Tag: Monte McNair

Daryl Morey: There are deals with the Kings that I think would work

There has been a lot of talks recently about Simmons and the Kings, specifically when it comes to De’Aaron Fox, but there is no guarantee that a deal gets done despite Morey’s connection with Kings GM Monte McNair. Morey on that situation: I can tell you that for sure, there are deals with the Sacramento Kings that I think would work. Will those deals ever happen? I have no idea. Are there just trade deals with the Kings? Probably not. Is it multiple teams? Probably, but for sure there are deals that are possible that would go over our line.

Monte McNair: ‘We’re all behind De’Aaron Fox’

Monte McNair: We’re all behind De’Aaron. He’s already had a couple great games recently. And you know, he’s still getting to his spots. He’s getting his shot profile, (and) all that stuff is largely what it was last year and they just haven’t found the bottom of that net as much this year. And you know, I don’t think we have any doubt that it’s going to get back there. We’ve seen him, Tyrese and Davion playing all combinations, all three together, all combinations of two of them together. Obviously, there’s a bit of a learning curve for new guys coming in, as well as a rookie like Davion coming into the league. But we’ve seen a lot of positive signs with all of those combinations. And all three of those guys are great players. They’re going to continue to figure it out. We have really no worries there and (they’re) really great complements to each other on the court and off. Their personalities as well as their games complement each other very well.

Monte McNair: The thing that I don’t …

Monte McNair: The thing that I don’t know if people really appreciate about Buddy is how much he wants to win, how hard he works and how he plays every single night, almost regardless of (what’s happening). I mean, there was a game last year (where) he was like limping off the court and I guess he just tied a shoe tight and went right back out because he didn’t even go to the back. And then, of course (there’s) his shooting, right? …I’ll put them up there. There’s one other guy in the league who’s a pretty good shooter (clearly referencing Steph Curry). But Buddy is right there as one of the top two shooters in the league. His job is to let it fly, and he’s doing it.

Fast forward three years, and this …

Fast forward three years, and this situation remains as uncomfortable as ever. And that was before Bagley III’s agent, Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports, fired off that tweet calling the Kings’ handling of him “a case study in mismanagement” the day before their regular-season opener. Bagley, who is looking for a fresh start as he heads into restricted free agency next summer, has played in just one game for a total of 10 minutes so far this season. Monte McNair: Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, obviously, Luke — Luke decides on playing time and his directive is to put the guys out there on the floor that night that he thinks is gonna do (the job). We’re gonna need all our guys at some point this year. Obviously, we talked about Davion and, you know, we’ve become a little more guard-heavy and that’s pushed some other guys down the roster, right? (That) has had some impact.

Monte McNair on Luke Walton: There’s a …

Monte McNair on Luke Walton: There’s a lot that goes into being a coach these days. And yeah, we felt like we had a lot of positive signs last year. Obviously, we didn’t get where we wanted to go, so we worked on adding depth and defense and Luke acknowledged that we need to be better, certainly on that end of the floor. And we’ve seen some good early returns this year. And so, you know, it’s just staying in that constant communication and hopefully seeing the results on the floor like we’ve seen this early going. You know, we all are trying to — like you said — row the boat in that direction. We’ve all got to get to the playoffs and finally reap that reward.

Report: Kings hiring assistant Rockets GM Monte McNair

After losing Gersson Rosas to Minnesota in 2019, Daryl Morey is losing another top front office executive in 2020.

The Sacramento Kings are set to hire Houston Rockets assistant GM Monte McNair as their new head of basketball operations, as first by Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic.

The Sacramento position is clearly a promotion for McNair, since it’s the lead decision-making role within basketball operations. In Houston, that position has belonged to GM Daryl Morey for more than 13 years.

As a longtime member of Morey’s staff, McNair originally joined the Rockets as an analyst in 2007. From there, he became director of basketball operations in 2013; vice president of basketball operations in 2015; and finally, assistant GM in 2018.

“Monte has been absolutely critical to the success of the Rockets over his long tenure,” Morey said of McNair in October 2018. “His unique combination of analytical skills and ability to work with our coaching staff was a key driver in our record-breaking season [in 2017-18].”

In that 2018 press release, here’s how the Rockets described his role:

In addition to managing the analytic efforts of the Rockets basketball operations department, McNair is involved with all avenues of player evaluation, including trade, free agency, and the draft. Over the past four seasons, McNair has worked closely with the coaching staff to provide on-court strategy and analysis along with opponent preparation.

A native of Oak Park, California, outside of Los Angeles, McNair played football at Princeton University, where he majored in computer science.  Prior to joining the Rockets, McNair worked as a researcher at STATS LLC.

With the NBA’s longest streak of consecutive playoff appearances (eight years), other franchises are naturally hoping to emulate Houston’s success. In May 2019, Minnesota hired longtime Rockets executive Gersson Rosas as its president of basketball operations. A year earlier, Philadelphia tried to lure Morey away, though he opted to stay put.

The pre-existing relationship between Rosas and Morey may have helped pave the way for the four-team Robert Covington trade, which was organized by the Timberwolves and Rockets earlier this year. Perhaps McNair’s time with Morey could make the Kings a future trade partner.

It remains to be seen whether Morey will replace McNair’s position by promoting from within, or if he looks to make an external hire. Morey is already conducting a coaching search to replace Mike D’Antoni, so the assistant GM position might be tabled until later in the offseason.

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