Scott Perry is focused on “establishing an identity” in Sacramento

“Any successful pro sports organization, or any company for that matter, has to have an identity,” new Sacramento Kings general manager Scott Perry said at his introductory press conference Monday morning. “And that’s one thing that I don’t see here yet, but that’s what I’m all about.”

Perry is the organization’s fourth general manager since owner Vivek Ranadive became the majority owner of the Kings in 2013.

Since then, Sacramento has made the playoffs once (2022-23). Unfortunately, they do have a culture and identity, just an unwanted one of instability, rooted in constant turnovers within the front office and coaching staff — Doug Christie is the eighth head coach in Ranadive’s tenure.

Having previously spent three months with the Kings, albeit not as the general manager, Perry has a pre-built relationship with Ranadive.

“We have a shared vision, and that shared vision and mandate is to build a platform that’s going to offer sustainable success and winning for this organization that this community richly deserves,” Perry said.

“To be successful you have to have that consistency and stability. People that know me, and know me well and know my experience, know that I’m all about stability…. I’m extremely confident in my abilities. But the people that we’re going to have around us helping us, we’re all are going to be rowing the same direction in the boat. We can’t have silos, we can’t have individual agendas like I said. It’s all about the collective.”

That goal sounds similar to former head coach Mike Brown’s introduction when he emphasized the importance of having “vertical and horizontal alignment.” But that could not have been further from the reality that played out under Brown and Monte McNair.

McNair came into a situation where he did not get to select his head coach. Luke Walton, whom Vlade Divac hired, was already in place. Similar questions exist as Perry claims the top seat.

Many around the league and Sacramento itself believe that Christie has already been reassured that he will be the head coach moving forward.

It begs the question of whether Perry will have full autonomy to construct a team and staff, including coaching and front office personnel, that fits his vision.

“I’ve worked with Vivek before and I enjoy a very healthy and positive relationship with him,” the newly announced general manager said. “But, make no mistake, he has empowered me to lead this team and make critical decisions. Now, will I talk to him often about different things with this team? Absolutely. It makes sense.”

“There’s a saying that will be prevalent throughout my tenure here and within my office. I want diversity of thought, but with unity of purpose and that’s what we’re going to be led by. That starts with my relationship with Vivek.”

Assuming that is the case, one of Perry’s first orders of business will be securing a head coach. Having been in the league for over two decades, he grew familiar with Christie when he played for the Toronto Raptors and watched his coaching tenure this season “from afar.”

Perry highlighted Christie’s on-court presence, stating that the interim head coach has “made a connection with the players.”

“(Christie and I) have had a few conversations up to this point,” the GM said. “He was one of the first people I met with yesterday when I got into town.”

“My phone has incessantly rung for interest in this [head coaching] job. So, I want to have a few more conversations in and around about this job, and hopefully I can come to some sort of resolution within the next week or so in terms of having a decision or an announcement to inform everybody.”

Of course, that also extends to his front office staff. Phil Jabour, Paul Johnson, and Alvin Gentry, previous executives under McNair’s staff, were present at Monday’s presser.

Given the quick turnaround of Perry’s hiring, he expressed a plan to meet with all remaining members and “see who really fits us moving forward, who may have concerns with us moving forward,” calling it “the respectful thing to do.”

Often referencing his slew of league-wide connections, Perry assured the fanbase that “any additions will be high-level, capable people with character. Character is very important to me.”

But results are King — no pun intended — and the players are probably the most essential aspect of the equation. Given their complicated 2024-25 season in which franchise point guard De’Aaron Fox was re-routed to the Spurs in a deal that landed Zach LaVine in Sacramento, there’s clear work needed.

Consecutive play-in exits doesn’t align with the “sustainable winner” that Perry and Ranadive are striving to build.

With questions surrounding how Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk and others feel about their futures with the Kings, it’s a tough scenario to walk into. Even if the roster’s talent is apparent, creating a cohesive unit in which those skill sets are optimized is a work in progress.

“There’s some talent here,” Perry said. “There’s an obvious need — I think everybody in this room would probably agree to it — that’s there not a true point guard on the roster. Also, as I assess it from afar, I think we need to add more length and athleticism to this group to enhance some of the talent that’s here. From that standpoint, that’s kind of what I’m looking at doing right now.”

 “Any successful pro sports organization, or any company for that matter, has to have an identity. And that’s one thing that I don’t see here yet, but that’s what I’m all about is establishing an identity. What does it mean to be a Sacramento Kings’ player? (If) you play here, we’re going to require toughness. We want a defensive orientation. We’ve got to play extremely hard and we’ve got to play together on the offensive end. Share the game is what I like to say. We’ve got to be professional, we’ve got to be disciplined, and we’ve got to have accountability. And so if you fit that profile, you’ll see guys wearing that Kings jersey. If not, then we’ll figure out how to get guys in here that do. And a line that you may hear me say, you may have heard this before, I am looking for volunteers to that, not hostages.”

Again, much easier said than done. Anyone who’s kept up with the Kings over the last decade-plus has heard a similar plan before, yet the team has never been in the top half of the league in defensive rating. In fact, they’ve been in the bottom 10 in all but two of the 12 seasons since Ranadive became the majority owner.

The same could be said about the versatile, athletic wings they’ve rostered in recent history—something Fox expressed frustration with throughout his seven and a half seasons playing in California’s capital.

Perry said all the right things on Monday morning, but that’s the easiest part of the job. Time will tell if he has the autonomy he claims to create a culture and identity that hasn’t existed for this organization in over two decades.

“I love taking on challenges,” Perry said when asked why he took the job. “If you’ve followed my career, a lot of the organizations that I’ve worked with when we first came in, they were struggling or non-playoff teams or whatever you want to call them. But then, by the time I left, we left, the organizations were better. I enjoy challenges. I don’t run from problems, I run to them and I think that’s a necessary problem that you’ve got to have when you’re coming to build a situation like this and I embrace it.”

Sacramento’s current roster construction and looming offseason decisions certainly present the type of challenge that Perry loves overcoming. But he’s not the first to try and turn this ship around.

More Kings coverage on Sactown Sports

Brenden Nunes, Frankie Cartoscelli, and Chris Watkins present another episode of the Return of the Roar podcast, presented live on Sactown Sports 1140 AM as the Sacramento Kings begin an offseason that could include widespread changes.

The Kings have already made the decision to move on from 2022-23 NBA Executive of the Year winner Monte McNair, with new general manager Scott Perry set to begin his tenure with the team this week.

Read More:

Return of the Roar: An uncertain offseason begins in Sacramento

Upcoming schedule for the Sacramento Kings

• Sunday, April 20th – Start of the NBA Playoffs
• Monday, May 12th – NBA Draft Lottery
• Wednesday, June 25th – 2025 NBA Draft
• Monday, June 30th – NBA free agent negotiations can begin
• Sunday, July 6th – NBA free agents can officially sign with teams
• July 10th-20th – Las Vegas NBA Summer League
• August TBD – Release of 2025-26 regular season schedule
• September TBD – Start of NBA training camps for the 2025-26 season

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