Monte McNair’s resume: Evaluating the best and worst transactions of the Rockets

Thursday morning the Sacramento Kings announced the hiring of Monte McNair as the team’s new general manager. He will be the head decision-maker for all basketball operations. McNair replaces Vlade Divac, who stepped down from the same position last month.

McNair comes to Sacramento after a long tenure with the Houston Rockets. He began as a basketball operations senior analyst in 2007 and has moved up in the ranks over the last 13 years. His recent roles include an upgrade to vice president of basketball operations in 2015 and a promotion to assistant general manager in 2018.

So what are the Kings getting in McNair? What does his resume of recent work look like?

It is hard to say exactly, as individual transactions are rarely credited to one member of a front office staff. He has also been working under GM Daryl Morey for all 13 years. But while he wasn’t the man in charge of the Rockets, it is certainly worth looking at the recent history of the team. After all, his performance in Houston is what earned him the chance to be the number one in Sacramento.

Let’s break down the biggest moves from Houston’s front office since 2015. That is the year McNair became vice president of basketball operations. It also happens to be the year Divac took over in Sacramento. Some of these could have been McNair’s creation, and others he could have advised against all together. But in the big picture, these moves represent his resume and his experience as best as anyone can call it from the outside.

BEST TRANSACTIONS

Trades have been Houston’s bread and butter of team building, and the franchise makes them at a frantic rate – 22 times in the last five seasons, to be exact. One deal that stands out is the 2016 acquisition of Lou Williams from the Los Angeles Lakers for Corey Brewer and a late 2017 first-rounder. Williams was a valuable player on a bargain of a deal and Houston identified the value of the asset well.

That trade played into another, as is often the case with Houston. At the end of the season, they packaged Williams with Patrick Beverley and another late first-rounder, among smaller pieces, and landed Chris Paul from the Los Angeles Clippers. While they sent a group of quality role players away, landing Paul was a big win. The team won 65 games in the regular season and was one win away from the NBA finals in Paul’s first season with Houston.

Houston also deserves credit for drafting Montrezl Harrell, who was another small piece of the Chris Paul trade. At the time, he was a second-round pick who spent most of the season in the G-League, but clearly Houston was onto something. He went 32nd overall in 2015 and is now a valuable player. It is worth noting, however, that he might be the only quality second-round pick the Rockets have recently selected and not instantly traded away.

The most impressive recent move from Houston was a stunningly complex four-team deal. The headline was acquiring Robert Covington for Clint Capela and a late first-round pick. This trade represents the identity of Houston as a team that thinks differently. They decided they no longer wanted to play with a traditional center and acquired a versatile six-foot-seven wing to do the job instead. It was a very bold move that has mostly paid off.

WORST TRANSACTIONS

The Rockets drafted a bust in Sam Dekker with the 18th pick in 2015. He is already out of the league. This draft pick is particularly notable because it is the most recent first-round selection for the Rockets. They traded away everything else. Even in the upcoming 2020 draft, the Rockets won’t be picking in the first round. In fact, they are the only team in the league without any picks at all.

While the Rockets generally have gotten good returns from trading their picks, there are some exceptions. In 2015, they acquired Ty Lawson for their 2016 first-rounder and smaller pieces. Lawson’s production fell off a cliff and the team waived him before the season was over. The draft pick ended up pretty high as well, at the 15th overall selection. They would have been much better off keeping the pick.

One risk that comes with constantly committing to the short term is overpaying older players. The Rockets have a long history of playing with fire in that regard. Last offseason they signed Eric Gordon to an extension that will guarantee him nearly $20 million dollars in 2022-23. He is already 31 years old and has a significant injury history. That deal looks like a mistake.

Russell Westbrook is another 31-year-old Rocket who can earn a lot of money in 2022-23. He has a player option worth more than $46 million for that season. While Houston did not sign him to that deal, they did trade Paul, two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps to get him. After a recent second-round exit from the playoffs, that trade is looking nightmarish.

WHAT THIS TELLS US

The biggest takeaway here is how different Houston and Sacramento have been across the past five years. In terms of aggressiveness, ambition and creativity in the trade market, the two front offices have been night and day. The biggest fish Divac landed in a deal was Harrison Barnes, who is a solid starter. But McNair’s group, led by Morey, landed players with MVP, All-NBA and Sixth Man of the Year awards.

The draft record is also a stark contrast. The Kings struggled there in the last five years outside of a few exceptions. The Rockets basically didn’t pick at all if they could avoid it. Neither team made big splashes in the free agent market. For Houston, that is mostly due to a lack of cap space. For Sacramento, it has mostly been due to other issues.

The recent history of the Rockets shows a relentless pursuit of improvement. They decided on what they wanted and went for it, even if it meant going way outside of the norm. While we don’t know exactly which of these moves McNair deserves credit for, we do know that he comes from a front office that has been on the cutting edge of NBA decision-making .

Even if he approaches the Kings job in a completely different way, there is little doubt he will bring bold ideas and a strong conviction in his vision. McNair represents a new era for Sacramento Kings basketball and a very new mindset.