With another drama-filled season winding down, the Sacramento Kings took a step towards some stability on Wednesday by signing Vlade Divac to a multi-year contract extension as Vice President of Basketball Operations/General Manager.

Divac has operated as the lead executive under Vivek Ranadive for the last year. Having secured Divac’s status, the Kings also plan to fortify their basketball operations department by hiring an experienced executive to work alongside the former player.

The leading candidate for the job is believed to be David Morway, who most recently worked as the assistant general manager for the Milwaukee Bucks. Morway also spent 13 years working for the Indiana Pacers, making the journey from Vice President of Basketball Administration all the way to GM.

When the Bucks extended John Hammond’s contract in September as general manager, Morway’s deal wasn’t renewed. He has a slice of experience with the Kings, having interviewed with Ranadive in 2013 when the owner looked for Geoff Petrie’s replacement. The job was eventually given to Pete D’Alessandro, who left last June to take a position with the Denver Nuggets.

Since Ranadive purchased the Kings a little less than three years ago, the club has employed three coaches (Mike Malone, Tyrone Corbin and George Karl) and is on their second lead executive.

The Kings have chewed up and spit out good basketball men in Malone and D’Alessandro, but adding Morway may be just what they need to get things under control.

Morway spent years working in Indiana alongside Larry Bird, who fits a profile similar to Divac -- former player with supreme confidence and some old school ideals. The ownership Morway worked under in Indiana was vastly different, but the two years he spent with the Bucks featured a similar situation. Herb Kohl sold the franchise to Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry two years ago. Edens and Lasry fit the Ranadive mold of successful businessmen entering the NBA world.

While Ranadive seems to be more outwardly impulsive, he is a more experienced “outsider” owner. Ranadive owned a portion of the Golden State Warriors for three years before becoming the leader of the Kings’ ownership group.

Aside from the turnover in the front office, or maybe because of it, the Kings also have a volatile roster. Once again, Morway fits the bill as an executive with experience in navigating unstable stars. 

DeMarcus Cousins, who is owed $35 million over the next two seasons, is a fixture in trade rumors and will continue to be until he’s either dealt, or makes his free agency decision in 2018. He is one of the best basketball players in the world, but also has the worst body language in the league. Rajon Rondo seems unlikely to re-sign after his one-year made-good contract served its purpose, meaning the Kings should be active this summer.    

The Kings may be the current picture of dysfunction, but more than a decade ago Morway was with the Pacers when Metta World Peace and Stephen Jackson went into the crowd at The Palace. He provided a support system for the players involved in the brawl, including Jermaine O’Neal, and then helped shape a roster that qualified for the playoffs five months later.

The Pacers endured a four-year playoff drought beginning in 2007 and took a circuitous route to rebuilding. They never drafted higher than 10th overall before becoming a title contender once again. Morway was part of a vital 12-month stretch that saw Indiana draft Paul George and Lance Stephenson and then trade for George Hill.

Morway is one of the few that can say they helped get the best out of Stephenson, who floundered with the Charlotte Hornets and Los Angeles Clippers before enjoying a slight resurrection with the Memphis Grizzlies over the last month. 

The Pacers had a structure in place around Stephenson, who grew up without much of one, that helped him succeed on and off the court. Morway was one of the point men within the organization, having seen potential in the 40th overall pick.

If the Kings don’t tear things down completely by trading Cousins, they’ll have a tight window in which to build around the franchise center. With Cousins on the roster, it is unlikely that Sacramento will pick at the top of the draft without some lottery magic. They could slot anywhere from sixth to 11th this June, the latter of which would prove to be a disaster. If the Kings’ pick falls out of the top 10, it’ll go the Chicago Bulls. The Philadelphia 76ers also have the ability to swap picks with the Kings if doing so would prove advantageous. As if that weren’t enough, those pick stipulations carry forward.

Odds are, the Kings will hold the seventh, eighth or ninth pick; a small step above the territory Morway helped mine into starter-level talent with the Pacers.

The Kings have put themselves in a unique situation, but they may finally take a step in the right direction by hiring Morway, a man with experience dealing with nearly every aspect of what their GM job will entail.