against the Warriors in San Francisco, they’ll want to get this one done quickly. Let’s say they do, for our sake.
OUT - Landry Shamet (shoulder), Trey Jemison III (G-League)
OUT - Keegan Murray (ankle), Domantas Sabonis (knee), Dennis Schroder (trying to fight Luka)
**Date:** Wednesday, January 14, 2026
**Place:** Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
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