The upheaval in the Sacramento Kings front office continues unabated, and the Denver Nuggets are capitalizing by adding a strong new voice to their own.
Kings general manager Pete D'Alessandro, after effectively being squeezed out of Sacramento, has accepted a high-ranking job in the Nuggets organization, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
After just two seasons as Kings GM, D'Alessandro was suddenly and inexplicably jumped in the front-office hierarchy by Vlade Divac, who emerged in April - seemingly out of nowhere - as notoriously finicky owner Vivek Ranadive's lead basketball decision-maker.
With no interest in hanging around a tense and awkward situation in which he didn't feel wanted, D'Alessandro started sniffing around for other opportunities. He reportedly had the option to become the new athletic director at his alma mater, St. John's - where former fellow Kings employee Chris Mullin recently assumed head coaching duties - but passed it up for the Nuggets job.
D'Alessandro worked in the Nuggets front office from 2010 to 2013, first as an advisor to then-GM Masai Ujiri and then as vice president of basketball operations.
The title and specifics of his new role are unclear, but a source told Wojnarowksi that D'Alessandro will "work to support" president Josh Korenke, with both the Nuggets and the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, for whom Kroenke also serves as president.
Current Nuggets GM Tim Connelly is said to be a strong proponent of the hiring, and will use D'Alessandro as a consultant in team-building decisions.
