The Sacramento Kings made things official Monday with new general manager Scott Perry, announcing the hire through a press release.
Perry has 25 years of experience in NBA front offices, most recently with the New York Knicks. He also has served in various other front office roles with the Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons.
Here is a timeline of his work experience:
- Detroit Pistons (front office executive) – 2000-2007
- Seattle SuperSonics (assistant general manager) – 2007-2008
- Detroit Pistons (vice president of basketball operations) – 2008-2012
- Orlando Magic (assistant general manager) – 2012-2017
- Sacramento Kings (vice president of basketball operations) – April 2017-July 2017
- New York Knicks (general manager) – 2017-2023
Perry becomes the fifth general manager the Kings have had since Vivek Ranadive took over as owner in 2013. Doug Christie is the team’s 8th coach in that timeframe.
“Scott brings a wealth of experience, a sharp basketball mind, and a strong track record of building talented rosters,” Ranadive said in the press release. “He shares our commitment to developing and sustaining a winning culture, and I am excited to welcome him back to Sacramento.”
Here is Perry’s statement in the release:
“I appreciate the opportunity to rejoin the Kings organization and help build a successful team that competes at a high level,” Perry said. “I’m eager to get to work with the players and staff to continue moving the organization forward.”
Perry will have his introductory press conference to talk about the Kings commitment to developing and sustaining a winning culture on Wednesday at 10 a.m. It will be streamed live at kings.com/live.
Will anyone from TKH be attending the presser?
“Were you negotiating your deal while the current Kings front office was still employed?”
“Will Vlade Divac or other non-Kings staff have a say in roster decisions?”
“The team is over the cap and likely won’t have a first round pick this year. How are you planning to improve the roster?”
“Are the Kings in win now mode?”
“Do the Kings need more scoring guards?”
“Are you bringing Jalen Brunson or OG Anunoby with you?”
Also, can you detail your actual duties once Mills was fired (the person that hired you ) and Leon Rose took over leadership of the Knicks and brought his staff .
“How do you feel about being the straw that broke Greg’s back?”
“You are playing a game of chance with three cups – a red cup, a blue cup, and a yellow cup. Vivek tells you to pick the red cup. Matina tells you to pick the blue cup. Vlade tells you to pick the yellow cup. Jeremy Lamb is yelling in the corner. Which cup do you select?
“Have you seen the beam?”
“Were you awestruck, blinded by its majesty?”
“How do you feel about State Worker RTO?” (had to throw that in)
“Should we start planning the Championship Parade for the summer of 2026 or 2027?”
“Scott Perry is a lot to say, can we call you ScoPe for short?”
“How do you feel about Greg leaving The Kings Herald?”
Can you play small forward?
Which PGs do you plan on drafting in the next four drafts?
Do you mean combo guards, cause we don’t seem to ever draft pure point guards
You mean -your commitment to developing and sustaining your massive ego? Vivek?
Ha. A joke.
No winning culture ever developed. How about developing a team that wins at a high level. Not just competes.
Yeah, ’cause the team has moved forward so much the past two seasons. Dude can’t even get his generic canned statements right.
“Mr Perry – welcome back to Sacramento. How long before you take the fall for a decision Vivek forces upon you, the team and the fans?”
Hmm, I wonder if Vivek will be at the press conference. He hasn’t been available to be asked about the chaos over the past year. A sign of a good leader is to take accountability when things go wrong. He doesn’t do that.
I hope Perry is allowed to do things the way he wants to, regardless of outcome. We all know Vivek and his people have meddled over the years and have little patience.
I don’t want anyone to get in trouble, but I would love if someone found a diplomatic way to ask Perry about his past statements on LaVine and what he considers to be a winning player:
Former Knicks GM Scott Perry on HoopGenius: “No question that Zach LaVine can score the basketball…Does he impact winning? Zach LaVine has been to 1 playoff series in 9 years. He’s played a total of 4 playoff basketball games…I’m looking at $40, $43, $46 & $49 million for a guy… pic.twitter.com/fEl40O8pK6
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) November 21, 2023
https://www.si.com/nba/kings/sacramento-kings-news/new-kings-gm-s-controversial-zach-lavine-statement-goes-viral-01jsb05rvfnp
just my opinion:
but that is why you never/hardly ever say negative statements about a player or coach. The NBA family is constantly recycled.
The first step in this process is to give Scott Perry full 100% decisions involving team building, drafting, trades, hiring a head coach free agency and more. If that happens we will be on the right track to respectability.
Very true but not a chance . If Vivek wanted that type of strong proven winning leader he wouldn’t have hired Perry .
Agreed. Although, hopefully can lead to a positive conversation if LaVine wants to grow and improve.
All in how Perry positions it. It’s one thing to say something mean spirited and I am sure he will apologize for it being a public statement, the downside of being a public analyst.
But he can still have a productive conversation about wanting LaVine to create for others and commit to defense and really get into specifics.
While I realize the Kings and LaVine probably aren’t open to it with his salary and what they gave up for him, I continue to believe his role on an actual contending team is 6th man.
And that is not even an insult. He could be 6th Man of the Year for an elite team. Just come off the bench with a green light to score and worrying less about running an offense. Obviously, better defense would still be important, but at least as 6th man there is some added ability to have him close the game or not based on if his offensive contributions are outweighing his lack of defense. The games he is unconscious, you leave him in. The games he’s off or too passive, you can sit him.
I thought I read that Perry suggested LaVine would be a great 3rd option on a winning team. Also mentioning that defense needed to be something LaVine provided as well.
It’s interesting that the Kings (presumably Vivek) wanted LaVine on the roster, then they hire Perry who doesn’t seem to keen on a player like LaVine at his current salary. Per usual, things don’t seem to be adding up in Kangz land. Maybe Perry can talk some sense in to Vivek and be allowed to shop LaVine this offseason, but I highly doubt he ends up getting traded.
Maybe you’re giving Vivek too much credit? I think we know near 100% LaVine was his target, but he likely isn’t aware of Perry’s opinions of LaVine and he may not even care if he did.
I mentioned the other day that we know a lot more about Perry’s real power here in the coming months. If Doug is the coach and LaVine is extended, then we know Perry is a paper tiger hire who will just be Vivek’s next patsy.
I get why LaVine would be kept because he is probably hard to trade. Extending him would be a bad idea. Unless they can restructure the remaining years to take a pay cut (doubt it), then they just need to let it ride out and trade him when he is expiring, or just create their own cap space when he does expire.
Yeah, I won’t retype everything I said right above this, but I lean more towards 6th man (in a complimentary way).
LaVine is an incredible scorer. He just doesn’t do much else particularly well. He’s like a rich man’s prime Buddy Hield. When he’s on, you just back off and live with the rest. When he’s off or playing more off ball, then the negatives start to outweigh the positives.
But I presume Vivek knows Perry’s thoughts on LaVine, so what happens with him could be an early litmus test of how much sway Perry holds versus how much of Perry getting the job was him buying into a pre-existing vision and promising he could build on it.
Easy task…
“Mr Perry, in 2023 you said the following, “No question that Zach LaVine can score the basketball…Does he impact winning? Zach LaVine has been to 1 playoff series in 9 years. He’s played a total of 4 playoff basketball games”.
Do you stand by this statement?”
“Well, Marty, this league is always evolving and I think Zach has shown he is a capable scorer. I am excited to see the chemistry that he and Domas have developed to continue evolving and become a strong scoring duo for us in Sacramento.”
The side step answer and avoiding the question altogether.
Of course he would. That’s not the point.
I’m just predicting how they would answer that question. The weasel way of doing things.
With the struggling offenses of Orlando and Houston, I sure wish we’d waited until the offseason to trade Fox.
That NYK v DET series is a war. Great stuff.
Kawhi is back. DEN v LAC has been great so far as well.
I wonder if ORL and HOU would be interested in DeMar, LaVine, or Monk. Those teams have the defense to cover those guys, and some of the length that the Kings need in return.
We can always hope
I like the adea of trading Monk for Jaabari Smith and Cam Whitmore.
That would be nice. I just wonder how much they would give up for Monk. Maybe they thing Reed Shepherd will be in the rotation next season?
Maybe more like Smith and Londale for Monk and a 2nd? Idk, but giving up a 6’11 guy that can shoot and defend is quite the bold move for the Rockets.
I’m not sure Monk has as much value as we may think he has. He’s an inefficient scorer and poor outside shooter who’s percentages have declined for 4 straight years.
Yeah, there are many players like him that are a bit cheaper. It only takes one team to want him!
Yeah, especially if you take into acvount his limited fit based on the meaning of his name in Arabic.
If he was good at baseball we could perhaps trade him to the Royals or Padres.
Houston has to be starting on a transition plan. Based on age and price, they eventually need to start ramping down VanVleet’s and Brooke’s minutes.
I imagine this will come with some mix of Amen and Sengun running more offense. And Shepard and Eason getting more run.
While I don’t think they have given up on Jabari, I do think that he is going to get squeezed with all of the talent they have. Could be bait for a trade if the Rockets want to try to accelerate their growth.
And frankly, he may start getting a bit noisy about wanting out if he finds himself in a 15-20 minute a game role off the bench as he starts to approach his second contract. The Rockets might also want to get max value for him before he goes Kuminga on them with a massive salary request that also dampens his trade value.
If I were Houston, and were looking to move off of some players, I’d probably trade them for future draft capital for the long game. I’m not sure they want to add proven talent when they are still growing the talent they have who may take the leap on their own. Adding a dude like DDR could have the same effects that id did here in Sac and Monk would only take the ball out of the hands of the dudes they are developing.
My guess is they’d want a pick or two and matching short term salary for a guy like Smith Jr. I don’t think the Kings should be trading away their future picks for yet another win now move.
Smith would be a long term investment, right? Pair him with Keegan, and they have the SF/PF position set for a while.
It will be interesting and will depend on their mindset. Future assets are good, but windows can be short, so also getting good veterans without giving away the farm for a mediocre return can help as well.
Think about how the Warriors traded Ellis, Kwame, and Udoh for Bogut. Or the Thunder traded Giddey for Caruso.
Some might come down to cap management. Ideally you have a young team you keep together for a long run, but like the old Thunder who had to choose between Harden and Ibaka, you can’t give big contracts to everyone.
Anyway, all of this isn’t to say you are wrong. Just that there are multiple pretty legitimate ways Houston could game theory this out without being “unintelligent” about it. They are the #2 seed and based on how this series plays out might feel like they are one OKC mis-step away from having a shot at a title.
To all the Sacramento media, there is one question, just one.
Grow some courage for god’s sake.
“Since Vivek bought the team, the narrative throughout the league from formal employees and players, Sam Amick’s article being the latest, is that Vivek is a meddling owner and makes decisions for the general manager. How are you going to handle this?”
Do not ask him to verify if Vivek is a meddling owner, do not ask if he thinks Vivek is a meddling owner, we already know he is, state it as fact.
For God sake get some courage. This is one of the historically worst ownerships in NBA history. The story around this team is there is a meddling owner. Ask about it. Don’t cushion it, ask it straight and direct.
It kind of makes me wish we had major market media who’d ask questions like that and hold ownership’s feet to the fire. You’re a Philly guy, would Vivek get the same kind of treatment there as he does here?
You know the answer to this. There’s nothing rude or disrespectful about my question.
sometimes you gotta sit in the hole you dig for yourself. If you meddle, then you should be asked about meddling.
Nobody is afraid to ask Nico Harrison why he’s the second dumbest executive to ever run an NBA team’s front office.
A bigger market city would have raked Vivek over the coals years ago, and fans around the league would have heard all about the stuff he does. But Sacramento media is soft, won’t ask the hard hitting questions, and seems to not want to upset the dismissive little chap.
Thus Vivek finding his pot of gold in the Kings by being able to do whatever he wants to scratch his ego and line his pockets while the majority of fans and media are just happy to have a major sport franchise in our aww shucks town. He’s laughing all the way to the bank.
It’s playoff basketball – scoring across the board is waaayyy down with many squads below or just around the 100 point mark. Defense wins championships.
The officiating is wild. I see a lot of bodying up, and a lot less of it is called, but then with certain players on certain teams it is called more often. Moving screens are rampant.
Some interesting games tonight. Will the Thunder rain holy heck on the Grizzlies once again? Will the Los Angeles Lukabrons, all 8 vs 5, lose both Crypto.com games to head back to the Laker motherland? Will the NBA allow that?
Long may he wave.
Welp, here we go (again.)
I am not hopeful. I find it to be a fruitless endeavor and a dangerous emotion for those without a true target or plan. I’ll not allow myself to be mentally imprisoned by irrelevant games that I am not in direct control of and the outcomes of which do not effect my immediate life goals.
Ok ya, that’s all B.S. I wish I was that badass and pragmatic, but the truth is I am hoping that this guy has enough NBA front office pedigree to tell Vivek to sit down and be quiet and let the adults talk. I know that won’t/can’t happen, but one can hope.
I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt because what choice do I have? Heard some of his press conference. Said all the right (vague) things you’d expect hear. Needs to decide on HC soon. Mike Malone (would he even consider it?) or Taylor Jenkins. Love Doug, but I’d rather see him back on the TV team.
Badge Legend