While Chris Wallace is viewed as the frontrunner for the Kings GM job, owner Vivek Ranadive still has his eye on other potential candidates including Larry Bird, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Ranadive would like to make a splash and has already felt out the former Pacers executive about his willingness to return to front-office work in Sacramento.
However, the assumption in league circles is that Bird would return to the Pacers if he were to get back into a full-time position in the NBA. After all, he had a great deal to do with the roster that is still alive in the Eastern Conference finals against the Heat. But sources say the Kings owner has let it be known that he isn't afraid to spend major coin on a GM.
Sacramento's ability to lure someone like Bird could be a longshot after they already installed a coach rather than letting the incoming GM handle the process. Ranadive has already been shot down once after Spurs GM R.C. Buford publicly said that he isn't interested in the Kings job.