The Kings hired Monte McNair as general manager 14 months ago with a mission to end their long postseason drought, and he believes the best approach is patience rather than splashy moves, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic. In a lengthy interview, McNair explains his philosophy on team building and delves into several other topics.
McNair didn’t arrive in Sacramento with a desire to put his “stamp” on the organization, Amick notes. That’s why he has chosen to build through the draft and minor deals, rather than taking a big swing on a risky talent like Ben Simmons.
“One thing that’s really helped us is (that) we have a very, very clear goal,” McNair said. “We want to get this organization back to the playoffs. We want to get back there (and) that helps (that) we have a singular focus.”
The Kings are off to a 5-6 start that has put them in the middle of the Western Conference playoff race. McNair has drafted well, landing Tyrese Haliburton and Davion Mitchell in the last two lotteries, and was able to keep Richaun Holmes in free agency, re-signing him to a four-year deal over the summer.
While Sacramento’s management team has sometimes been chaotic over the past decade and a half, McNair believes the current group works well together and will ultimately be successful.
“The thing we are definitely all doing is rowing the boat in the same direction,” he said. “Now we want to row as fast as we can and as straight as we can. … But we are for sure rowing in the same direction, and that makes it a lot easier. We’ve got a great group. And so now, it’s just, ‘Can we do it?’”
McNair covers several other issues in the interview, including:
The decision to draft Mitchell when the Kings already had plenty of guards:
“Certainly, when you just look at the team we had and who we had drafted the year before and Tyrese and who we already had on the team with De’Aaron (Fox), and you say, ‘Why would you draft another point guard?’ (But) this is where we talk about being a best player available in the draft. And it’s a hard thing to do sometimes, but we truthfully sit here and try to (draft) best player available. And when Davion is sitting at the top of our board, we do not hesitate to draft him.”
The relationship with Buddy Hield after he was nearly traded to the Lakers over the summer:
“Yeah, we had some (trade) conversations over the offseason. I don’t want to go into too much detail there, but (the approach was to) treat Buddy like the adult that he is and I think he appreciated that. He does the same with me. And I said, ‘Look, you know, obviously your name has been out there. But if it doesn’t work out, if nothing happens, you come back, you’re expected to let it fly.’ And he’s been doing that.”
The status of Marvin Bagley III, who has complained about how the franchise has handled him after drafting him second overall in 2018. Bagley has only appeared in one game this season and is on track for restricted free agency after not receiving an extension offer:
“Marvin has been putting in the work and staying ready. And just like we tell all our guys, when your number’s called, you go in, and you help us win. It’s a long season. We’re gonna need — we’ve (got) 17 guys now on the roster and we’re gonna need all of them at some point. And you know, Marvin as well as everybody else is going to be ready when they’re called.”
Hield Bagley Davion for Simmons
Yeah ok keep dreaming Ben not coming to sac so y’all can stop all the rumors
2002 sacramento kings got jobbed
the kings should be relegated to college ball for drafting bagley. if their hand was forced write a book about it. completely unforgivable.
The reality is that MBIII is just too good to play for SAC, just hope he will get traded to a better organization or will be able to escape in the summer!
SAC is just a bunch of clowns with no hope of getting in the playoffs, goodness knows what Mr McNair is ranting about!
To good for sac lol yeah ok. Kings making playoffs this unless a big injury happens
Win now, great… so why is Bagley still there, and Harkless a starter… And drafting for best talent, ignoring fit, is not what teams in the middle should be doing. McNair may intend he interview for Ranadive.
Drafting Davion Mitchell I like but he’s going to have to sit and they could have had likely pick Alperen Sengun… per36′,17-8-4.5… 42%3, 48&2, 67%1… 19mpg. Seems like tanking
Can’t just drop him because they might need his salary to make a trade later. They probably will after the trade deadline. Davion is already playing a ton of minutes and teams should always draft best talent available. Drafted Bagley for fit instead of the best talent and here we are.
I totally agree ppl thank they know basketball. I’m not the smartest when come to basketball but I’m not dumb either
Sure, draft the best talent… the problem is knowing who that is. GMs all think they are geniuses, but they must not be, because a redraft exercise with future knowledge will always look different than IRL.
If they knew Bagley was not the answer, and he was not in the rotation from the start, then move him while he still has believers.
Bagley was viewed as a sure fire 20/10 guy and was viewed by everyone as that. This whole acting like only the kings were dumb enough to do that is idiotic. Luka did get traded that night also right ? He was traded for a guy who EVERYONE said was going to be a bust. Here’s what happened . Vlade and Lukas dad literally laughed about the rumor prior to the draft . They weren’t feuding whatsoever. When Vlade went overseas and to the doncic home he saw 15 year old luka getting absolutely trashed. Lukas father did exactly that when Vlade knew him as a player. He didnt draft him due that and that alone. Vlade was a horrible GM but I get the decision. Sucks for kings fans sure but that’s the truth. I’m a kings fan and Sacramento likes to constantly go on and on about how they are the best fans in basketball. They aren’t . They have such a short leash with high draft picks and yet they also supported Vlade for wayyyyyy to long. Lastly kings fans… 02 was 20 seasons ago! Move on ! Nobody cares and everyone is tired of the whining . These are the same people who rooted for Cleveland against golden state in all 3 of those finals. The warriors having some success after being horrible forever was so horrible for these people that they rooted for a team in Ohio! Maybe just don’t watch rather then act like the warriors punted your puppy off a bridge . ( yes like Baxter )