Brooklyn Nets coach Jordi Fernandez hiring Sacramento Kings assistant Deividas Dulkys

The Kings lost a valued member of their coaching staff last month when lead assistant Jordi Fernandez left to become head coach of the Brooklyn Nets.

They are losing another now with assistant coach Deividas Dulkys departing to join Fernandez’s staff in Brooklyn, a move that was first reported by Hoops Hype’s Michael Scotto.

The Kings hired Dulkys as a player development coach in 2022. He spent two seasons in Sacramento under head coach Mike Brown, who was the unanimous NBA Coach of the Year in 2023 after leading the Kings to their first playoff appearance since 2006. Dulkys was assigned to certain players as a development coach, including unrestricted free agent Malik Monk.

Dulkys, 36, was born in Lithuania. He moved to the United States in 2005 to pursue a college scholarship. Dulkys attended Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchburg, Virginia, before moving to Findlay College Prep in Henderson, Nevada.

Dulkys went on to Florida State, where he made a school-record eight 3-pointers against No. 3 North Carolina in 2012. Dulkys was a college teammate of Kings assistant Luke Loucks, who is being promoted to the front of the bench with the departure of Fernandez.

After going undrafted in 2012, Dulkys returned to Lithuania to start a 10-year professional playing career in Europe. He started his coaching career as an assistant with the G League Memphis Hustle in 2021 before coming to Sacramento in August 2022.

Now, Dulkys is leaving to work under Fernandez, 41, who was widely regarded as one of the league’s top assistants before the Nets hired him as their head coach on April 22.