Pacific Notes: Kings’ GM Search, Harrell, Markieff Morris, KCP

The Kings will begin a second round of interviews soon in their search for a new head of basketball operations, but sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic that executive vice president Joe Dumars won’t be involved in the interview process (Twitter link). Owner Vivek Ranadive and Mike Forde of Sportsology, an outside firm hired to conduct the search, will handle the interviews.

Dumars has been a strong voice in the front office since joining the team as a special advisor, and Ranadive envisioned a power-sharing arrangement with former GM Vlade Divac. However, Divac rejected that idea and resigned from the organization last month.

Pelicans GM Trajan Langdon (link), Heat assistant GM Adam Simon (link) and Nuggets GM Calvin Booth (link) have all reportedly pulled their names out of the search, but the remaining three candidates are set to travel to Sacramento for in-person interviews, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. They are Timberwolves executive VP Sachin Gupta, Rockets assistant GM Monte McNair and former Hawks GM Wes Wilcox.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

• The Clippers need to decide whether they should continue giving regular minutes to Montrezl Harrell, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. The Sixth Man of the Year had a minus-13 rating in six fourth-quarter minutes in the Game 5 loss to Denver and was minus-19 for the second half. Harrell ranks last on the team in the postseason in both plus-minus and net rating and has seen his rebound percentage fall sharply. Buha notes that Nuggets coach Michael Malone has been targeting Harrell on defense, inserting Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. whenever he enters the game.
• Midseason addition Markieff Morris proved his worth for the Lakers in the series with Houston, observes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. After a lackluster performance against Portland in the first round, Morris was a difference maker against the Rockets. He turned around Game 2 with four 3-pointers in three minutes, earning a spot in the starting lineup and relegating Dwight Howard to the bench.
• Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope received a $50K bonus for reaching the conference finals, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN, who adds that KCP will carry an $8.54MM cap hit if he opts into his contract for next season.