Five Potential Head Coach Candidates For Sacramento
The off-season for the Sacramento Kings will be a busy one and the first task will be to find the next head coach.
It will be important for the team to find the coach early in the off-season with the draft approaching and the many questions about DeMarcus Cousins' future.
There are many qualified head coaching candidates on the market right now, but it is still unclear the direction the Kings want to go.
It's important to remember that the Kings will be fighting with a handful of other teams such as the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers for the available head coaches.
Here are five potential head coaches Kings' fans can expect to hear about in the upcoming days.
1. Mike Woodson
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, the Kings will interview Woodson for the head coaching job.
He's currently an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Most recently, he was the head coach for the New York Knicks from 2011-2014. Before his time in New York, Woodson spent six seasons as the head coach for the Atlanta Hawks.
Woodson also played in the league for 13 seasons.
2. Vinny Del Negro
This name should be familiar to Kings fans. During his playing career, he spent two seasons in Sacramento.
The Kings also plan to interveiw Del Negro in the coming week, according to Wojnarowski.
Del Negro hasn't coached in the league since 2013 after being fired from the Los Angeles Clippers.
In the five seasons he spent as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Clippers, his teams have finished under .500 just once.
He is also one of the many head coaches who played under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio.
Del Negro's record in his five seasons is 210-184.
3. Scott Brooks
The former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach is a local guy born in French Camp and went to high school in Manteca.
His head coaching career is limited to seven seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder where he won Coach of the Year in 2010 and took the team to the NBA Finals in 2012.
While coaching the Thunder, he was able to handle the egos of superstar players Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.
Brooks' career record as a head coach is 338-207.
4. Nate McMillan
McMillan is currently an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers, but he has been a head coach in the NBA for 12 seasons.
He spent five years coaching the Seattle Sonics before spending the rest of his head coaching career in Portland.
It's been two and half years since McMillan's last head coaching job in the league, but he will be a candidate for the few head coaching opportunities out there.
His career record is 478-452.
5. Tom Thibodeau
Thibodeau spent 20 years as an assistant coach in the league before being named the head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 2010.
He spent five seasons as the head coach of the Bulls, but was fired at the end of last season because his teams couldn't live up to the high expectations.
Thibodeau is known as defensive minded coach and likes to over-work his star players.
He's currently an analyst for ESPN, but there's no doubt he will be a head coach next season if the right opportunity comes up.
He's had a good career with a record of 255-139.
