Former New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry is reportedly set to join Luke Walton's staff on the Sacramento Kings, per Marc Stein of the New York Times.
Gentry will be the Kings' associate head coach. He was fired by the Pelicans after New Orleans missed the 2020 playoffs.
The Kings are closing in on the hiring of former Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry to join Luke Walton's staff in Sacramento as associate head coach, league sources say
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) October 6, 2020
Luke Walton and Alvin Gentry have a close relationship. They worked together on the Golden State Warriors during the 2014-15 season, when the dubs won the title over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games.
The Kings' situation, though, is much different than what Gentry and Walton were dealing with in Golden State. Sacramento has the longest playoff drought in the NBA and star shooting guard Buddy Hield is reportedly not answering Walton's phone calls.
Other than Hield, the roster in Sacramento is headlined by De'Aaron Fox, Marvin Bagley, Harrison Barnes and Bogdan Bogdanovic, though it's worth mentioning Bogdanovic will become a restricted free agent whenever the 2020 offseason begins.
The Kings are expected to sign Fox to a lucrative rookie-scale extension this offseason. Sacramento, though, still hasn't recovered from drafting Bagley over Luka Doncic, who is already a superstar with the Dallas Mavericks.
Walton went 31-41 in his first season with the Kings in 2019-20 after coaching the Los Angeles Lakers. It will be interesting to see if the addition of Gentry will help Sacramento make the playoffs in the rugged Western Conference next season.
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