According to an ESPN report, Denver Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth has interviewed for the Sacramento Kings’ vacant front office position.
There seem to be conflicting reports regarding the Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth.
A local Sacramento reporter stated that Booth dropped out of the Kings’ search process but, according to ESPN’s Marc J. Spears, Booth had indeed interviewed with Sacramento on Sunday. Spears notes that while Booth was promoted to general manager (from assistant general manager) during the league’s hiatus, that the position the Kings are offering — that of executive vice president of basketball operations — “is the top position in basketball operations.”
In short, Booth would be looking at another promotion if he’s hired by Sacramento, as he’s still under Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly when it comes to making team decisions. The combination of increased autonomy, authority and (likely) pay could be enticing enough for Booth to leave Denver for the Kings.
While the Nuggets have been more successful on the court, in no small part due to Booth’s scouting ability, Sacramento has a number of interesting pieces who could catapult them into postseason contention. De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Marvin Bagley III and impending free agent Bogdan Bogdanovic are strong players and with a 31-41 record, they’re arguably one or two seasons away from reaching the playoffs.
Interestingly, the Kings are the last team that Booth — a 10-year NBA veteran — played for before retiring in 2009 (his last game he played was on Apr. 3, 2009). It may not have anything to do with there being mutual interest between the two parties, especially as Booth only played in Sacramento for two months. However, a lasting impression could be made in a much shorter time.
If Booth should leave the Nuggets before what will be a pivotal free agency, it would mark the second time this year that the team’s general manager left the organization. Arturas Karnisovas left Denver in April to be the Chicago Bulls’ executive vice president of basketball operations.