DeMar DeRozan wasn’t the only acquisition the Kings made yesterday. Adrian Wojnarowski reported last night that the Kings also signed free agent guard Jordan McLaughlin to a one-year deal. McLaughlin had spent the last five seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves where he sported career averages of 4.4 points, 3.1 assists and 1.6 rebounds in about 15.4 minutes a game.
McLaughlin is a true point guard who rarely turns the ball over. Last season he posted 110 assists to just 19 turnovers, a 5.7 to 1 ratio. For his career he’s at about a 4.3 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. McLaughlin has also shown decent shooting touch from outside, shooting 36.9% from three for his career. Last season he shot an astounding 47.2% from three, which seems like a big outlier considering the year before he was at just 30.8%. Still, teams will have to respect his shot.
Defensively, McLaughlin is a bit small at 6’0 but he posted a decent steal rate and defensive rating with the Wolves. The Wolves, the best defensive team in the league last season, were better defensively with McLaughlin on the floor, although it should probably be factored in that McLaughlin saw much more time against opposing team’s second and third string units.
McLaughlin’s signing puts the Kings at 13 roster spots with two more left to fill. The Kings still need some frontcourt help so look for them to address that over the remainder of the offseason.
Some dude on twitter already mentioned this, but:
The Kings got a Bull and a Jordan.
SIX TITLES, INCOMING!
Sounds like this years Delly.
Vivek must have pushed MM to sign a “New Delly”!
.
Seth Curry incoming?
Mike “Tikka” Muscala?
Naan-stop action.
Weird. Another small guard. Why? Signal of more movement? Hopefully. I’m assuming Monte realizes the Kings are a tad short on wings/PF with length
With Davion gone, and Carter having surgery (an being a roookie) there was only Fox left as a true point guard on the roster, so this just plugs that hole. I suspect we’ll still see Ellis get backup PG minutes, but having a ‘pure’ point on the roster helps, especially if he can even close to 47% from three. Last two roster slots definitely need PF/wings though.
His career assist-to-turnover ratio borders on the unbelievable. Always good to have a guy around who doesn’t make many mistakes.
Might be a long lost relative of mine. Similar last names. Excellent 3rd string PG.
Looks like Carter is going under the knife. That might be a contributing factor to this signing, though an end-of-bench guard slot was open with Mitchell and Duarte going out.
Makes more sense now. Carter was low on the depth chart, so that means more Ellis minutes!
In your opinion do more Ellis minutes directly relate to more wins?
Yup. Now it makes notes sense. Bummer about Carter, and hopefully they are sure this shoulder injury won’t be a long term thing.
But having surgery is not the greatest thing. Knew it was more serious than a little rehab when Kings didn’t say what was up for awhile.
They haven’t announced a timeline yet of how long the surgery will keep Carter out, have they? Bummer.
Might potentially be out until start of the season or a tad longer…good to have JMcL as a backup
6-8 months. NBA starts in 3 months 17 days (October 24). Rehab and all – add around 3 months and you are loking at Late January at the earliest, February more likely.
I feel bad for jordan ford, dude is clearly too good for g league stuff and i think would run a good offense. I think the local product would be a good third pg
Why another G? This addition makes no sense to me.
I don’t like the move although it has nothing to do with McLoughlin, who is a fine player…I just don’t see the need and salary room is at a premium.
Don’t know when Carter will be ready after surgery, so having another PG on the roster is for depth at this point.
Just PG depth, which we don’t have a lot of with Davion gone. Shouldn’t be playing a ton of minutes, but it was a need.
I disagree about the need for another G.
It just seems like a waste of salary space when there are much more important needs to address with severely limited space.
Are there more details on the contact? Is it a full guaranteed vet minimum or basically just a camp invite with a partial guarantee?
I think it’s a full guaranteed vet min. contract from things I’ve read
1 year.
And for Sac, your point guards are Fox and Monk. At end of games, there needs to be a PG on the floor- including blowout wins and losses.
The diminutive former USC product, actually had a silly high def rsting (100.1) last season.
They don’t have cap space so they used part of the $12.9m MLE to sign him? Bi-annual exception? Room exception?
It’s a vet minimum contract. If you are over the cap you are allowed to bring players in on vet minimums to fill out the roster without using exceptions.
A good rule of thumb is that if it’s announced as a one year deal with no salary info it is a vet minimum.
Anybody else concerned about the Kings giving up a 2031 unprotected pick swap to the Spurs? Was there a way just to give up a couple of 2nds? By 2031, Wemby will be is his prime and the Kings could be rebuilding. Hard to rebuild when you don’t control your own pick, it would be a disaster if it ends up being a top 3 pick.
A bit concerning, but giving up picks and swaps are the price of doing business in the modern NBA as an over-the-cap team. I look at it this way – we got a huge piece in DeRozan for basically a pick swap. Imagine what insane price Danny Ainge was asking for Markannen – Monte must have offered at least two unprotected picks and two unprotected pick swaps, and Ainge still would not bite. Probably had some similar package for BI – which also did not happen. And we got rid of Barnes and Duarte contracts as a bonus. HB is an all-time pro and forever King, but both were bad last year. Compared to what McNair was prepared to pay for his other targets, the DeRozan deal is a steal. Granted, he was a FA, while the other targets are under contract, but we had no cap room so this was the price.
it’s a pick swap! not a first round pick. This also means it can still be used in a trade, and doesn’t prevent a FRP trade in years 2030 and 2032 (Stepien Rule).
The Sours already own a variety of pick swaps
https://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Future/Spurs.htm
Pick swaps are insured first round picks. Cleveland, Boston , Denver in the future all have pick swaps with SAS. Now Kings as well.
If the Kings get the 2031 #1 pick, it’ll be a shame.
But today, the Kings got a deal done to improve. If in 2031, Anjali or Anand messes up and the Jings return to cellar status, we can shake our collective fists and Monte McNair can get a good laugh.
Harrison Barnes did not perform at starting PF levels last season, unlike the previous season. The Kings traded an under performing starter for a highly performing starter. It cost them the player (HB40), an underperforming reserve (Chris Duarte) and more – a 2031 first round pick swap.
Seems like a good trade to me. But I am almost always wrong.
I never said it was a pick.
I agree, you did not.
My reply was in agreement with you in your reply to RattleSeattle96.
I’m more worried about (a) my prostate and (b) society than a 2031 pick swap.
Thumbs up, Robert.
There is an emerging trend here that is a positive. Solid winning teams have NBA depth. NBA players with NBA experience on the bench.
Monte seems to be following this model as well now. I like it.
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