(Photo by Fox Sports.com)
It has happened. Yep, it has finally happened. Early Friday, while looking through my Facebook page, there it was. (Vlade Divac has stepped down as GM of the Sacramento Kings). Maybe my reaction on my page was over the top. In fact, here it is.
After a day of thinking, I actually feel bad since he is a Sacramento King legend and was put in a situation where he was clearly, way in over his head. As of Saturday, his assistant, Peja Stojakovic, also fell on the sword. Peja is also a Kings legend and also was in a position he was not qualified for. The problem is that Vlade thought he was qualified for the job and at times when questioned about certain moves, he would double-down and try to clarify that he knew what he was doing. Take the DeMarcus Cousins trade. He had a better trade offer with the Suns (thank god, that didn't happen), but decided on an offer with less value involving the New Orleans Pelicans and Buddy Hield. He told the media after the trade that if it didn't help the team, he would leave his post in two years. He lasted three. Buddy Hield has been a significant part of the Kings' surge to a playoff push. DeMarcus Cousins has seen a dramatic fall since the trade. (By the way, read my blog about that on our website and the Wix app).
Here's what makes this story upsetting. Vlade Divac has experience in player assessment with a few years as a scout with the Lakers and served as an assistant GM under Pete D'Alessandro. This is where everything gets weird. In 2014, D'Alessandro suddenly quit as GM and went to the Denver Nuggets. It seemed as if the organization panicked and chose Divac. I also like to point out that Vivek Ranadive was starting out as the principal owner of the team. Vivek has been known as being meddling with basketball operations, which probably led to D'Alessandro's departure. There were reports that Divac had to tell Vivek to let him do his job. Divac also had an up-and-down relationship with former head coach Dave Joerger. In a way, you feel sympathy towards him due to the fact he had an owner who wanted to interfere in his progress........allegedly. However, that doesn't explain drafting Nik Stauskas, Willie Cauley-Stein, and trading for Georgios Papagiannis in consecutive drafts. The signing of Kosta Koufos to a long-term deal and giving an already regressing Harrison Barnes to a $20+ million per year extension has put him in the fan's s--tlist. Many people have already criticized him for drafting Marvin Bagley III over Luka Doncic with insider reports claiming that Divac doesn't like Doncic's father. I will give him a pass. Despite Doncic becoming one of the most dominating young players in the NBA, Bagley III can be a top talent, if he is healthy.
The "Bubble" seemingly was the last straw. The team looked flat, lacked focus and undisciplined. When an organization has several players test positive for COVID-19 and one deciding to order food outside of the "Bubble" tells you that maybe changes need to be made. Three players that stood out during this were De'Aaron Fox, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Harry Giles III. All three players were acquisitions made by Vlade Divac. Fox has become the face of the team, Bogdanovic has been a joy to watch with his clutch play and Giles III has shown promise. I should give head coach Luke Walton a little bit of time. The team started to play well right before the shutdown. This restart didn't do him any favors.
So, Joe Dumars is now set to lead the Kings....for now. Remember, Dumars was the architect of the Pistons' championship team in 2004. He also was the architect of their collapse after that title win. Sacramento has the hope that the successful Dumars helps them.
After all this, I really like Vlade Divac. Despite yours truly constantly criticizing him, Vlade was a great player during his time in the NBA. He was a fan favorite everywhere he went. He has become an ambassador to his home country of Serbia and has done charitable work in Africa. Last year, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and rightfully so. Again, Vlade Divac gets a thumbs up from me.
Unfortunately, there are times when you want everything to be successful, it just comes up short.
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