Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishSACRAMENTO, Calif. — Less than an hour after the Sacramento Kings’ disappointing 40-win season ended in a blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks at home, general manager Monte McNair met with Kings owner Vivek Ranadive in a back room of the arena and the two sides mutually agreed to part ways, league sources told The Athletic.League sources say Scott Perry, who was the Kings’ vice president of basketball operations for three months in 2017 before being hired away as the New York Knicks’ general manager, is expected to receive strong consideration for the job and is considered a frontrunner.Perry, whose 25-year front office career has also included time with the Detroit Pistons, Seattle SuperSonics and Orlando Magic, had a strong working relationship with Ranadive during his Sacramento stint and worked closely with then-general manager Vlade Divac.Former Denver Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth is also expected to be given consideration, league sources said. Booth, who was fired by the Nuggets recently along with coach Michael Malone, previously interviewed with the Kings before they hired McNair in the summer of 2020. While Divac continues to have a presence and voice around the team, including with Ranadive, team sources say he will not be returning in any formal capacity to the team’s front office.The next general manager is expected to have influence on the Kings’ ultimate choice for head coach, but interim coach Doug Christie is well-positioned to keep the job, team sources said, though Christie said he has yet to be given any firm assurances.“None,” Christie said. “But this is where I want to be. You guys know that. I need to finish what I started.”
Monte McNair and Mike Brown in 2024 at an event in Los Angeles. (Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Netflix)The McNair departure concludes a five-year tenure as the team’s general manager. Two Aprils ago, he was named the NBA’s Executive of the Year after hiring Mike Brown as the head coach and watching the roster he built around De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis put up the league’s top offensive rating and break the franchise’s 16-season playoff drought.But that core stalled in the 24 months that followed. McNair was unable to make the necessary rotation upgrades around the edges to propel them forward. They won 46 games in the 2023-24 season but were eliminated in the Play-In tournament. Then they signed DeMar DeRozan over the summer, billing him as the high-profile missing piece.They stumbled in the opening months and fired Brown abruptly after a five-game losing streak in December, which decayed the organization’s relationship with Fox enough that they rushed into a trade prior to the February deadline, bringing Zach LaVine back as the prioritized win-now piece.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. Tension also existed in recent days between McNair and the ownership group about Christie’s future with Ranadive viewed as the Christie backer.Appearing to lose decision-making power within the franchise, McNair agreed to the departure. League sources say McNair, who spent 13 years in Houston before joining the Kings, could return to the Rockets in a front office role with general manager, and close friend and former co-worker, Rafael Stone. He also has close ties and possible prospects in Philadelphia, where former Rockets president of basketball operations Daryl Morey runs the Sixers front office.McNair addressed Kings players in the locker room not long after their elimination on Wednesday night, league sources said, speaking with a bigger-picture view about the future. The players were informed not long after that he was no longer leading the franchise’s front office.(Top photo: Sergio Estrada / Imagn Images)
