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Sacramento Kings: A Likely Exit for Pete D’Alessandro

By John von Volkli

Feb 17, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings general manager Pete D Alessandro during the press conference to formally announce George Karl as new head coach of the Sacramento Kings at the Kings Practice Facility Court. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 17, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings general manager Pete D Alessandro during the press conference to formally announce George Karl as new head coach of the Sacramento Kings at the Kings Practice Facility Court. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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Examine, for a moment, the cruelty of professional life in the modern world. Employment is quickly becoming a less stable long-term prospect for people in any industry, given the rise of technological solutions and streamlining.

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Employment in sports is not freed from this, as organizations rely more and more heavily on data to inform their evaluations of whether or not objectives and outcomes are being met. Employment in the Sacramento Kings’ organization … ? It is, more and more, appearing to be a fleeting experience.

The turnover which has defined the 2014-15 Kings season has seen the removal of head coach Michael Malone (on Dec. 15) and his replacement, Tyrone Corbin (who moved back to the role of assistant coach with the hiring of George Karl on Feb. 12).

Having two mid-season changes in the head coach position would be enough to discourage (or at least disorient) most of the league’s players, but the additional front office moves have added a sense of wholesale instability.

This year saw the late March departure of senior advisor Chris Mullin (who left to become a head coach at his alma mater, St. John’s) and the subsequent hiring and rapid power consolidation of former Kings All-Star Vlade Divac, who has been the team’s vice president of basketball and franchise operations since March 3.

Sep 26, 2014; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings general manager Pete D’Alessandro during media day at the Sacramento Kings practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 26, 2014; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings general manager Pete D’Alessandro during media day at the Sacramento Kings practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

Now, it appears the other shoe will drop, with largely sidelined general manager Pete D’Alessandro rumored to be leaving in favor of the athletic director position at (you get three guesses … ) St. John’s.

D’Alessandro was also a St. John’s student some 30 years ago, and he and Mullin seemed to be operating very much in tandem through the last year, pushing for Malone’s firing. Ranadive ended up bearing the brunt of the decision, and his reaction was to have a strong ally positioned above the organization’s general manager.

In came Divac, whose lofty job title immediately imbued him with a supremacy both symbolic and measurable.

He came into the fore as the last real Kings icon, and his re-emergence signaled an even clearer sea change than Mullin’s departure (brought on largely by resistance to the hiring of George Karl). Even in his softer and grayer state, the big man looms large over Kings history, past and present.

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    • D’Alessandro bolted neither after Mullin’s exit nor after Divac’s arrival, but reports have created an air of inevitability surrounding his removal from the Kings’ high court.

    While D’Alessandro still makes appearances on behalf of the team, as he did at the BDA Pro Bowl on May 21, Divac has become the face of the organization, speaking before media often and representing the Kings at the NBA Draft Lottery on May 19.

    In an excellent piece with Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee, team principal owner Vivek Ranadive candidly discussed Vlade Divac’s strengths — he is a master of the kind of politicking which NBA team-building requires, and an approachability which can endear him to both high-level league actors, his connections overseas, and to common fans and observers alike.

    In the end, D’Alessandro may well be better off in joining his longtime professional partner in Queens, N.Y. The shared NBA history of Mullin and D’Alessandro dates back to 2004, when D’Alessandro became director of basketball operations at Golden State while Mullin served as executive vice president of basketball operations.

    Their St. John’s reunion seems something more fulfilling and forgiving than the turnstile maze that defines NBA operations. Here’s hoping the Sacramento group of Divac, Karl, and Ranadive can build such a bond, and with it, a competitive team.

    Next: The Greatest Player In Every Franchise's History

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