Four weeks after the Sacramento Kings and Vlade Divac parted ways on Aug. 14, the search for the organization's next president of basketball operations is officially underway.
According to The Athletic, the Kings have placed formal requests to interview six candidates for the open position. The candidates are:
- Minnesota Timberwolves executive vice president Sachin Gupta
- Miami Heat assistant GM Adam Simon
- Denver Nuggets GM Calvin Booth
- New Orleans Pelicans GM Trajan Langdon
- Houston Rockets assistant GM Monte McNair
- Former Atlanta Hawks GM Wes Wilcox
The Kings are slated to begin interviews next week.
Since Divac stepped down from his position with the Kings, special advisor Joe Dumas has been serving as interim executive VP of basketball operations. Dumars was president of basketball operations of the Detroit Pistons from 2000-2014.
Divac was hired by Sacramento in March of 2013 as VP of basketball operations and franchise operations. He was named GM in August 2015. Divac's tenure was marked by the trade that sent DeMarcus Cousins to New Orleans in 2017 and the regrettable decision to draft Marvin Bagley III with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 draft — one spot ahead of Luka Doncic.
Whomever gets the Kings gig will aim to break the franchise's streak of 14 consecutive seasons without a playoff berth. Sacramento hasn't hosted a postseason game since owner and chairman Vivek Ranadive purchased the team in 2013.
The next president will also have to assess whether to retain head coach Luke Walton or hire their own coach. Walton led Sacramento to a 31-41 record in his first season. In 2018-19, the Kings went 39-43 under Dave Joerger, whom Divac fired after the season.
The Kings were invited to the NBA bubble at Disney World, but they struggled during the seeding games and fell short of the playoffs.
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