Sacramento Kings GM Monte McNair named NBA Executive of the Year

May 3, 2023, 9:16 AM | Updated: 12:52 pm

Kings GM Monte McNair with the Executive of the Year award trophy.

Sacramento Kings Beat Writer

The Sacramento Kings continue to rack up off-season awards.

Kings general manager Monte McNair has been named NBA Basketball Executive of the Year after crafting the roster and coaching staff that ended the franchise’s 16-season postseason drought.

McNair, who also signed a three-year contract extension in January, is the first Sacramento executive to win the award since Geoff Petrie did so in 2000-01.

Sacramento Kings General Manager Monte McNair has been named the 2022-23 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year, the NBA announced today.

Voting results and award history: https://t.co/zRQfKIL8mN pic.twitter.com/2lJY08g6aj

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 3, 2023

Monte McNair has been through a lot since he inherited former GM Vlade Divac’s roster in the fall of 2020.

Not only has McNair drafted well in his three NBA Drafts (Tyrese Haliburton, Davion Mitchell, and Keegan Murray) and made the A+ hire of Coach of the Year winner Mike Brown, but he also executed one of the boldest trades in recent history by trading for two-time All-Star center Domantas Sabonis.

McNair’s offseason moves to bring in sharpshooting guard Kevin Huerter and high-scoring sixth man Malik Monk helped form the top offense in the NBA, as Fox and Sabonis largely benefited from having both players in the starting lineup.

Sacramento finished the season with the third-best record in the Western Conference at 48-34 en route to their first NBA Playoff appearance since 2006.

Thanks to the contributions of McNair, the Kings have franchise talents in De’Aaron Fox and Sabonis, a young core that includes Murray, Mitchell, Huerter, and Monk, and a head coach in Brown that the fanbase has fallen in love with to help lead this franchise into a future that many will hope include multiple playoff appearances–and eventually, contention for an NBA championship.