New Kings general manager Scott Perry discussed his past comments about Sacramento star Zach LaVine during his introductory press conference on Wednesday.
“I’ve had the chance to speak with Zach,” Perry told reporters. “I knew Zach a little bit, well before I took this job. When he was a young player at UCLA who was coming out, I was scouting him and watching him a lot – terrific talent, athletic, career 40-percent 3-point shooter. And he and I, like I said, had a good conversation. My job now [is] to help put pieces around him and others to enhance his ability to start winning.
“And that is what you’re getting with the comment that I made, because it was a reflection on him not having won as much. It’s nothing personal.”
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SIGN UP HERE Perry, Sacramento’s fifth general manager in 12 years, was referring to a clip from November 2023 in which he described his skepticism toward LaVine’s ability to impact winning. When appearing on “The Hoops Genius Podcast” with Mo Mooncey and BJ Armstrong, Perry suggested LaVine wasn’t worth his pricey contracts.
“No question that Zach LaVine can score the basketball,” Perry said. “Does he impact winning? Zach LaVine has been to one playoff series in nine years. He's played a total of four playoff basketball games. I'm looking at $40-, 43, 46 & 49 million for a guy who – to this point – has not impacted winning to the level that his money says he should impact.”
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LaVine has made $209.62 million over his 11-year NBA career with three different franchises – the Minnesota Timberwolves, Chicago Bulls and the Kings. He still has one playoff victory, which came in a 2022 Eastern Conference first-round playoff series, when the Bulls were eliminated in five games by the Milwaukee Bucks.
LaVine’s numbers are strong across the board. Over 32 regular-season games with Sacramento, he averaged 22.4 points, 3.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds and shot 44.6 percent on triples. Yet, the Kings didn’t make it past the NBA play-in tournament, putting Perry’s old claim into consideration once again.
Perry, a longtime NBA executive with the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks, doesn’t shy away from giving his players tough love.
“What I enjoy in my relationships with all players – and that’s why so many of them reached out to me – is because they know, ‘OK, I might not always agree with him, but he’s going to shoot me straight,’” Perry told reporters. “And they know I’m going to provide radical candor surrounded by radical love. And those [are] coming from a good place.”
Perry’s comments about LaVine might be old news, but they might serve as a precursor to what Kings fans can expect in their new general manager’s leadership style.