Sacramento Kings
2020–present: The Monte McNair and Mike Brown era
#### 2020–present: The Monte McNair and Mike Brown era

On August 14, 2020, the Sacramento Kings announced that general manager [Vlade Divac](/wiki/Vlade_Divac "Vlade Divac") would resign from his position. [Joe Dumars](/wiki/Joe_Dumars "Joe Dumars"), a former player and executive for the [Detroit Pistons](/wiki/Detroit_Pistons "Detroit Pistons"), would be named interim Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations; Dumars had joined the Kings as a special advisor in June of the previous year.

Following a month\-long search, the Sacramento Kings announced on September 17, 2020, that [Houston Rockets](/wiki/Houston_Rockets "Houston Rockets") executive [Monte McNair](/wiki/Monte_McNair "Monte McNair") would be hired as the franchise's new general manager. With the Rockets, McNair spent thirteen years working under [Daryl Morey](/wiki/Daryl_Morey "Daryl Morey"), serving in various roles; he was most recently named assistant general manager in 2018\. Following this hire, interim executive Joe Dumars was named as the chief strategy officer of the organization. Other candidates for the position included [Minnesota Timberwolves](/wiki/Minnesota_Timberwolves "Minnesota Timberwolves") executive vice president Sachin Gupta, [Denver Nuggets](/wiki/Denver_Nuggets "Denver Nuggets") general manager [Calvin Booth](/wiki/Calvin_Booth "Calvin Booth"), and former [Atlanta Hawks](/wiki/Atlanta_Hawks "Atlanta Hawks") general manager Wes Wilcox. McNair announced three additional hires on October 14, 2020; these included the aforementioned Wes Wilcox who became an assistant GM, former [Philadelphia 76ers](/wiki/Philadelphia_76ers "Philadelphia 76ers") scouting director Phil Jabour as vice president of player personnel, and [Oklahoma City Blue](/wiki/Oklahoma_City_Blue "Oklahoma City Blue") executive Paul Johnson as director of basketball operations.

In July 2021, Dyal Capital, a unit of [Blue Owl Capital](/wiki/Blue_Owl_Capital "Blue Owl Capital"), began to solidify a deal investing in the basketball team, giving the investment firm a 5 percent stake in the team with a valuation of $1\.5 billion, though another person familiar with the matter placed the valuation closer to $1\.8 billion.

In the [2021 NBA draft](/wiki/2021_NBA_draft "2021 NBA draft"), in order to improve their defense the Kings selected [Davion Mitchell](/wiki/Davion_Mitchell "Davion Mitchell") from [Baylor University](/wiki/Baylor_University "Baylor University") with the ninth pick.

On November 22, 2021, head coach [Luke Walton](/wiki/Luke_Walton "Luke Walton") was fired after a mediocre 6–11 start; he was then replaced by [Alvin Gentry](/wiki/Alvin_Gentry "Alvin Gentry") on an interim basis. For the 16th season in a row, the Sacramento Kings failed to reach the [Playoffs](/wiki/2022_NBA_playoffs "2022 NBA playoffs"), and thus passing the [Los Angeles Clippers](/wiki/Los_Angeles_Clippers "Los Angeles Clippers") for the [longest playoff drought in NBA history](/wiki/List_of_NBA_franchise_post-season_droughts "List of NBA franchise post-season droughts"), the Kings also made a blockbuster trade at the trade deadline with the [Indiana Pacers](/wiki/Indiana_Pacers "Indiana Pacers") sending [Tyrese Haliburton](/wiki/Tyrese_Haliburton "Tyrese Haliburton") for [Domantas Sabonis](/wiki/Domantas_Sabonis "Domantas Sabonis"). Following the season, the Kings' fired [Gentry](/wiki/Alvin_Gentry "Alvin Gentry") as head coach.

On May 9, 2022, [Golden State Warriors](/wiki/Golden_State_Warriors "Golden State Warriors") associate head coach [Mike Brown](/wiki/Mike_Brown_%28basketball%2C_born_1970%29 "Mike Brown (basketball, born 1970)") was announced as the next head coach of the Kings. His tenure with the team began after the Warriors finished their [2021–22 season](/wiki/2021%E2%80%9322_Golden_State_Warriors_season "2021–22 Golden State Warriors season") where they won the [2022 NBA championship](/wiki/2022_NBA_Finals "2022 NBA Finals"). During the 2022–23 season, the Kings began lighting a large, purple beam into the night sky after every game won, inspiring chants of "[Light the Beam](/wiki/Light_the_Beam "Light the Beam")" from the crowd at the end of victories at home.

On February 24, 2023, the Kings beat the host [Los Angeles Clippers](/wiki/Los_Angeles_Clippers "Los Angeles Clippers") in double\-overtime by the final score of 176–175\. It was the second\-highest scoring game in NBA history behind a December 13, 1983, affair in which the [Detroit Pistons](/wiki/Detroit_Pistons "Detroit Pistons") beat the [Denver Nuggets](/wiki/Denver_Nuggets "Denver Nuggets") 186–184 in triple\-overtime. The game featured 44 combined three\-pointers made, tied for the most in a game in NBA history and both teams shot over 58 percent from the field and over 80 percent free throws. It was also the first time in Kings franchise history in which two players scored at least 40 points in a game ([Malik Monk](/wiki/Malik_Monk "Malik Monk") scored a career\-high 45, De'Aaron Fox had 42\). On March 29, the Kings beat the [Portland Trail Blazers](/wiki/Portland_Trail_Blazers "Portland Trail Blazers") 120–80 to clinch a playoff spot breaking a 16\-year playoff drought, which at the time was the longest active playoff drought in the four major North American sports. In the playoffs, they were defeated by the Golden State Warriors in seven games.

The next season, despite both Fox and Sabonis failing to return to the All\-Star Team (though Sabonis was later named All\-NBA Third Team), the Kings finished 46\-36\. However, they finished only 9th in that year's strong Western Conference. The Kings made the play\-in tournament for the year, beating the Warriors in their first game but later losing to the New Orleans Pelicans. 

In the offseason, the team acquired 6\-time All\-Star [Demar DeRozan](/wiki/DeMar_DeRozan "DeMar DeRozan") in a sign\-and\-trade deal.


Who replaced Luke Walton as head coach on an interim basis?