D'Alessandro officially rejoins Nuggets' front office after losing power in Sacramento

This is not what Pete D'Alessandro envisioned when he left Denver two years ago.

The Nuggets' former vice president of basketball operations made his return to the Mile High City official on Friday after a brief, two-year stint as general manager of the Sacramento Kings.

With Vlade Divac taking on all basketball decision-making power in Sacramento, D'Alessandro quickly became somewhat of a lame duck, leading to a report earlier this week that he had once again accepted a high-ranking front office job with the Nuggets.

That job was revealed as senior vice president of business and team operations in a Friday press release.

"His experiences over his professional career have put him in a unique position to assist me in multiple areas ranging from league operations to team budgeting," Nuggets president and governor Josh Kroenke said in a statement. "I look forward to his assistance in creating additional synergy between our business and team operations to help take our organization to another level on and off the playing floor."

Kroenke did add, however, that all basketball operations remain the same and that player personnel matters still fall under the jurisdiction of general manager Tim Connelly.

D'Alessandro, who was rumored to be in the running for the athletic director job at alma mater St. John's, was once thought to be the natural successor to former Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri upon the former Executive of the Year's departure for Toronto.

D'Alessandro landed the Kings job on June 17, 2013, however, with Connelly announced as the Nuggets' GM the same day.

D'Alessandro made a number of moves in his brief tenure with the Kings, with big men DeMarcus Cousins and Jason Thompson the only remaining players from the pre-D'Alessandro era. Most notably, he executed a seven-player deal with former boss Ujiri that saw the Kings acquire (and eventually re-sign a year later) Rudy Gay.

Other dealings included trading for former No. 2 overall pick Derrick Williams, executing a sign-and-trade with the Phoenix Suns after not retaining point guard Isaiah Thomas, signing guard Darren Collison, and drafting swingman Nik Stauskas with the eighth overall selection last year in a pick that had owner Vivek Ranadive's fingerprints all over it.

Aside from securing a long-term extension for All-Star Cousins, D'Alessandro's job in Sacramento will largely be seen as a failure. In fairness, Ranadive's impatience may have factored into that result.