Source: New Kings general manager Monte McNair keeps member of Vlade Divac’s staff

Jason Anderson
·2 min read

Monte McNair’s first apparent act as general manager of the Kings was to retain a key member of Vlade Divac’s staff.

A league source confirmed to The Sacramento Bee on Friday assistant general manager Ken Catanella will retain his post in the team’s front office. McNair made the decision to keep Catanella, the source said.

The Kings named McNair general manager Thursday following a month-long search to replace Divac, who resigned last month after five seasons as the organization’s head of basketball operations. McNair spent the past 13 seasons with the Houston Rockets, working his way up to assistant general manager under Daryl Morey. McNair will begin working to fill out his staff, but in Catanella he has a noted salary cap expert who has gained the organization’s trust over the past four seasons.

Catanella joined the Kings as an assistant general manager in 2016 after five years with the Detroit Pistons, where he worked under newly appointed Kings Chief Strategy Officer Joe Dumars. He previously spent several years with the NBA league office, where he directed the NBA’s salary cap and basketball analytics efforts and helped negotiate the collective bargaining agreement.

Catanella has over 20 years of experience in the NBA, NCAA and international basketball as a player, coach and executive. Prior to joining the league office, he managed analytics efforts for the then-New Jersey Nets, creating and implementing their statistical scouting systems.

Catanella has been credited in recent years for some savvy salary cap management in Sacramento, demonstrating creativity and foresight in structuring contracts with descending salary scales and team options. His contributions were particularly important in negotiation new deals for Harrison Barnes and Buddy Hield, whose contracts were frontloaded to provide additional cap flexibility in the years to come.

Catanella will help McNair get acclimated to his surroundings and assist him in some of the more pressing decisions the team faces leading up to the NBA Draft and free agency in November.