The Sacramento Kings have mutually agreed to part ways with general manager Monte McNair, according to The Athletic. McNair joined the Kings in 2020, having previously worked for the Houston Rockets under Daryl Morey. The news surfaced shortly after the Kings’ season ended with a 120-106 home loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the Play-In Tournament. On Thursday, ESPN reported the Kings will hire Scott Perry to replace McNair as GM.
Perry was the Knicks’ GM from 2017-2023. The 61-year-old began his executive career with the Pistons in 2000, working under Joe Dumars. Dumars, ironically, was hired to be the Pelicans’ lead executive earlier this week. Perry — who also had stops with the SuperSonics and Magic — was actually hired by the Kings in 2017 but left his role three months later to take the Knicks job.
The McNair era represents the most successful stretch the Kings have had since their infamous 16-year playoff drought began in 2006, though that isn’t saying much. As soon as McNair took over, he put his stamp on the team by drafting Tyrese Haliburton and then trading him for Domantas Sabonis at the 2022 trade deadline. That move set the Kings up to reach the postseason in 2023, the first time they had done so since 2006.
NBA playoff predictions: Expert picks for full bracket, with Celtics and OKC favored, Warriors, Lakers hopeful
Brad Botkin
But things started to fray from there. The Kings didn’t get much worse immediately, as they dipped from 48 wins in 2023 down to 46 in 2024. However, because the Western Conference was so tight and so competitive, that decline was the difference between a No. 3 seed in 2023 and a No. 9 seed in 2024. The Kings were eliminated in the Play-In Tournament, and then had contentious contract negotiations with coach Mike Brown before ultimately extending him.
However, Brown ended up sticking around for only 31 more games. Brown was fired after a 13-18 start, and despite McNair’s acquisition of DeMar DeRozan over the summer, things didn’t improve afterward with Doug Christie serving as interim coach. A few months later, De’Aaron Fox forced a trade to San Antonio and the team trudged along to finish the regular season ninth in the Western Conference with a 40–42 record before Wednesday’s elimination in the Play-In Tournament by Dallas.
Reporting from Amick in the past had suggested that other voices had started to gain influence in Sacramento as the McNair era wound down. One of those voices is Vlade Divac, their former general manager who was widely considered among the NBA’s worst executives, and another is Jeremy Lamb, a former player who dated Anjali Ranadivé, daughter of team owner Vivek Ranadivé. It is unclear for now whether the Kings will look outside of the organization for a new top basketball executive or promote internally, but whoever is leading them moving forward, it won’t be McNair, the 2023 Executive of the Year.
