First, Executive of the Year Masai Ujiri bolted for the Toronto Raptors.
Then Coach of the Year George Karl was shown the door.
Now Pete D'Alessandro has become next in line to exit the Mile High City.
The former Denver Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Pete D'Alessandro will be officially named the new General Manager of the Sacramento Kings according to numerous reports, with D’Alessandro taking over for the Kings’ longtime GM Geoff Petrie.
The announcement is expected to come from the Kings on Monday.
A salary cap guru, D’Alessandro becomes the second major addition to the organization by new owner Vivek Ranadive, who signed Mike Malone as Sacramento’s head coach to a four-year deal two weeks ago. Both Memphis Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace and former Indiana Pacers GM David Morway (among others) were under consideration for the position before Ranadive named D’Alessandro as Petrie’s successor.
Sacramento is not done revamping their front office either according a report by the Sacramento Bee.
The Kings have offered Hall of Fame player and former Golden State Warriors executive Chris Mullin a role as a consultant, with Mullin and D’Alessandro previously working together with the Warriors. D'Alessandro spent four seasons with the Warriors between 2004-08 and was the assistant general manager under Mullin for two seasons.
"He's the ideal guy. He's got the experience now and he's the whole package," Mullin’s said recently to the Denver Post when asked about D’Alessandro. "He's like one of the players that you don't see coming, like (the Pacers') Paul George, a star in the making. He knows his strengths, he empowers people around him. I loved working with him."
While the news in Sacramento conjures up excitement with the Kings’ renewed spirit and finally making significant moves in order to improve what has been an abysmal era — the Kings went 28-54 last season and finished under .500 for seven straight seasons — the Denver Nuggets’ offseason to-do list gets longer and longer by the day.
