As the Sacramento Kings continue to make the most out of their current rebuild, they gained some extra help among their coaching staff this week. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Sacramento Kings have agreed to hire former Phoenix Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov as an assistant.
The Sacramento Kings are hiring former Suns coach Igor Kokoskov as an assistant coach, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 13, 2019
Igor Kokoskov will now move on to another Western Conference team in the Sacramento Kings after serving as the head coach in Phoenix for only one season. Kokoskov and the Suns posted a pedestrian 19-63 record, finishing dead last in the West. Kokoskov was fired over two months ago in April and has now found a job among the Sacramento coaching staff.
While some may put the Kings and the Suns in similar categories, the two have vastly different outlooks going forward. The Suns continue to be stuck as NBA bottomfeeders, and there’s no solution in sight even with impressive young players such as Devin Booker and standout rookie Deandre Ayton.
The Kings however, seem to be starting to find a winning formula. In fact, the Kings were flirting with a potential playoff spot the first half of the season, something that’s not easy to do in a loaded Western Conference. Though they would obviously end up missing the postseason, the Kings have a good foundation to work off of in their backcourt tandem of De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield, plus promising young big Marvin Bagley III. Hopefully Kokoskov and his head coaching experience in Phoenix can pay major dividends for the coaching staff of an up-and-coming team such as the Kings.
