RealGM

Vlade Divac had no intention of stepping down as general manager of the Sacramento Kings as he flew out of Orlando at the end of their season.

Sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic that Divac had a phone conversation with Vivek Ranadive on Friday morning about the future of the front office. Ranadive suggested Joe Dumars assume a larger role and be given final say on the roster with him working side by side with Divac.

Divac had zero interest in that type of structure, sources tell The Athletic. 

Divac and Ranadive decided to take a break from the discussion and pick the talks back up later. Divac said he could conduct exit interviews and then speak again afterward.

When they talked again, Ranadive made clear he was intent on making this move and needed Divac to agree to it. Divac was firm that he wanted no part of it and that full autonomy was needed to continue taking on this passion project.

Divac will be paid the remainder of his contract though 22-23.

Via Sam Amick/The Athletic

Someone else makes the final call, get paid until end of contract...

What an odd way to say fired.

Vlade and Peja have done a ton of damage to Kings organization. I'm glad they are removed from the front office.

I don't follow the Kings closely, but they've been bad for a long time. I think switching someone else in there seems like a good idea. Dumars is one of the few GMs to ever build a title team without a superstar and nearly entirely through trades and FA acquisitions which is one of the most impressive feats of GMing ever. He followed that up with being one of the worst GMs ever and having his first 3-4 good moves cover up an absolute trainwreck of consecutive bad decisions for about 7-8 years.

Would be curious if he was pushing for Doncic last draft over Bagley. That one move would be enough to fire someone over and want the other guy.

Kings have been and continue to be one of the worst run organizations in professional sports.