The Kings didn’t just break their 16-year playoff drought, they shattered it and ignited a fan base.

The man who made the bold moves that turned the franchise’s fortunes around — trading for Domantas Sabonis (a year ago, but still), hiring Mike Brown as coach, and rounding out the roster with quality role players such as Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter — has been honored for those choices.

Sacramento Kings General Manager Monte McNair has been named the 2022-23 NBA Executive of the Year, an award voted on by his peers. He got 16 of the 30 first-place votes, with the Cavaliers’ Coby Altman — who pulled off a trade for Donovan Mitchell — coming in second.

Here are the vote totals.

If you’re wondering why Utah’s Justin Zanik is third, it shows you how much respect there is around the league for the quality of rebuild the Jazz had trading away Rudy Gobert and Mitchell (even if in most media Danny Ainge gets all the credit).

The Executive of the Year is an award usually won in July but the results come 10 months later. For McNair, it was worth the wait.

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Kings GM Monte McNair voted Executive of the Year by peers originally appeared on NBCSports.com