Sacramento Kings: 5 candidates to replace Dave Joerger as head coach

SACRAMENTO, CA - JUNE 24: Head Coach Dave Joerger and General Manager Vlade Divac of the Sacramento Kings address the media at a press conference on September 27, 2017 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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Sacramento Kings vice president of basketball ops Vlade Divac celebrated a contract extension by firing head coach Dave Joerger. We’ll look at replacement candidates.

The Sacramento Kings recently extended the contract of vice president of basketball operations and general manager Vlade Divac, and he wasted no time sweeping clean the front office after the Kings’ season ended.

On Thursday, as reported by ESPN‘s Adrain Wojnarowski, Divac fired head coach Dave Joerger, as well as assistant general manager Brandon Williams and Chris Clark, their director of media relations. This signified a major consolidation of power for Divac, emboldened by the Kings’ long-term organizational commitment to him.

Joerger’s record with the Kings was unimpressive in the aggregate, going 98-148 in his three years with the team, but he led them to their best record this past season since 2005-06, going 39-43. The young roster improved by leaps and bounds and played perhaps the most entertaining brand of basketball in the NBA under his leadership.

Rumors of Divac’s dissatisfaction with Joerger have rumbled for some time now, so in spite of the fact that this comes as a major surprise, it probably shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise.

This is the second time Joerger has been dismissed by a front office that had unknown issues with him (the first being the Memphis Grizzlies, whom he coached from 2013-16), so while it’s puzzling the Kings chose not to embrace what seems to be a clear upward trajectory, we don’t really know what’s been happening behind closed doors.

With the Sacramento Kings now holding a vacant coaching spot, we’ll take a look at five leading candidates to replace Dave Joerger.

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