NBA Front Office Management Career
Kiki initially had a front office role with the Dallas Mavericks, where he was instrumental in the development of Dirk Nowitzki. During his time in Dallas, Kiki also briefly served as an assistant head coach. On August 9, 2001, Vandeweghe was named to the Nuggets' general manager position and oversaw a return by the Nuggets to the NBA playoffs. Major moves by Vandeweghe have included the drafting of Carmelo Anthony in 2003, the trade for Marcus Camby in 2002 and the hiring of George Karl as head coach in 2005. However, some other moves by Vandeweghe have backfired outright or failed to produce the desired returns, such as the drafting of draft bust Nikoloz Tskitishvili in 2002 and the sign-and-trade deal with the New Jersey Nets to acquire Kenyon Martin at the end of the 2003–04 season. Shortly following a first-round playoff elimination at the hands of the Clippers in the 2006 playoffs, the Nuggets announced that Vandeweghe's contract would not be renewed.
He spent 2006–07 as an NBA analyst for ESPN, appearing on the channel's SportsCenter and KIA NBA Shootaround programs among others. However, on December 31, 2007, the Nets announced that Vandeweghe would join the team as a special assistant to team president and general manager Rod Thorn. Vandeweghe replaced Ed Stefanski, who left the Nets to join the Philadelphia 76ers earlier in the month. Stefanski replaced Billy King as the 76ers' general manager.
On December 1, 2009, Vandeweghe agreed to assume duties as interim head coach of the Nets while continuing to be general manager of the team (although assistant coach Tom Barrise served as head coach for their December 2 game). Vandeweghe replaced Lawrence Frank as head coach after the Nets started the 2009–10 season with 16 consecutive losses. Vandeweghe hired Del Harris as an assistant, who was to be his "virtual co-coach", though he resigned midway through the season on February 2, 2010. Harris resigned after he learned that a possible side deal that he had made with Vandeweghe to become head coach had failed.
After Nets ownership changed hand, Mikhail Prokhorov announced that Vandeweghe would not return the following season.
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