Kings GM Monte McNair hires Wes Wilcox, Phil Jabour, Paul Johnson to fill out front office
Kings general manager Monte McNair has hired three people with more than 40 years of combined NBA experience to bolster his front office staff as the team prepares for next month’s NBA Draft.
The Kings announced Wednesday they have hired Wes Wilcox as assistant general manager, Phil Jabour as vice president of player personnel and Paul Johnson as director of basketball operations. The three of them will join Ken Catanella, who was retained as an assistant general manager after Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic resigned in August.
“I am excited to have Wes, Phil and Paul join the front office,” said McNair. “Wes’ background as an executive in the league combined with Phil’s veteran leadership through the scouting ranks and Paul’s proven experience in evaluating talent will be strong additions to the basketball operations group. Their diverse skill sets and unique perspectives will add valuable knowledge and innovative thinking as we focus on executing our vision of building a winning culture in Sacramento.”
Wilcox, who most recently worked as an analyst on NBA TV, has more than 20 years of experience in the NBA. He was one of three finalists for the general manager job in Sacramento before the Kings hired McNair.
Wilcox started as a scouting and video intern with the Miami Heat in 2001. He later worked as a video coordinator for the New Orleans Pelicans before joining the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he spent seven seasons as a scout, assistant coach and director of player personnel.
The Atlanta Hawks hired Wilcox as an assistant general manager in 2012. Wilcox was promoted to general manager at the age of 36 in June 2015. He helped the Hawks assemble the team that reached the Eastern Conference finals after going 60-22 in 2014-15. Atlanta won 91 games in Wilcox’s two seasons as general manager, going 48-34 in 2015-16 and 43-39 in 2016-17.
Jabour has 14 years of NBA experience. He comes to Sacramento after six seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, where he was heavily involved in day-to-day personnel operations, including talent evaluation, leading intel processes and collaborating with player agents, the Kings said.
The 76ers hired Jabour in 2014 as director of scouting development. He served as a scout for the 76ers from 2017-19 before being promoted to director of scouting prior to the 2019-20 season.
Jabour worked as a scout for the Orlando Magic from 2012-14. Prior to his time with the Magic, Jabour spent five seasons with the Houston Rockets, where he worked with McNair in a variety of roles, rising from basketball operations intern to director of scouting for the Rio Grande Vipers of the G League.
Johnson comes to the Kings with seven years of experience in the NBA. He started as a referee operations analyst in the league office in 2013 before going to work for the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015.
Johnson worked in a variety of roles for the Thunder and was recently promoted to general manager of the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G League affiliate. In June, ESPN reported Johnson had interviewed for the general manager position with the expansion Mexico City Capitanes of the G League.
In his role as director of basketball operations, Johnson will also serve as general manager of the G League Stockton Kings, the team said.
The Kings said Wilcox will support McNair in all facets of front office operations, including roster construction, strategy and player evaluation. Jabour will be primarily responsible for overseeing the structure and processes of the scouting department. Johnson will lead Stockton’s front office and have a hand in multiple aspects of Kings basketball operations.
Wilcox, Jabour and Johnson join Catanella, Chief Strategy Officer Joe Dumars, Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Teena Murray and Vice President of Kings Academy and Professional Development Galen Duncan in rounding out McNair’s management team, the Kings said.
This story was originally published October 14, 2020 at 5:22 AM.
