Why Monte McNair believes Kings’ young roster is a ‘luxury’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Kings president of basketball operations Monte McNair is confident his team is in an advantageous position to build on last season’s success.
During an exclusive interview with NBC Sports California’s Morgan Ragan, McNair detailed how having a young core as a foundation to build off has been a luxury for him and the rest of the Kings’ front office.
“I think for us, we had the luxury of having a young team that has some success that we could let grow together,” McNair told Ragan. “At the same time, we brought in some pretty intriguing new faces, so new blood is always good as well. For us, I think we’ll look at ways to continue to improve the team as we always do.”
The headline addition of the Kings offseason was bringing reigning EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov, a little over a year after Sacramento traded for his draft rights in exchange for the No. 49 overall selection in the 2022 NBA Draft.
McNair detailed why Vezenkov’s pedigree in the EuroLeague gave him the confidence to roll the dice on trading for his rights. And while unexpected, he was not surprised by the MVP season he put together last season for Olympiacos.
“When we traded for him [Vezenkov] he was First Team All-EuroLeague, which is very impressive,” McNair said. “It means you’re a top-five player in probably the second-best league in the world. But credit to Colin Montague, our head of analytics, who initially kind of put Sasha on our radar. And then our scouts, our international scouts and domestic scouts who went over to see him.
“And then this year, to see him blow up, become the MVP.” McNair told Ragan. “Maybe not expected but certainly not a surprise for us. The ability to bring him now to join this Kings team, his shooting, his basketball IQ, his size, how hard he plays. All those things align with how Mike [Brown] coaches and the rest of our team plays. I think he is going to fit in seamlessly, and we’re excited to see him join this group.”
McNair also touched on last year’s playoff experience being an invaluable asset to build off of moving forward.
“Our starting unit was fantastic last year,” McNair said. “And I think we had five or six guys make their playoff debut, you know really validate themselves well despite the Game 7 outcome. So the opportunity to bring that core back [and] add a couple of intriguing faces I think is very exciting for us.”
Among the new faces joining Vezenkov in Sacramento this season are Chris Duarte, JaVale McGee, and Jaylen Nowell.
Duarte was a lottery pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and will look to rediscover the form his rookie season form that saw him average 13.1 points per game while shooting 37 percent from beyond the arc.
McGee is a 15-year NBA veteran and three-time NBA champion who brings an abundance of postseason experience with 74 career playoff appearances under his belt.
The hope is that these veteran additions are the pieces that propel the Kings to the next level as the franchise aims to reach the postseason in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2006.
