McNair On Kings Job: “It’s A Dream Come True.”
Sep 23, 2020, 6:27 PM | Updated: 6:29 pm
The recently hired GM of the Sacramento Kings joined Jason and Doug on the air to discuss his new role
Wednesday afternoon on The Jason Ross and Doug Christie Show, newly-hired Sacramento Kings general manager Monte McNair joined the guys on the air to talk about his new job, the state of the team and more.
“It’s a dream come true,” McNair said. “Back here in my home state, and the opportunity to run an organization like the Kings is amazing.”
McNair, who worked with the Houston Rockets for the last 13 seasons, made it clear to Jason and Doug that accepting the job was an easy decision.
“I think that there is a lot of positives about this role. Number one, there is. a lot of talent on this roster,” McNair said. “I think that De’Aaron (Fox) is one of the great, young players in this league. Going through the interview process with Vivek (Ranadive) and his team was really just exciting, their commitment to winning, how they want to innovate, be aggressive; it really lined up with how I view it. I think it was a perfect match.”
During Wednesday morning’s introductory press conference, McNair stated that current head coach Luke Walton will retain his position for the 2020-21 season.
On how he envisions this team next season, the 36 year-old’s answer was pretty simple: Fast.
“The word that I’ve used that kind of ties everything together is ‘aggressive’. We’re going to be aggressive, pushing the pace. I talked with Luke (Walton) and he’s in alignment on that, especially with a guy like De’Aaron, we have got to utilize his speed, so up and down, I think we have to be aggressive,” he said. “Not just shooting three’s, but using that space to attack the rim. I think being aggressive is the key threat through it all.”
Kings lead-assistant Igor Kokoškov will be departing the team this offseason after accepting a position with Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Basketball Super League and the EuroLeague.
When asked if Sacramento could look to bring in a new lead-assistant coach, McNair stated that the team would look and evaluate its options for a replacement.
“We’re working through it. We’re working with Luke and I think we’ll find somebody, whether if they’re on staff or from the outside that will be a good compliment to Luke and the rest of his staff. I’m confident that we’ll find somebody good.”
Listen to the entire interview by clicking the ‘play’ button on the audio file located at the top of the post.
You can find today’s entire episode of The Jason Ross and Doug Christie Show here.
