Former Kings GM Monte McNair Reportedly Joins Clippers Front Office amid Durant Rumors
The Los Angeles Clippers reportedly are adding a former NBA Executive of the Year to their staff.
Per ESPN's Shams Charania, former Sacramento Kings general manager Monte McNair is joining Los Angeles as an advisor. McNair won NBA Executive of the Year in 2022-23 while with Sacramento.
McNair began his front office career with the Houston Rockets as a basketball operations senior analyst in 2007. He held various positions with the Rockets, including assistant general manager. After more than a decade with Houston, the Kings hired McNair as general manager in 2020.
Under McNair, the Kings snapped a 16-year playoff drought, reaching the first round in 2023 and taking the defending champion Golden State Warriors to seven games. While Sacramento missed the postseason the last two seasons, it won 40 or more games in three consecutive years for the first time in nearly two decades.
The Kings, who fired head coach Mike Brown halfway through the season, decided to make a front office change at the end of the season, firing McNair soon after the team's play-in tournament loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
McNair joins the Clippers front office at a pivotal time as the team looks to make a move that can take them from playoff contender to Finals contender. The first order of business, though, will be retaining James Harden, who has a contract option following an outstanding year.
Per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Harden "is trending towards declining" his option, though both sides "are interested in continuing their partnership," perhaps by lining his new contract up with Kawhi Leonard's.
Considering McNair spent several years with Harden in Houston, his addition to the staff could potentially help ensure the star is back in Los Angeles next season.
With the duo of Harden and Leonard potentially set up for a few more seasons, the team reportedly might go for a home run in the trade market. Per ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst, the Clippers are a "team to monitor" regarding Kevin Durant, who appears on his way out of Phoenix this offseason.
With Los Angeles already in a place to compete in the West, the addition of Durant could mold the Clippers into a Finals frontrunner next season.
