New report sheds light into Kings roster strategy moving forward

On the same night that the Sacramento Kings traded into the first round and selected what looks to be a very well-rounded, NBA-ready wing in Nique Clifford, a report from Sam Amick revealed some of the thought process into Scott Perry’s early tenure as the general manager.

Based on the report, it would appear the Kings, to an extent, are focused on youth and financial flexibility, and, at least for now, steering away from short-term, expensive contracts that don’t fit the identity Perry wants to establish, or the timeline.

According to Amick, the Kings passed on Jrue Holiday and Trae Young because of a mixture of age, fit and  cost.

“League sources say the Kings have explored the prospect of Jrue Holiday (before he was traded from Boston to Portland) but were ultimately concerned with both his age (35) and cost (a combined $104.4 million, including his player option in the 2027-28 season). Similarly, there was a push among some power-brokers for Sacramento to go after Atlanta’s Trae Young, but league sources say the Kings didn’t have interest because of his style of play (offense-first) and cost (he’s extension-eligible this summer but is slated to earn $45.9 million next season and has a player option worth $48.9 million in 2026-27).”

This signals that the front office is avoiding large contracts that could hinder future moves and the team’s identity. But more importantly, it gives a slight glimmer of hope that there can’t be additional older, expensive players brought into Sacramento (even if there is a push from “power-brokers”) with unrealistic hopes of being anything more than a play-in team.

Holiday’s age and contract were big red flags. So, the reasoning reported about him makes sense. And that the pieces brought in actually need to make sense from a stylistic point of view. The Kings were awful on defense last season, so Trae Young made very little sense outside of having a new player to build around.

In Perry’s press conference Wednesday to discuss the selection of Clifford, he pinpointed how he is a two-way player, emphasizing the defensive side of the ball.

“He’s a two-way player, you’ve heard me say that before and you are going to hear me say that a lot, a guy that plays both sides of the floor, and that is important to what we want to get established here,” Perry said. “He is a guy that played small forward in college, so he is very versatile, and if you look at the league now it’s about having depth. I mean if you look at the teams that were in the Finals this year and the ultimate champion in Oklahoma City, both Oklahoma City and Indiana were very deep and very versatile, guys that can play multiple positions. This guy played with the ball in his hands; he can play all the perimeter positions.”

Roster balance and versatility over flashy names with large contracts.

Good sign!

The Kings do still need a point guard. To solve this, Amick reports Sacramento is going to turn to free agency for less expensive options than guys like Holiday and Young.

“… the Kings are now pivoting to free-agency options that would be far more friendly for the payroll. As NBA reporter Marc Stein reported on Tuesday, league and team sources say the Kings indeed have serious interest in veteran Dennis Schröder. That is, of course, if he doesn’t get something done with the Detroit Pistons first (league sources say he’s been in talks on that front this week). Fellow free agents Tyus Jones and Russell Westbrook are also known to be options that the Kings are considering.”

All of these players are uninspiring stopgaps – guys who can help facilitate the offense to an extent, but not provide a long-term solution at the position. Westbrook seems less than ideal for what the team actually needs. His usage rate has dropped significantly over the last three seasons, but he was a -9.1 in on/off efficiency differential for the Denver Nuggets last season, according to Cleaning The Glass. Schroder and Jones would be easier to slot into the point guard spot, but none of the three should be your starting point guard, at least for an extended amount of time.

Still, from a financial flexibility standpoint, this line of thinking is somewhat of a good sign. The other side of the coin is that the team is being cheap because it has to be, but this feels a little different.

Perry said in his press conference that the next phase after the draft (the second round in Thursday night) is enhancing the identity through free agency.

“We’re going through the draft process now to add to make our team better, we’re looking to enhance the identity, so the next phase, free agency, we want to enhance the identity of this basketball team to those six values that I mentioned,” Perry said in his press conference.

Those six values are:

• Competitive
• Tough
• Team oriented
• Accountable
• Disciplined
• Professional

In another signal into Perry’s thinking, Amick reports that “there are no plans for the Kings to prioritize a new deal for [Zach] LaVine. If they’re going to pay that sort of freight, it’s quite clear, it will be for a younger player who can be a long-term part of their picture.”

Younger players like Jonathan Kuminga are being monitored by the Kings and it is among the teams interested, according to Amick.

This is probably one of the most promising aspects of this report. LaVine is an exciting player when he is on, but he isn’t someone the Kings can build around at this point and he has never proven himself to impact winning – Scott Perry said it himself before joining the Kings. (Amick’s report says the Kings are signaling a commitment to Domantas Sabonis still.) If LaVine is on the roster next season, so be it, he can score well, but the fact that the Kings don’t have delusions about him being the long-term answer at this point is a great sign, despite what the “power brokers” might be encouraging. Even better is that they would prefer to pay that sort of big money to a younger player. There are questions about Kuminga, and as Amick says, it is unlikely he is coming to Sacramento, but the fact they are eyeing a 22-year-old forward who was the #7 pick in the 2021 draft, shows that youth, and not settling on an older, middle-of-the-pack team is a goal.

Now, let’s not get carried away. Getting excited for showing flashes of competence between selecting Clifford and having a reasonable explanation for passing on players like Trae Young and not wanting to commit long-term to players like LaVine is probably sort of silly to fans in other markets, but we are Sacramento. We need this sort of hope about the future. And it is still not very encouraging that the guy who made the decision to trade De’Aaron Fox for LaVine is already not here anymore, and that the team is already saying they are not keen on keeping the centerpiece of the return for Fox. But that makes sense, as does the majority of the line of thinking in this report.

More news to come in the next few days as we wrap up the Draft and free agency begins.