Brendan Suhr and DJ Ham will serve as assistant coaches for the Kings.
SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings announced today staff updates and promotions within the coaching staff and basketball operations staff ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Brendan Suhr joins the Kings as an assistant coach, bringing more than four decades of coaching experience across the NBA and collegiate ranks. Suhr was a member of the Detroit Pistons coaching staff that won back-to-back NBA championships in 1989 and 1990 and has also held assistant coaching roles with the Atlanta Hawks, New Jersey Nets, Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic and New York Knicks. At the collegiate level, he has coached at Detroit Mercy, Fairfield, UCF, LSU and Stetson and served on the coaching staff for the gold medal-winning 1992 U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball Team. In addition to his coaching career, Suhr founded Coaching U in 2008 and has served as a leadership consultant for the National Basketball Players Association for more than a decade.
DJ Ham has been elevated to assistant coach after spending one season as the head of player development for the Kings. He previously served as a video assistant/player development coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2024-25) and an assistant coach/director of player development for the Cleveland Charge, the Cavaliers G League affiliate. Before his time in Cleveland, he was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Northwood University. After completing his four-year collegiate career with the Timberwolves, Ham played professionally in Germany for a year before beginning his coaching career in the high school and collegiate ranks.
Joe Ajike joins Sacramento’s coaching staff as the team’s head of player development. Before joining the Kings, Ajike spent the 2025-26 season as head of player development for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the G League affiliate of the Houston Rockets. He previously spent four seasons with the Washington Wizards, most recently as player development manager from 2023-25, after joining the organization in 2021 in a player development and video role. Prior to joining the NBA, Ajike served as a graduate assistant for the University of Miami men’s basketball program. He played collegiately at Rider University where he graduated in 2018.
Jason Maxiell enters his second season with the Kings organization and his first as a player development coach. He spent the 2025-26 season as an assistant coach with the Stockton Kings, the Sacramento Kings G League affiliate. Originally selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 26th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, Maxiell’s NBA career spanned over 10 seasons with three teams, Detroit (2005-13), the Orlando Magic (2013-14) and the Charlotte Hornets (2014-15), appearing in three Eastern Conference Finals runs with the Pistons from 2006-09. Prior to the NBA, Maxiell spent four seasons at the University of Cincinnati (2001-05) where he earned All-Conference Second Team honors (2003-05), CUSA All-Freshmen honors (2001-02) and Sixth Man of the Year honors (2001-02).
Wyatt Lohaus comes to Sacramento as an assistant video coordinator after spending the 2025-26 season as a fellow with the Mississippi State men’s basketball staff. Previously, he served as a coach at the 212 Basketball Academy in Iowa during the 2024-25 season. Prior to coaching, Lohaus played professional basketball overseas for two seasons after competing collegiately at Northern Iowa where he earned his bachelor’s degree in movement and exercise science.
Drake LaMont enters his first season with the Kings as an assistant video coordinator and his third season in the NBA. He most recently spent two seasons from 2023-25 with the Washington Wizards as a coaching associate/assistant video coordinator. LaMont also worked with the Dallas Mavericks as a player development intern during the 2019-20 season. Prior to coaching at the professional level, he held graduate assistant roles at Texas Tech (2020-21) and the University of Texas (2021-23) after playing collegiately at Western Michigan University from 2014-18.
The Kings also announced the promotions of Daniel Hixon (Manager of Scouting), Julius Lewis (Assistant Director of Team Security) and Nicolas Liagridonis (Basketball Data Scientist/G League Personnel Coordinator) along with the following staff additions: Kathy Evans (Director of Basketball Data Science), Imhotep “Tap” George (Coaching Associate) and Brandon Lewis (Senior Basketball Software Engineer).
