When Rob Hennigan was fired as the man in charge of the Orlando Magic right after the season, Scott Perry — his assistant GM — was let go as well. That surprised people around the league. While the Magic saw Perry as part of the problem in creating too soft a culture in Orlando, outside the organization people didn’t see it that way (for example, Perry wanted to pull the trigger on a potential DeMarcus Cousins trade, it was Hennigan who did not).
Perry has found a new job with the Sacramento Kings, a story broken by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports and since confirmed by Sacramento.
Sacramento is hiring Scott Perry to a high-ranking front office job, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 21, 2017
Perry will join Kings as Executive VP and work closely w/ Vlade Divac, league sources said. Perry spent past 5 years as Magic assistant GM.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 21, 2017
Sources: Perry will largely execute the duties of a GM w/ Kings, but Divac will keep final say. Perry has strong relationships thru NBA.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 21, 2017
Perry was part of an NBA championship with Joe Dumars' staff in Detroit and worked under Sam Presti with Sonics/Thunder.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 21, 2017
Sam Amick of the USA Today added this.
Kings' chain-of-command, I'm told, now 1) Vlade, 2) Perry, 3) Asst. GM Ken Catanella. Scott's a really good pickup. Strong NBA relationships
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) April 21, 2017
How successful Perry can be in a culture other teams see as toxic — and the results do not prove otherwise — remains to be seen. That said, he’s a smart, steady, well trusted voice, which is exactly what the Kings need.
With the trade of Cousins, the Kings are a rebuilding team, which takes patience and a long-term plan (plus a little luck). Perry might well provide that. If he gets the chance.
