On Friday morning, Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee posted a mailbag with some thoughts revolving around the Sacramento Kings search for a General Manager. One nugget particularly stood out, as it related to the unclear power structure within Sacramento:
The new balance of power within the front office and Dumars’ role moving forward is still uncertain and remains a point of confusion among candidates, sources said, but I’m told the new general manager will be the team’s top basketball official and will report directly to Ranadive.
This sort of turbulence within the hiring process, if true, is exactly what the Kings must avoid in the coming weeks. Any incoming candidate has every right to question the team’s confounding pecking order given Vivek Ranadive’s habit of leveraging special advisors to do his dirty work within his leadership group. Back in 2015, Pete D’Alessandro reported directly to Ranadive in a similar situation as to what Anderson describes above, yet Vlade Divac, Vivek’s new special advisor, was allowed to usurp power from D’Alessandro until the disgraced GM resigned.
Last month, the situation reversed itself on Divac, as Joe Dumars, Vivek’s newest special advisor, was granted equal power to Divac, forcing Divac to resign. The reassurance of reporting directly to ownership will hold no water with interviewees if a powerful advisor is left in place as a contingency plan, just as Vivek has done in the past. The Kings need to clarify that not only will the General Manager report to Ranadive, but that either Dumars will report into the front office or that he won’t be granted any decision-making power whatsoever.
There’s also a question to be answered regarding Dumars’ place within the search process itself. If the new hire will ultimately be above Dumars in the chain of command, like the job is currently being advertised, it’s inappropriate for Dumars to help with the selection process. Subordinates typically don’t help to hire their new boss, and for good reason.
Conversely, if Dumars will be outside the General Manager’s purview and will also report directly to leadership, an immediate struggle for power, influence, and attention will almost certainly take place the moment the front office and Dumars disagree on a decision. It’s another example in a long list of examples of Vivek Ranadive creating preventable chaos within his leadership structure, and that’s not going to sit well with big-name candidates who need the Kings a whole lot less than the Kings need them.
Outside of Dumars’ mysterious position within the team, the lack of clarity concerning Luke Walton’s position is another roadblock for any potential hire. Typically, a General Manager is allowed to select his own coaching staff. Those two parties demand more synergy in their operations than any other individuals within a basketball organization, yet fans have seen Ranadive make the same mistake with both of his previous front office hires. He hired Mike Malone before Pete D’Alessandro, lighting the fuse for an ultimately catastrophic explosion that led to Malone’s undeserved firing and Pete’s eventual exit. A similar trend was established again when Vlade Divac was named the General Manager in 2015, while not being allowed to fire George Karl, despite losing the locker room halfway through the season.
Meanwhile, multiple connected parties within Sacramento have shared that Walton’s chance of being fired is essentially zero, despite his horrific performance during the 2019-2020 season. That refusal to grant the new General Manger their choice of coach is likely to be a huge turnoff to anyone in the interview process. If the new GM is given a three-year contract, they’re going to be forced to spend at least a third of that time with an ineffective coaching staff who they didn’t select, and yet that management group will still be held accountable for Walton’s mistakes and ultimate win-loss record.
And this is where the Kings have the potential to very easily devolve into the KANGZ. The team is already fighting an uphill battle to attract quality candidates due to the team’s reported financial issues and historical irrelevancy; they cannot afford to double-down on those challenges by repeating the exact same mistakes of their past. Men smart enough to work for Daryl Morey, to draft brilliantly, or to invent the ESPN Trade Machine aren’t going to overlook obvious, repeated errors within an organization, nor will they want to be the next victim of those preventable errors.
The Kings must get this hire right, perhaps more than any other hire in Vivek Ranadive’s tenure. To do that, they must establish a clear, sensible hierarchy within basketball operations. No game playing. No power plays. No backstabbing. Potential candidates need to be granted power far exceeding that of anyone outside of Vivek Ranadive himself, enough power to make a decision regarding Luke Walton’s place within the organization, and enough power to establish their own team of qualified professionals to fill out Sacramento’s front office. If Vivek Ranadive refuses to hand that much control and trust over to his most important hire since he purchased the team, the Kings are certain to see additional candidates follow Trajan Langdon’s path and decline to get involved with this mess of a team.
Stop doing Mars. Get back to Earth. Win basketball games.
Vivek is just dumb.
And I approve this message.
Vivek can promise all kind of stuff, but as long as he has a veto power (and all owners have one), I think many potential candidates will be leery of him and whatever potion Matina dribbles in his ear.
Funky Cold Matina?
Yup. Coined first by someone else, but no-one remembers who.
I caught their act in Niagara Falls, they were great.
Close the thread – we’re done here.
We used to have a puppet with this organization…
?ve=1&tl=1
Can this be the next billboard? Please?
Still baffled the promised NBA 3.0 from 7 years ago only brought us 5 (going on 6) head coach changes, 3 GM changes, and a bunch of special advisors who are disrupting the power and decision making structure. Vivek doesn’t wake the f up then somebody has to wake him up
He promised NBA 3.0, then proceeded to cycle through conventional, old-school style options. Apparently, NBA 3.0 actually just means trying to cut workforce costs through automation.
He’s delivered NBA .30 so far.
Representing the BAC required to deal with being a Kings fan.
The “.0” thing is the world’s most transparent Silicon Valley bullshit. It seemed impressive for about 10 minutes, while Vivek wasn’t stepping on a rake every other month. Anyone with any sense would stop saying it, especially after this much failure.
Vivek seems like a person with good intentions around other people, but he flat out doesn’t possess even a hint of the humility required to admit and learn from his mistakes and actually improve as a team owner.
Someone needs to clear the air and ask what the hell Dumars’ job is and if he is staying with the team once the new GM is hired.
I asked in a previous thread, but couldn’t find the answer. Was Dumars even in the bubble? Is he even in Sac now, or is he some phone call away advisor?
I believe he was in the bubble with Vivek, hatching plans.
Does Dumars actually reside in Sacramento, because he’s apparently been with the team for a year now.
When he first was announced as advisor, it was stated that he lived in LA and would continue to live there. He was an advisor by phone.
Fitting.
If my memory is correct, I think The Governator continued to live in LA and just flew up to Sacramento every day for work and then back to LA.
Vivek, if you’re reading this I am not saying for you to interview Arnold for the GM position.
I believe he also stayed in one of the top floors of the Hyatt. That’s pretty typical for action figures who become governor.
Surely we can sell the ambience of a late Wednesday night on K St. to an executive in Miami.
I wish Sacramento media would ask Vivek this, but I guess they’d have to ask for a special interview since he no longer sits in on the press conferences.
If not that, then more articles in the Sac Bee would be nice that directly pose this question. Maybe an Op-Ed. Maybe an open letter from fans?
Vivek should have to answer this. No deflecting of responsibility to his advisors or GM or coach or India or injuries.
All roads lead to Vivek.
“So Joe..”
As someone presently in the Sacramento area, I second this:
After that, we can talk about the Kings’ problems!
Here’s my grand unifying butt-pulled theory on the Dumars thing. The Dumars/Perry/Catanella combo is a viable option that some in the ownership group prefer. Vivek’s preferred outcome would be Gupta in Vlade’s old role and Hinkie in Dumars’. They brought in Forde to give them additional options and ensure that the process is more methodical than with past hires.
That’s what I think is causing the dissonance to us plebes. Dumars continued employment is dependent on the outcome of the GM search. They can’t say that, so they just say a bunch of bullshit that makes no sense to anyone who’s read an org. chart before.
I can’t help but think how much easier this search would have been if done last offseason instead of this one. You’ve got this up and coming team coming off a surprising 39 win season. You have a coach on a lameduck contract, even though he seemed to fit the style of his roster. You have a ton of cap space to work with, even after re-signing Barnes and extending Hield. You can actually give Giles his QO so you keep his bird rights.
Oh what could have been…
But that wouldn’t be Kangzian would it?
It’s a real problem.
Here is something else the Kings must be clear on: when they ring the cowbells, it is because they embrace their small market identity, it does not mean they want to be a farm team for the rest of the nba like a minor league baseball team.
Do you not understand what has been going on here the last 5 years? The Kings have been a farm team in a way. You know the phrase “put out to pasture”? The Kings are the pasture. It’s where past-their-prime vets go when other team’s don’t want them anymore. And the Kings actually overpay to be the pasture for the rest of the NBA!
So when you constantly talk about how all of us just wants a tank commander to be the new head of farming operations, then I see that you fundamentally misunderstand what will be required to turn this thing around. It will take a degree of creativity (and short-term pain) that you simply refuse to accept.
Stick a farm to fork in us, we’re done!
Don’t forget our primary role, we’re used as leverage for free agents looking to negotiate elsewhere.
are we now leverage for front office candidates to get in house promotions too?
Go on.
I did say that the Kings have been a farm team, and they should stop being one, therefore your response actually supports my comment. Now you admit you want the next GM to be a tank commander, which supports my comment on the previous thread.
What’s your strategy, besides “Not being a farm team?” I’m not sure what that actually means.
when I say don’t be a farm team, that means be competitive, don’t throw games ever, don’t try to help other franchises. Can you take a step back to let young guys develop? Yes, for certain players, but not for anyone. Draft guys who help the team. That does not mean overpay washed vets. But there is no reason to get rid of good players in their prime like Bogdan, and there is no reason to toss away young playmakers like Giles. Coaches and managers should want to win. Players should play to win, not to earn their second contract. And when everyone rings the cowbells, they have to be clear about what it means. It means they embrace a small market identity. Right? Or does it mean something else? You tell me Carl: what do those cowbells mean?
I’m not sure you are using the “farm team” analogy correctly. Everything you said there describes a shit team try to compete.
Farm teams don’t overpay for washed vets, get rid of players in their prime, or toss away young players. Farm teams do play to win. Farm teams do have small market identities!
If anything the Kings SHOULD embrace a farm team identity. They should draft and develop young players, embrace small market identity, don’t overpay for vets, and coaches and managers should play to win.
“I NEVER MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE TWICE”
– Vivek Ranadive
“…FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON – SHAME ON YOU. FOOL ME – YOU CAN’T GET FOOLED AGAIN.”
– George W. Bush
“SOCIETY TEACHES US THAT HAVING FEELINGS AND CRYING IS BAD AND WRONG. WELL, THAT’S BALONEY, BECAUSE GRIEF ISN’T WRONG. THERE’S SUCH A THING AS GOOD GRIEF. JUST ASK CHARLIE BROWN.”
– Michael Scott
I’m starting to seriously doubt if they can get an interview with guys such as Gupta, Mcnair and Simon. Nobody wants to work for a guy who constantly meddles with the team.
I’m starting not to get my hopes up in the upcoming weeks. If we actually hire a competent GM then that’s the time I’ll actually start believing in the Kings again.
Love the article but could have used a LOT more Matina and some is Dumars a more involved Chris Mullin question? Vivek sucks, but most of the day to day dysfunction and Game of Thrones level politics and back stabbing the new GM will need to navigate seems to involve one other person. Yet nobody talks about that person in a material way.
We’ve discussed Matina many times, and called out the input she has.
At the same time, very little of her influence has been reported as sourced stories, so there’s very little for us to point to. Absent that type of reporting, which is beyond the scope of the Kings Herald, it’s not always useful to add her to every single article about front office dysfunction.
For this article in particular, Tim is addressing the issues with the GM hiring process as reported by Jason Anderson.
The fact that there has never been a quality retrospective on her specific role in past moves makes me somewhat uncomfortable even mentioning her or posting these funny pictures. We really don’t know and sometimes it feels like it might be a little bit unfair. I poked at some of the known scribes a few years ago to suggest some sort of investigative piece, but there were only crickets. I’m left to believe the three beat writers qualified to undertake such a story are scared or at least hesitant. Without information, this is merely speculation, which leads to more feelings of thinking we might be unfair in our criticism. I an uneasy leveling criticism towards the unknown, but the results speak for themselves, so here we are.
Whatever the case, there has been one long standing member of the front office who has remained constant during an epic period of dysfunction, and the fact that we’re left to wonder about her role only leads to more skepticism and criticism.
This would be a great topic for an outside-the-market media member, contacting as many past employees as possible, but I’m done holding my breath. Acceptance is a bitch sometimes.
I have seen former employees apparently refer to her as she who shall be named. Maintaining a non-profile seems to be a high priority.
The two radio guys that were critical of the Maloofs and/or called Vlade an idiot were fired. The Bee hasn’t had anyone with ANY clout since Amick. There are better odds of the Kings signing Giannis than some local scribe pulling the curtain back on this in a meaningful way. Instead, they will continue to assess how the deck chairs are configured.
I still consider Sam and JJ local. They just haven’t touched it, and are certainly more than capable.
Amick’s more than capable, but I don’t think Jones is.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Jones care enough to figure out what he’s capable of doing. Credit where it’s due. He’s definitely capable of Matt Barnes fluff pieces.
You can’t tell the story of Matina’s power without revealing the identity of the bodies buried. I suspect that’s just the type of story that a sports beat writer is incapable of writing for various reasons.
that a sports beat writer is incapable of writing for various reasons.
In Sacramento, yes.
Even if you believe this to be true, a guy like Sam Amick certainly has nothing to fear and has heard whatever stories exist. The simple explanation is that there’s just not much there. I’m not saying she has no influence or isn’t responsible at all for the endless failures of the team. We went through this some months ago, where there were several references to her negative influence. But there’s a dismissive little chap fucking up right and left. We don’t have to look behind the curtain to find the reason. It’s right in front of us.
Gregg I understand, agree, and thank you for this and your thoughtful comment. I’m not trying to be critical of your reporting regarding this individual, because you are miles ahead of the others. Which causes the absence of sourced materials.
But, Jason’s reporting and this follow up doesn’t seem to follow the thesis of the post. The negatives and risks for the job are Matina, large gap, Vivek, large gap, then Dumars. I’m sure you’ve heard many of the stories.
An article on cleaning up the Kings unusual and dysfunctional systems that omits Matina … doesn’t sufficiently explain why the Kings are unusual or dysfunctional. Based upon what I’m hearing and the picture selected, feels like some of the most pressing issues may have been edited out based upon sourcing.
Hope y’all are ready for a completely underwhelming hire. It’s inevitable. Nobody with good options is coming to the kAnGz.
Has anyone seen Henry Bobby?
I think there’s every reason to believe it will be business as usual. Underwhelming GM, no superstar in the draft, no top-tier free agents.
Really my expectations are that the players and coach will fight for .500 and hopefully I’ll be mildly entertained. Quite the treadmill we’re on.
I don’t see any reason to believe any GM using any set of real world moves could get this team close to .500 next year.
I’d agree with this. I mean, our “star” player (and I don’t dislike Fox) is an just above league-average point guard.
Well said and hopefully things will be different now. Won’t get my hopes up just yet.
Even just hiring a competent GM who builds a competent FO would be a great start. I know many candidates would be turned off but you hope that the firm helping with the hiring process is also helping Vivek with organizational structure.
Fixed:
When Vivek said he doesn’t make the same mistake twice I was worried because he ALREADY made those mistakes twice. That’s why he keeps on making more mistakes because the twice rule has done with
Are we sure he didn’t say “I never make the same mistake THRICE?”
Obviously, I agree with everything said here in theory, but I still think the fanbase needs to come to the realization that the Kings ownership group is simply unwilling to pony up the cash to replace the coach and GM at the same time. Maybe the new GM comes in and orchestrates a bunch of moves that remove a ton of long-term money off the books; which allows them to change course. Absent of that, the Kings will most likely keep Walton, for at least a year, because the Kings can’t afford not to.
Maybe this is just the A’s fan in me, but this is what we signed up for when we decided to become fans of the Sacramento Kings. They’re a small market team with small potatoes owners. It’s the way it’s always been.
I’ve been on record saying it makes much more sense to spend +$10 million per year on a fully functioning front office versus overpaying average-ish vets to long-term deals. The problem is Vlade already tied the next GM’s hands by overpaying Barnes, Joseph and Dedmon (which gave us Parker’s player option next season) last offseason. That’s like $40 million on the books next season the new GM is about to inherit. That’s going to take some time to get off the books. Vivek’s pitch can’t be “well we’re open to firing Walton if you are able to move some of this dead weight already on the ledger after we give you the job”.
So anyways, the original sin was not firing Vlade last offseason and syncing his extension to Walton’s new contract. They can’t go back in time and undo that, and they can’t afford to provide the new GM with a clean slate. The one mistake he can avoid repeating this time is to actually hire someone capable of mitigating past mistakes instead of compounding them.
I DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR THIS! 😛
But a little more seriously just a tiny nitpick about the signing up part: for ticket purchasers, especially season ticket holders, I think it’s fair to put pressure on the ownership group to make being a fan of this team more worthwhile.
True, we are a small market team but we aren’t the only one and there’s been evidence of success by other small market teams. So maybe it’s the ownership that needs addressing.
If this ownership group, which I thought was comprised of multiple very wealthy individuals/groups can’t afford to be competitive in this league, what is the point? It just seems a bit nuts to continue to give this ownership group money for the product they put out there, with no hope in sight.
I think I’d rather just buy a year’s supply of Rordogs¢!
Anyway, thumbs up–totally agree with you about spending the big money on a fully functioning front office versus average-ish vets to long-term deals.
I’m all for fan pressure. My gripe is just that sometimes people look at this stuff in the abstract a little too much. It’s like when fans correctly determine it’s in the team’s best interest to waive a player and stretch the remainder of their contract. From a purely basketball perspective that’s a very logical thing to do sometimes. In the real world, the owners have to still authorize issuing checks to the player to not play for the team. If the ownership group doesn’t have deep pockets, or aspirations to be more than just mediocre, then it can be a hard pill to swallow.
They may also be reluctant to burn cash on a managing partner who they see as wildly incompetent. Hang his ass out to dry by starving him of cash, and maybe he quits, or is so incompetent that the league steps in. I’m not saying that’s what’s happening, but some people (Smails) just aren’t worth the trouble, no matter what.
I’d argue they can’t afford to KEEP Walton. Especially if it is hindering a competent GM from coming here.
Sounds good to me!
I think keeping him around screws Buddy’s value.
Saw a trade today from Complex magazine that was Buddy and a 2nd round pick to the Bucks for Eric Bledsoe, DiVincenzo, DJ Wilson, 2021 1st pick, 2023 top 5 protected 1st pick.
I don’t think of that as realistic, and I’m all in on that trade, but it wasn’t a local media outlet that said it.
Is that a weed or booze magazine? Judging by that trade it’s got to be one or the other, and I’m…uh asking for a friend who might want to subscribe.
Completely agree. Just weird to see a non-Sacramento entity inflating Hield’s value.
So where do they get the $5 million to replace Walton? I suspect a messy capital call would hinder this team more than Walton’s ambiguous employment status.
So we’re going to get an inferior GM and throw away a season to save $5M?
Yep
What alternative is there? They own the company. They are currently losing millions of dollars due to the pandemic. They likely won’t generate any arena-related revenue for at least another year. They have already basically paid multiple coach’s salary every year for the past 5 years. At this point, I don’t think it’s that surprising that there’s some resistance to paying two coaches again next year while also paying two GM’s salaries.
So what I’m really getting at is this team is FUBAR. They’re not willing to overpay to get one of the upper echelon GMs to leave great situations to take over this shitshow. They are not going to commit to replacing Walton this offseason to entice a GM to take the job. That doesn’t mean there aren’t viable solutions. It just means there are no simple solutions.
I wonder if Vivek understands that he can’t convince someone to relish the challenge of turning this team around AND shortchange said person at the same time. It’s one or the other.
An incoming GM/President of BBall Ops should understand the financial aspects this COVID situation is draining on ownership groups. It’s just not a great year to convince people to blindly spend.
They’d be better off trading Buddy for a mid-first rounder.
To me that would be preferable to going cheap on arguably the most important position in your entire franchise.
and that’s essentially what I’m saying. My point is Vivek can’t say “the new GM can pick their preferred coach contingent on finding a trade partner for Buddy that offsets the cost of the new coach”. That’s still usurping power by tying the new GM’s hands before they’ve accepted the job.
Give them the choice. But man, if $5M is really getting in the way of making major important decisions like this (even in this climate), this ownership group really has no business owning this team.
This new reality will be surprising to many teams. But Kings fans already did this over the past 10 years. We’re not sufficiently liquid, and the Kings will (again) make short sighted moves that hurt the team based upon those limitations.
Vivek, and the Kings, are so fucked up. His ego is so big and the organization so insulated I don’t see how things turn around until he’s gone and power taken.
Throw in the forced lack of media questions and abundance of yes men/women and you have a recipe for permanent losing and yourrrrrr Sac Kings
You’re right. And yet, we were one draft choice – the world’s most obvious draft choice – who you’d have to be a complete and utter moron to not make – from being a near playoff team.
I don’t mean that to sound hopeful. That sort of thing rolls around once in a generation, and the Kings blew it.
It is unbelievable and completely believable that Vivek isn’t allowing next GM to hire their coach. A joke.
Vivek is a real turd. His ego has ruined the Kings. To be that selfish….it’s gross.
I mean if the cost of getting a fully functioning, and fully qualified front office is another year+ of Walton, I’ll take it. And I’m with you on the “not wanting to pony up the dough” theory IRT the ownership group.
The issue is player contracts are expenditures the team has to pay because it’s part of the BRI. Coaching/front office salaries are overhead costs, which are giant red flags for a corporation.
When it comes to the interview process, I’d imagine an incoming prospect for GM would have a plan ready to get this team in the right direction, and likely multiple versions of it (clean cap vs win now vs hybrid).
“I mean if the cost of getting a fully functioning, and fully qualified front office is another year+ of Walton, I’ll take it.”
They are mutually exclusive.
That depends on the goals of VIvek and the rest of the ownership group. Did they buy the team for the real estate profits? or to win basketball games?
I doubt many of these people accept failure well. Vivek is utterly unable to see failure as it relates to anything he touches, so I exclude him from that statement.
At least he hasn’t given up?
If this is true, and I suspect that it is, then the only solution is a sale of the team. A financially strapped NBA team will do nothing but stumble along the bottom of the standings year after year. The problem is that new owners may want to take the team elsewhere, and Stern is no longer around to prevent it.
But that’s the hard place in the rock and hard place the owners find themselves in. They can’t sell now, because the $2 billion estimated valuation assumes that the business would continue to generate revenue from the arena, hotel, parking, etc. If they sell now, then the prospective buyer isn’t going to put in an offer based on pre-covid valuation. So they have 3 options: sell below what it was worth 6 months ago, continue to write checks for Vivek’s mistakes, or just ride it out and hope for the best.
If I’m a minority owner, I go to the league. I tell them how cash-strapped the organization is as a result of the controlling partner’s incompetence. Other teams are hurting, but will be able to ride this out. We are unable to put our best product on the court because this moron extended the worst GM in the league for four years and let him go after one. We are now stuck with a coach who does not have the ear of the players and who caused a regression because we can’t afford to hire a new coach. And it’s been 7 years of this dysfunction to varying degrees. If finances and assets had been managed better, we could have fallen back on sound decision-making like other teams to get us through.
But we are stuck. Vivek needs to be removed. He’s had his chance, and it has been just one catastrophic blunder after another. If the NBA cares about the competitive product it puts on the floor, they will move on from this embarrassment.
And quite possibly Buddy as well.
Thank goodness, and I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M SAYING THIS, I have the Padres to cheer for right now.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but my marble league team won both the Marble League championship and the Marbula One championship this year. And the feeling of euphoria was very intense.
So I got that going for me.
Good luck with your Padres! I just wish RikSmits some success with his teams. Wouldn’t it be amazing if the Browns and the Kings both won championships in the same year? Probably wouldn’t happen until like the world was ending….
Oh wait.
It doesn’t sound ridiculous. I saw a lot of news reports that with the pandemic, marble leagues had a very good shot at becoming mainstream in the interim, but the major leagues got things back up and running pretty quickly.
I have been trudged underfoot so often with my fandoms my whole life (Kings/Padres/Ghost of Former San Diego Football Team), having one not only be enjoyable to watch, but actually performing well, has been a rare joy for me this year.
I wish it too. Can’t see us beat the Chiefs, nor some other teams. Tomorrow the Ratbirds. Oof.
If Vivek cant afford to fire Walton, he should sell it to someone who can. Win, win, win, we all win. *Michael Scott
God, he is just an awful owner…that is all.
He sucks
The Sacramento Kings must offer a Free Breakfast to their new General Manager
Vivek Ranadive cannot afford to repeat his past mistakes in this hiring process.
Go ahead somebody…
https://postimg.cc/Q9cYx0GJ
The Brooklyn Nets did it-turned it around when they had a bunch of aging expensive players and terrible front office. Albeit a bit different in some areas. Vivek and co and do it if they care about basketball and long term investment. If not, sell this team! What have the fans and residents of Sacramento area done to deserve this terrible purgatory?!
We passed on Doncic. The Basketball Gods can’t have that.
Unfortunately, Matina is still a large part of the franchise. Therefore, the kneecapping will continue.
Welp, there goes Simon.
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1304625925816975360
I’m shocked, shocked I say!
Simon likely won’t be the last. Vivek’s reputation is pretty much set. His confidence wildly exceeds his competence, he meddles, he constantly repeats the same mistakes, he has a near flawless track record of failure in the NBA, is obsequious with celebrities, and habitually name drops Steve Jobs and adds integers to nonsense to make things sound impressive. Why would you want to work for someone like that?
They’ll find someone eventually, but it very likely won’t be a top candidate, because trying to succeed in this town with this owner just keeps piling on degrees of difficulty.
Wes Wilcox will be the next GM, I’d bet on it. He’s the only one that wouldn’t turn it down.
That’s because he is the only one not currently in the NBA.
And the only one not likely to get hired anywhere else.
“One to two years PAID vacation!!”
Offer Billy Donovan Coach and General Manager/VP of Basketball Operations a la Popovich, a la Donovan’s college days.
Badge Legend