Reports surfaced early Wednesday that Vlade Divac has supplanted Pete D’Alessandro as Sacramento’s leader in all basketball-related decisions, and the general manager's time in Sacramento could end soon.
Divac, hired in early March by owner Vivek Ranadive as VP of basketball and franchise operations, is -- by virtue of his title -- the leader of Sacramento’s basketball operations. However, as the Kings' turbulent season evolves, D’Alessandro’s status is open to scrutiny, according to an ESPN report.
D’Alessandro, a Denver front office executive, was given the Kings job by Ranadive after the Silicon Valley entrepreneur hired Michael Malone as head coach in June of 2013. The move to hire both men came shortly after a group headed by Ranadive purchased the franchise and beat out an opposing bid from a group that planned to move the team to Seattle.
This year, D’Alessandro surprisingly jettisoned head coach Michael Malone after an 11-13 start to the season.
Assistant coach Tyrone Corbin took over, and after a 7-21 stint, a long and public courtship with George Karl was finally consummated with the sixth winningest coach in NBA history taking over at the All-Star break.
D’Alessandro may have lost an ally after Chris Mullin -- a team advisor -- departed to take over as head coach at St. John’s on March 31.
[RELATED: Mullin considers turning around St. John's an 'obligation']
Both Mullin and D’Alessandro are alums of the university in Queens, NY.
