Brown’s future is in doubt.

Mark Stein of The Stein Line reported on Monday (Feb. 28) that the Sacramento Kings and head coach Mike Brown are in talks to extend his contract.

Sacramento has had a long dark period after the Millennium Kings era. The franchise hasn’t made the playoffs in a long time, creating black marks in its history that we don’t want to revisit.

Mike Brown was hired in the off-season of 2022 to take over the reins in what has become a graveyard of head coaches. He had previously coached with Cleveland and the Lakers before successfully assisting 홀덤 Steve Kerr at Golden State.

Back at the helm, Brown, along with the DeAaron Fox-Domantas Sabonis duo, has been able to turn around Sacramento’s long, dark era. In his first season, they made the playoffs for the first time in 17 years since 2006.

Although they fell short in the first round to Golden State in a close seven-game series, Sacramento’s performance last season was impressive. The team won 48 games in the regular season and earned the No. 3 seed, thanks to a red-hot offense.

For his efforts, Brown was unanimously named the league’s coach of the year. This is the first time in history that a coach’s vote has been unanimous. His performance was highly regarded.

The following season, the Warriors went 46-36, which wasn’t much of a drop-off from the previous year. However, the team finished the regular season in ninth place due to the stiff Western Conference competition. The team then upset Golden State in the play-in tournament, but failed to advance past New Orleans and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.

The big question is whether Brown, who has one year remaining on his guaranteed contract, will be extended. His final year, the 2025-2026 season, is not guaranteed as he has an option.

In this situation, it seems that the club and the coach are at an impasse over an extension. According to Stein, Brown’s willingness to increase his salary combined with the Sacramento brass’ disappointment with spring basketball led to the breakdown in negotiations.

“Sacramento and head coach Mike Brown’s extension talks broke down as Brown enters the final guaranteed season of his four-year deal,” Stein wrote. Brown’s significant desire for a pay raise combined with Sacramento’s playoff disappointment in the spring for the second straight year.”

It’s hard to find a better coach on the market than Brown. Although they missed the playoffs, it’s hard to argue that Sacramento had a bad season this season, and there are concerns that the franchise could slip back into the dark ages if they lose him.

In recent years, the NBA has seen a significant increase in not only player salaries, but also head coach salaries. The big question is whether Sacramento will be able to match Brown’s salary. There’s still time before his contract expires and there’s still next season, so it’s hard to say that an extension is completely off the table. We’ll have to wait and see.