The Cleveland Charge, G League affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers, will need a new head coach for next season. Chris Darnell, who spent this past year leading the Charge, will reportedly be joining Doug Christie’s coaching staff with the Sacramento Kings, according to Chris Haynes.
Sacramento Kings head coach Doug Christie is adding Chris Darnell — head coach of G League’s Canton Charge — to his coaching staff, league sources tell me. pic.twitter.com/GXfag9GfUi
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 30, 2025
Darnell led the Charge to a 23-27 combined record in the Tip-Off Tournament and the regular season portion of their schedule this past year. He spent the three seasons before that as the team’s associate head coach under Dan Geriot, recently hired head coach of Iona University, and Mike Gerrity, who is currently an assistant coach with the Cavs.
Darnell spent the 2019-20 and 2021-20 seasons as a player development coach and video assistant with the Cavs. Before then, Darnell served as a special assistant with the Utah Jazz in 2018-19 and was with the Phoenix Suns for six seasons (2012-18) in numerous roles, including head video coordinator.
The Kings are in a bit of a transition phase. Christie was promoted to interim head coach after Mike Brown was fired last December. The interim tag was removed at the end of the regular season.
That transition phase is on the court as well. They’ve brought in DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine while sending out De’Aaron Fox. This all added up to a mediocre 40-42 season after winning 46 and 48 games the previous two campaigns.
Long-time assistant Mike Miller (not the sharpshooter who spent 2014-15 with the Cavs) and Paul Jesperson will also be joining Christie’s staff, along with Darnell.
On a personal note, I’m happy to see Darnell get this promotion. He’s been extraordinarily generous with his time over the years for various G League stories. The players with the Charge have a great deal of respect for him. I’m hoping for nothing but success for CD in his new role.