Monte McNair is in charge.
That could be the biggest takeaway from the Sacramento Kings’ announcement that Mike Brown will be the franchise’s next coach.
As the Kings narrowed their search to two names — Brown and Mark Jackson — stories circulated that Kings owner Vivek Ranadive favored Jackson, while McNair favored Brown.
Would Ranadive intervene? Would he meddle as he reportedly has done in the past?
If indeed Ranadive favored Jackson, while McNair favored Brown, it would seem then that McNair had the final say and Ranadive is letting his basketball people make basketball decisions.
That would really be a big step in the right direction for a franchise that has done just about everything backwards for way too long.
The next big thing the Kings should do is extent the contracts of McNair and assistant GM, Wes Wilcox. It is time for the team to get their front office and their coach on the same time frame. The merry-go ride should end.
McNair initially signed a three-year contract with a team option for a fourth year. He inherited Luke Walton as the team’s coach. Entering his third season, McNair finally has his coach.
Not having the GM and Coach on the same page has been a recurring theme in Sacramento under Ranadive. The Kings hire a coach, then bring in a General Manager.
Shortly after Ranadive took over the Kings, he hired Michael Malone to be the team’s coach. Then he hired Pete D’Alessandro to be the GM.
Malone and D’Alessandro didn’t get along. Malone was fired.
D’Alessandro then brought in his guy, George Karl. But Ranadive got rid of D’Alessandro and brought in Vlade Divac as GM. The Karl-Divac relationship was like oil and water– they didn’t mix.
Divac finally got his guy in Walton, but then Divac was gone and we end up with McNair and Walton.
But now McNair has his coach and it appears he is the captain of the ship. He has started to reshape the roster with the big trade that brought Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento.
The next step for McNair will be the draft lottery where Kings fans are hoping he gets lucky!
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