One day after the Sacramento Kings ended their season for the 14th consecutive year without advancing to the playoffs, Vlade Divac decided to retire, according to a report by Sam Amick of The Athletic.
Kings GM Vlade Divac has been fired, a source said @TheAthleticNBA. Joe Dumars (former advisor) will be interim executive VP of basketball and will immediately take on GM duties. Dumars will be involved in the search for a new GM.
– Sam Amick (@sam_amick) August 14, 2020
The Kings confirmed his departure in a team statement.
“It was a difficult decision, but we believe it’s the best way forward as we work to build a winning team that deserves our loyal fans,” said Kings owner and chairman Vivek Ranadivé. “We are grateful for Vlade’s leadership, commitment and hard work both on and off the court. He will always be a part of our Kings family. ”
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as General Manager for the Kings,” said Vlade Divac. “I want to thank Vivek for the opportunity and acknowledge all the incredible colleagues with whom I really enjoyed working during my term. Sacramento and the Kings will always hold a special place in my heart and I wish them all the best for the future. ”
Divac had been part of the Kings front office since 2015 and was the vice president of the basketball action team and general manager. Joe Dumars, who was introduced as a consultant in 2019 and reportedly gained “increased influence” within the organization and with chairman Vivek Ranadive, will fill both roles of Divac in the interim.
The Kings signed Divac to a four-year extension in April 2019 to bring him in line with their new head coach Luke Walton, who also got a four-year deal after he was hired to replace Dave Joerger. The theory was that Walton could not be on the hot seat, despite the team regressing from the 2018-19 campaign, so long as Divac was in the lead. Even with Divac gone, however, the Kings announced that they will not be making any personal moves until they have a new GM.
Divac made several blunders as the leading man in Sacramento’s front office, but perhaps no one was as disastrous as Marvin Bagley with the second pick in the 2018 NBA Draft ahead of Luka Doncic, who already received MVP votes in just his second season. There was no going back from that decision, and it turned out that Divac saw the writing on the wall and stepped down.
Funny enough, this is the second straight season that Walton has seen his head of basketball action unexpectedly retire within a day of the regular season. In both cases, it was a former star who could not achieve the same success in the front office that he did as a player.
The Kings have a lot of work to do to get into the playoff race in the Western Conference. Finding a new general manager will be the hardest part of those decisions.
