The Pete D’Alessandro Era is Over in Sacramento

Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting Pete D’Alesandro, the current General Manager of the Sacramento Kings has taken a “high-ranking front office job with Josh Kroenke in Denver.” D’Alessandro will work for current GM Tim Connelly. Wojnarowksi said ” For Nuggets GM Tim Connelly, a huge proponent of the addition, D’Alesandro will be another experienced pro to help on building of team.”

For Sacramento Kings fans, the departure of D’Alessandro is not a shocking one. He has seemingly never really had the power most NBA General Managers get. Owner Vivek Ranadive had the final say in all decisions, including the drafting of

. Ranadive utilized

initially and then shifted focus to

as his go to guys for all basketball related decisions. Divac assumed a new role with the Kings as

Vice President of Basketball and Buisness Operations

. Marc Stein reported that Divac was the

“Lead basketball decision-maker in Sacramento”

This move put the former GM in tough spot, where he was not only answering to Ranadive, but also had to acquiesce to Divac.

For D’Alessandro, the move makes a ton of sense, as it is a home-coming of sorts. Before joining the Sacramento Kings, D’Alessandro was with the Nuggets from 2010 to 2013. Before leaving for the Nuggets position, D’Alessandro was linked to St. Johns University, mentioned by Wojnarowski. He would have been hired as their Athletic Director. As an alumnus of St Johns University, the move would have made sense and he could have reunited with friend and former colleague Chris Mullin.

Now the question becomes, what do the Kings do going forward? The idea of bringing in a big name General Manager is not something anyone should expect to happen. The Kings front office is a hot mess right now and anyone with a halfway decent resume is going to avoid Sacramento like the plague. Vlade Divac is a logical candidate and one that has much of the Basketball decision-making power at the moment. For me, Divac is not the answer. The former NBA player who is nostalgic for their version of the NBA is something that seemingly never works. Divac is a great person to have in the front office, especially with his knowledge of European basketball, but someone with more front office experience should be the choice. I suppose if Divac has the final say in basketball decisions he could be named the GM and the Kings could hire someone to help with the business side of the position.

George Karl is an option that could have legs, but it is likely too much work for one person to have. Each position is a full-time job and trying to do both is a seemingly impossible task. Having a separate General Manager and Head Coach helps create a system of checks and balances, avoiding one person having too much control. The good thing about Karl assuming GM duties, is he could acquire players that fit his system. It would seemingly keep the decision makers in their current potions as well, with Ranadive then Divac having final say in the process.

The Kings should look to hire someone with front office experience that has a strong view on the way the NBA is headed. Randive and the rest of the front office will need to actually let the new General Manager, whoever it happens to be actually have the power to make decisions. This shake up could also see the Kings continue to overhaul the roster. I’m curious to see how the players react to this situation, specifically franchise center piece, DeMarcus Cousins.