Doug Christie’s coaching staff continues to take shape as the Kings have now reached agreement with three new additions per reports from Chris Haynes and James Ham. Per those reports the Kings are adding Chris Darnell, Mike Miller and Paul Jesperson to the staff. The Kings had previously reached an agreement with Mike Woodson to be associate head coach, Bobby Jackson to return as an assistant and Leandro Barbosa, the sole remnant from the prior regime.
Darnell comes to Sacramento after spending last season as the head coach of the Cleveland’s G-League Team, the Cleveland Charge. Darnell led the Charge to a 16-18 record last season in his loan year as head coach. He had previously spent three years as the Charge’s lead Assistant, and before that was a Video Analyst and Player Development coach for the Cavaliers. He also spent several years as an assistant for both the Phoenix Suns and briefly the Utah Jazz.
Miller might seem like a familiar name but he’s not the same person as the former NBA player Mike Miller. Miller is a longtime NBA assistant, having spent the last three seasons as an Assistant for the Washington Wizards. Miller has also spent time as an assistant with the Washington Wizards, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs. Miller’s time with the Knicks saw him named Interim Head Coach during the 2019-20 season after the Knicks fired David Fizdale after a 4-18 start. The Knicks went 17-27 under Miller’s tenure as interim coach, a time during which new Kings General Manager Scott Perry was a lead executive for the Knicks as well. Miller had also served as the head coach of New York’s G-League Affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, for two seasons during which he won G-League Coach of the Year honors.
Jesperson joins the Kings staff as the head of Player Development. Jesperson is the least experienced of the new hires at just 32 years old with one year of experience in the G-League as an assistant for the Valley Suns, but has experience playing in both college, the G-League and internationally in Spain. Jesperson had a very cool career highlight in the 2016 March Madness tournament when he hit a Tyreke Evans-esque game winner from halfcourt in the first round against Texas.