Pete D’Alessandro and Chris Mullin pushed for the firing of Michael Malone as head coach of the Sacramento Kings in December according to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
D’Alessandro came to the Kings from Denver, where he worked under general manager Masai Ujiri. In his new position, D’Alessandro is expected to work for Josh Kroenke, president of the Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.
The biggest move Alessandro fought for was the firing of coach Michael Malone last December after the team had gone 2-7 without DeMarcus Cousins, a move that sent the team into a tailspin and angered his players. Ranadive said Alessandro and former Kings adviser Chris Mullin insisted firing Malone was best for the team. Among the specific complaints: Malone and D’Alessandro didn’t have a close relationship, the team’s style wasn’t ideal and management didn’t feel players were developing enough.
GM Pete D’Alessandro hadn’t hired Malone, and had never been strong bond between them. Still, ownership’s expectations are unrealistic.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) December 15, 2014
Continuing on @WojYahooNBA Malone firing news, source said Kings mgmt was disappointed with the player development, game plans & adjustments
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) December 15, 2014
Players perceived Malone’s firing as a personal vendetta by D’Alessandro. After the team played uninspired for interim coach Tyrone Corbin, Vivek Ranadive insisted D’Alessandro hire George Karl.
D’Alessandro had told Cousins he didn’t want to hire Karl, who had been fired by Denver in 2013. But when Ranadive insisted on Karl being hired, reports surfaced that talks were stalled because Cousins and his agents did not want Karl as coach. The reports angered Cousins, who was a staunch supporter of Malone, who was fired against Cousins’ wishes.
D’Alessandro and Shareff Abdur-Rahim also had issues, particularly over the selection of Nik Stauskas over Elfrid Payton. Abdur-Rahim did not agree with D’Alessandro’s decision to draft Nik Stauskas last year and expressed his belief guard Elfrid Payton would be a better fit for the Kings. According to sources, Abdur-Rahim’s disagreement angered D’Alessandro, who then later wouldn’t allow Abdur-Rahim to attend NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, even though putting the summer league team together was part of Abdur-Rahim’s responsibilities. I hope we are all starting to see the trend here. Emotions truly reigned supreme in the Sacramento Kings front office.
Following the situations involving Malone and Abdur-Rahim, Ranadive sought a basketball voice who he believed wouldn’t have personal agendas when making decisions. For the time being, it seems the biggest changes Vivek Ranadive needs to make aren’t with the coach’s style, but with his own.
