Kings general manager Monte McNair provided a glimpse into his mindset and maybe some clues to the future during a Zoom session with reporters Monday after making his first moves to retool the team's roster.
McNair explained his thinking on several big decisions, including the departure of Bogdan Bogdanovic, De'Aaron Fox's contract extension and the selection of rookie first-round draft pick Tyrese Haliburton. Those decisions garnered the most attention, but McNair also made a series of smaller moves, quietly creating over $40 million in future flexibility and positioning his team to be a big potential player on the trade market.
The decision to let Bogdanovic go was a difficult one for the first-year general manager. McNair thought he had an equitable sign-and-trade agreement with the Milwaukee Bucks, but when that deal unraveled he found himself staring at a four-year, $72 million offer sheet from the Atlanta Hawks. After two days of deliberations, McNair chose not to match the offer, staying steadfast in his resolve to achieve maximum flexibility.
"We really spent a lot of time analyzing it from all angles," McNair said. "Bogdan is obviously a very good player in this league and was a big part of the success the Kings had, especially towards the end of last season. Ultimately, we came back to the fact that we're trying to maintain as much flexibility as we can, and we thought going forward the ability to maintain that would allow us to add talent and capitalize as big opportunities came up down the road."
