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The final whistle had barely sounded on the Kings’ season and their general manage was out the door.
Sacramento and its general manager mutually parted ways after a season-ending 120-106 loss to the Mavericks in the play-in tournament Wednesday, according to multiple reports.
McNair agreed to the divorce due to concern over losing decision-making power, according to The Athletic, with a verdict on interim coach Doug Christie looming following Mike Brown’s dismissal and questions about his role in acquiring DeMar DerRozan and Zach Lavine this season.
“McNair didn’t want to fire Brown, league sources said, and there are internal questions about whether he really wanted to sign DeRozan or trade for LaVine,” the outlet reported.
“Tension also existed in recent days between McNair and the ownership group about Christie’s future with (owner Vivek) Ranadive viewed as the Christie backer.”
McNair is just two seasons removed from winning NBA Executive of the Year after ending the franchise’s first playoff berth since 2006, and he spent five seasons running the team’s basketball operations.
Former Knicks general manager Scott Perry is “considered a frontrunner” for the opening, according to The Athletic, while fired Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth is also expected to be in the running.
The Kings went 195-205 (.488) during McNair’s tenure and fell to the Warriors in seven games in the first round of the 2023 playoffs in their line playoff appearance.
McNair’s departure completes the full remodeling of the team’s previous coach-general manager setup, with Brown having been dismissed earlier in the season.
The Kings also previously lost assistant general manager Chris Wilcox to the University of Utah.
It seems McNair is paying the price for the Kings not building off their 2023 season, when they won 48 games and secured the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
Sacramento only won two fewer games in the 2023-24 campaign but fell to the No. 9 seed before losing losing to the Pelicans in the play-in tournament in their clash for the No. 8 seed.
This year’s team took a sizable step back, going 40-42 and again finishing with the conference’s ninth-best record before bowing out of the play-in tournament after one game.
The Kings signed DeRozan this offseason in a quest to improve, but then tried rearranging the chairs amid a middling start by trading star De’Aaron Fox to the Spurs and acquiring LaVine from the Bulls.
Brown received the boot after just 31 games and the Kings went 27-24 in the regular season under Christie, who is “well-positioned” to remain in the role, per The Athletic.
McNair could land with the Rockets or 76ers due to relationships with executives running those franchises, per the publication.
He reportedly spoke with the team about the “bigger-picture view” after Wednesday’s loss, only for the players to learn soon after he would not be the one making the calls for the future.
