Report: Kings have considered replacing GM Geoff Petrie

Geoff Petrie has been the GM of the Sacramento Kings since 1994, one of the longest tenures in the league. There have been good times (the Chris Webber era contenders) but he also built the current mismatched roster that has struggled for several seasons. A lot of where the Kings are right now falls on him.

And the Maloofs have considered making a move, reports Tom Ziller at SBN.

The Maloofs, who own the Sacramento Kings, have recently considered relieving longtime president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie of his position, multiple sources have told Sactown Royalty and SBNation.com. No move to replace Petrie, who has been the team’s only personnel boss for the entirety of the Maloofs’ ownership of the Kings, is imminent, but the family has, according to sources, reached out to a management agent within the past two weeks with eyes on lining up a successor.

This really should not come as a terrible surprise, Petrie is the guy buying the ingredients in Sacramento, if it’s a bad dish he has to take some blame. He is the guy who has hired Eric Musselman, Regie Theus and Paul Westphal in succession.

But it’s more complex than just axing him.

On one side is the question of where the team will be located and if the Maloofs role will change. The city of Sacramento has until March 1 to present a financing plan for a new arena that meets with the approval of the other NBA owners. If not, you can expect the Anaheim Kings next year. Whether the team stays or goes, there could be new investors (if not outright owners) of the team coming. Things are fluid.

There is also the question of what direction the Kings might want to go next. Which could leave coach Keith Smart as a lame duck, again. A new GM after all this time would be a radical culture shock to the organization, and while that is not necessarily bad it is usually messy.