‘We want competitors.’ Here’s the vision for the Kings from GM Monte McNair’s trades
Kings general manager Monte McNair remade roughly half the team’s roster last week by shipping out four players and bringing in six ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. Doing so has changed the path of the organization, both in the near term and the future, while putting his stamp on the roster in the most significant way since he took over in September of 2020.
“We want competitors, toughness,” McNair said in a news conference Saturday, his first with reporters since making the two trades. “We need to improve our rebounding and defense. And I think all these guys that we’ve brought are not just great players, good talents, all that type of stuff, but guys that are going to fit into that type of culture we’re trying to build here.”
The Kings haven’t been known for having a strong culture, a theme that predates McNair’s tenure. The 15-year playoff drought has been wrought with turmoil, tension, bad roster decisions, controversial coaching changes and front office makeovers. McNair’s mandate — on top of getting the Kings back to the playoffs for the first time since 2006 — is to make Sacramento a desirable small-market destination that brings fans out in droves like the roaring Arco Arena days at the turn of the century.
Whether these latest moves can spur an organizational turnaround is up for debate. The Kings have 24 games following Saturday’s win in Washington to make a push for the play-in tournament, where they’ll have at least a puncher’s chance to break into the playoffs as one of the top eight seeds.
McNair said the process of targeting players began in the summer with conversations with other teams throughout the league. It ramped up in December, when players who signed new contracts last offseason first became eligible to get dealt. Then things began moving more quickly at the start of last week.
“Being disciplined is tough some times,” McNair said. “And we knew we wanted to get this thing back to the playoffs. That’s our stated goal. But we also need to wait for the right opportunity and it’s certainly is nice when the first game (the win over the Timberwolves Wednesday) goes like that. We hope the second and third and subsequent games go just as well.”
The Kings’ haul
The new players brought in: center Domantas Sabonis, swing men Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, Donte DeVincenzo, Trey Lyles and Josh Jackson. Sent elsewhere were guard Tyrese Haliburton, sharp shooter Buddy Hield, reserve big man Tristan Thompson and all-time draft bust Marvin Bagley, the second pick in 2018 infamously selected ahead of stars Luka Doncic and Trey Young.
Last week’s moves give the Kings more depth, passing, defense and versatility, the last of which was a buzz word from McNair on Saturday. For the Kings to improve defensively, where they’re perennially one of the worst teams in the NBA, they needed more athleticism on the wings to play the switchable style that’s become imperative in the modern game.
Kings fans surely won’t be mad about the Bagley experience finally coming to an end. His time in Sacramento was emblematic of the organizational dysfunction from the top down, and somehow McNair was able to get three players in DeVincenzo, Lyles and Jackson who could potentially help with rotation roles in that trade. And by getting rid of Hield, who went with Haliburton and Thompson to the Indiana Pacers, the Kings are out from under his $38 million due over the next two seasons.
Of course, the biggest gamble was trading away Haliburton, arguably the Kings’ best player, who turns 22 later this month, and would have been under team control on his rookie contract through 2025. Haliburton represented the type of homegrown star the Kings have lacked during their long downturn. Though he was clearly their best trade asset given fellow guard De’Aaron Fox signed a max contract worth some $163 million in November of 2020, making him less desirable around the league.
“Ty’s a fantastic player as we all know, certainly a fantastic person as well,” McNair said. “This league is tough, and we know we have to give up talent to get talent. Any move can be viewed as a roll of the dice but our job is to make those decisions that we think put us in the best place to succeed going forward. Bringing in a two-time All-Star who’s 25 (Sabonis), we think will be with us not just for the short term but we hope has a long future here in Sacramento — in addition to other guys who are proven winners in this league. That opportunity was something we couldn’t pass up.”
Kings’ young talent, coaching situation
Keeping Haliburton and trading Fox likely would have meant parting with draft picks to entice other teams to take on Fox’s contract. But the Kings managed to upgrade their roster without dealing away any draft capital, which could be used to restock the roster. McNair, after all, has found a pair of promising players in his two drafts with Haliburton and rookie Davion Mitchell.
But McNair said Saturday he wouldn’t rule out trading draft picks if another targeted player springs available. Sacramento has all its first-round selections through 2029. The Kings received a 2023 pick from the Pacers in the Haliburton-Sabonis trade.
“We’re always trying to just see how we deploy our picks, our flexibility of the future and all those things to add talent. So it’s always a balance for us,” McNair said. “In this case, we were actually about to net out a plus pick in the two trades, with a future second-round pick. Obviously we had to give up some good things to get them, the things that we brought in, but we did it in a way where now we could use our picks and the flexibility this summer to continue to improve the team, and add the talent around the guys that we have. It just so happened that this time there were no picks and we were able to keep them. But if the opportunity presents itself down the line, we’ll be aggressive to go use those when the time comes.”
On the coaching front, McNair was asked to evaluate interim coach Alvin Gentry, who took over after Luke Walton was fired in November. McNair was asked if there’s been any thought about removing the interim tag from Gentry’s title and hiring him full time. McNair mostly sidestepped the question. What he didn’t say — like endorsing Gentry by saying he’ll be in the mix next season — might be the most notable part of his answer.
“He’s been creative in trying to figure out ways to get our team playing better,” Gentry said. “We’ve seen some strides. Now he’s got a test to incorporate six new guys in the fold. Certainly Wednesday night, with half of them in there, on very little practice time, was fun to see. And so, Alvin’s been around the league. He’s seen so many situations, so I have no doubt he’s going to get these guys ready for the next 25 (games).”
McNair on his new players
Here are quick takes from McNair about each player the team added:
- On Sabonis: “Domas, a two-time All-Star, 25, incredible skill set, versatility, passing, rebounding. He can really do it all on the floor. We’re excited to see him continue with us.”
- On Holiday: “An athletic wing. Veteran who’s been around a lot of winning organizations. We’re excited for what he’s going to bring.”
- On Lamb: “Versatile scorer, size, shooting, can play both ends of the floor.”
- On DeVincenzo: “Hard nosed, athletic defender, offensively versatile and a great team player.”
- On Jackson: “Versatile and athletic defender. Can guard multiple positions, get up and down the floor. Trey certainly brings size, shooting, basketball acumen.”
- On Lyles: “Trey brings a very unique skill set with incredible size and shooting touch. As we look to continue to surround — you can never have enough shooting in this league, and shooting and size, together, is certainly coveted. And I think Trey will kind of bring that unique skill set to the team.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2022 at 7:56 AM with the headline "‘We want competitors.’ Here’s the vision for the Kings from GM Monte McNair’s trades."
