Sacramento Kings: Vlade Divac stepping down as general manager

Sacramento Kings’ general manager Vlade Divac as reportedly stepped down from his position.

Vlade Divac has served as the general manager of the Sacramento Kings for the better part of the last five years. But it appears as though his time with the organization is coming to an end.

Sam Amick of The Athletic reported on Friday that Divac is stepping down from his position as general manager and that the Kings will begin their search for a new GM immediately.

In the meantime, former Detroit Pistons guard Joe Dumars, who was serving as a special advisor under Divac, will step in as the interim executive vice president of basketball operations and will assume day-to-day operations as general manager.

However, it doesn’t seem as though the Kings are going to settle for Dumars as Amick’s tweet states that Dumars will “be involved in the search for a new GM” implying that he is not the expected candidate to replace Divac.

Amick also reports that head coach Luke Walton‘s job is safe despite the fact that the two were on the same contractual timeline and that Walton was Divac’s hand-picked choice.

Vlade Divac’s time with the Sacramento Kings is marred by mistakes and blunders.

Divac became the Kings’ general manager in 2015 as the former NBA center was brought in during a period of chaos for the organization. And while there have been slight improvements over Divac’s tenure, multiple missteps have tarnished his legacy.

Perhaps none greater than his decision to controversially select Duke big man Marvin Bagley over European star Luka Doncic in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Doncic has infamously gone on to become one of the best players in the NBA in just his second NBA season. Bagley, on the other hand, has struggled to stay on the court while battling numerous different injuries.

The selection was certainly criticized at the time and looks even worse with the benefit of hindsight.

Moreover, numerous mistakes in free agency have left Sacramento with holes on their roster that Divac failed to fill. Just this past offseason, the Kings signed center Dewayne Dedmon to a three-year, $40 million contract.

The expectation was that Dedmon would fill the team’s hole at center following the departure of Willie Cauley-Stein. Unfortunately, Dedmon failed to even crack the rotation and was promptly traded midseason.

Divac’s long list of blunders has led us to this moment. And for many Kings fans, this certainly feels long overdue.

Here’s to hoping that this is a step in the right direction for a Kings franchise that is starved for any semblance of optimism.

But what else is new?