On Thursday morning, NBA agent whisperer and league insider Shams Charania of The Athletic dropped an article chock-full of trade rumors as the deadline approaches in just a few weeks. In the piece, he mentions that there are few sellers in the market, aside from the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are willing to move Andre Drummond, JaVale McGee, Taurean Prince, and Cedi Osman, and the Detroit Pistons, who will likely buy out the once great Blake Griffin and the once-remembered Wayne Ellington.
Other than those two obvious tankers, Shams goes on to describe many contenders desires, and a couple of Kings players popped up in the discussion, although interestingly enough, Buddy Hield was not one of the names mentioned. Instead, Sacramento’s two veteran forwards, Harrison Barnes and Nemanja Bjelica, were both described as popular trade pursuits for multiple teams. Barnes has been previously linked to the Boston Celtics, although his combination of scoring, defense, positional versatility, and shooting would be a welcome addition on any contender, while Nemanja Bjelica has reportedly received interest from teams such as the Philadephia 76ers, the Miami Heat, the Golden State Warriors, the Milwaukee Bucks, and again, the Boston Celtics.
Assuming that Monte McNair could get Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge, a historically miserly trade partner, to agree to a reasonable deal, Boston stands out as a sensible place for both of Sacramento’s veterans, as the Celtics have become well-known for their severe lack of depth this season. Boston’s record-breaking Traded Player Exception of $28.5 million, which allows them to absorb contracts without sending matching salary in return, would comfortably fit Harrison Barnes, although a small amount of salary would need to be sent back to Sacramento to keep the Celtics under the tax apron. Bjelica’s much smaller contract of just over $7 million could be swapped for a player like Daniel Theis, while young prospects such as Aaron Nesmith or Romeo Langford could be included as key pieces, as well as a future first round pick from Boston.
For the other teams solely pursing Nemanja Bjelica, the price tag will be much, much lower. The Sixers could certainly use Bjelica’s floor spacing, as they currently rank bottom-three in the league in three-point attempts and three-point makes per game, and swapping out the expiring salary of Mike Scott and one of their many future second round picks could be perfectly satisfying for Monte McNair. Miami could take a similar course of action with a guy like Meyers Leonard, whose contract is a team option next year, but they own only the less favorable of Denver and Philly’s 2022 second rounder and their own 2027 second round pick. They may struggle to meet Sacramento’s requirements for Nemanja’s services.
The Warriors are probably the most challenging trade partner for Monte McNair, as their salaries don’t match up particularly well with Nemanja Bjelica’s. They would either have to send two or three players Sacramento’s way, some of whom are currently important rotational contributors for Golden State, or the two-team transaction would need to be expanded as part of a larger deal. And finally, Milwaukee would make a lot of sense for a sharpshooter like Bjelica, and the Bucks could send back non-factors such as Torrey Craig and DJ Wilson, while also throwing in a future second rounder to properly compensate Sacramento.
As the trade deadline grows closer, the number of NBA rumors and smoke machines will only grow, but suffice it to say names like Harrison Barnes and Nemanja Bjelica will draw plenty of attention in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for additional updates!
What does it say when multiple contending team have interest in Nemanja, but Walton can seem to find constant rotational minutes for the floor stretching big?
To be fair to Walton, I’m not sure he’s been allowed to play Bjelica as much as he would like.
Eh? How do you mean? Is he being told by brass to not play him?
Yes.
That’s what Amick described in his interview with CD.
Ah, I didn’t hear that interview. Is there a reason behind it?
Competing interests in the FO. Vivek/Dumars/Vivek’s son/Monty.
Same ole shit!
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
(lightly paraphrased quotes from Amick on CD’s show this morning:
About Monte’s relationship with Dumars:
“The one thing that should be said is in terms of how Monte has approached the job he’s had a very positive outlook on all of it, and Monte himself sees Joe as somebody he values and appreciates having around”
On Aneel’s involvement:
“Aneel has been focused on a lot of other stuff and not as involved as he was a year ago.”
On Vivek’s meddling:
“it feels like there’s a correlation between [I believe Aneel taking a lesser role?] and Joe kinda giving Vivek a person to constantly talk with about the team. Vivek always needs that outlet in some form.”
On Ainge trading for Barnes:
“do we go all in for a big name and really empty the cupboards in terms of assets to try to get back into title contention right now. Or to we go to plan B which is somebody like Harrison Barnes, who can really help us, but that we could get with much less, and the cupboard wouldn’t be bare. So if you’re the Kings do you want to play that role?”
(there was also a part about what deals are available versus what deals would Vivek actually sign off on for his faves like Barnes and Buddy)
On trading Buddy:
“I did not get the sense that there’s going to be a robust market. The main reason is the length of his deal”
In addition (and I hope this isn’t true), Sam said that Vivek may balk at a Buddy and/or Barnes deal b/c he has a personal connection to them… Good god.
Buddy sucks on defense, has low bbiq, and has shot poorly this year. He isn’t even a one-way player this year. He is overpaid. I’m not sure what team wants that. Not even the Kings.
If he finds his shooting touch, like he did against the *akers, then perhaps there is some hope. I imagine any trade will involve receiving another bad contract though.
Sometimes I think Buddy is Ben McLemore with a little better 3 point shot
They basically want to see what they have in Bagley.
LOL, by benching him in the 4th quarter of games? They could play Bagley 35 minutes a night (he’s only getting about 25) and there would still be time for Nemanja.
Totally agree abt benching Bagley in the 4th.
Benching Bjelly opens up developmental minutes for Bagley, and mitigates the risk of an injury that would tank Bjelly’s trade value.
This is a solid point.
Good point
This is probably good policy, since Bjelica always appears to be on the “dad bod” workout and nutrition plan.
Bjelica is the unimpressive-looking guy at the gym who absolutely schools the young, Adonis-like Bagleys of the world because he actually knows basketball.
No doubt.
Back doors and up-and-unders all day long.
Yeah, it’s definitely a mixed message. But it could be a sign the HC is only so much on board with the FO’s wishes.
cognitive dissonance. He wants to play and develop Bagley but around crunch time the desire to win overwhelms Bagley’s developmental needs.
“Hi, I’m a pretzel.”
or the coaches and front office are in agreement that the best way to develop Bagley is to give him plenty of minutes in low leverage situations, but make him earn his spot with the closers.
That they believe we have closers is fairly amusing. 😉
ok how bout “best 5-man lineup?” And to be clear, the other 4 starters plus Haliburton has been one of the best lineups in the NBA so far this season.
For sure. I can’t get too excited about the 5 man lineups quite yet, since the samples are still very small.
Plus, Barnes and Hield (and probably Holmes) are unlikely to be on this team over the longer haul. Seems smarter to throw Bagley into the fire, IMO.
150 minutes probably isn’t enough to be predictive, but I think it’s enough to say if it ain’t not broke, don’t fix it. Also, there’s just a lot of competing interests. What’s good for Bagley’s development, may be bad for Fox and/or Haliburton’s development. If Fox/Haliburton are the future, then they have to be thinking about the type of players they work well with. Right now it seems like that’s a shooter, big wing, and rim running 5.
Thats probably a better way of saying what I tried to say.
Ding, ding, ding.
I still find that hard to believe, since that is really enmcroaching on the authority of the coach.
I could see it if there was a trade-off, and that could be a handshalke deal to keep Walton on for the rest of the season.
I still want to pose this question to Jerry: will a GM try to impose his will on a coach about rotations, and will a coach allow that?
Didn’t Hinkie/McNair do that in Houston when they acquired CP3. Didn’t they suggest/dictate minutes and rotations to D’Antoni?
There is a difference between making suggestions to a guy you hired and colobarate with versus telling who to sit and play against a guy you did not hire and who knows he’s on the hot seat.
There’s dozens of examples of players being healthy scratches because the team is planning on trading them. Just look at ZBo he went from leading the team in scoring to playing zero minutes the following season.
I believe the word is “encrotching.”
Yeah, there have been some weird reports about that, including from Amick.
JA had that article about how restricting Bjelly’s minutes was part of McNair’s plan to build around Fox as well.
Do you have a link to that article? I’d like to understand how benching a floor spreader is going to help Fox. Isn’t he better with shooters around him?
Here it is. But Amick was the one that specifically said that McNair essentially told Walton to cut Bjelly’s minutes.
It means the entire universe can see that Bagley isn’t a good player but he gets the minutes because #kangz
So very myopic.
As he should.
Otis/Andy, I know I’m a big fan of brevity but these short responses are hard to follow. ð. Keep in mind I expect to be disagreed with and that shit doesn’t bother me at all.
My favorite subplot of this season is your desire to see the Kings lose as many games as possible, along with your disdain for giving minutes to a guy who (in your opinion) would help the Kings lose as many games as possible. 🙂
FYI, I’ve never once complained about Bagley getting minutes. I’ve complained about the narrative that he’s worth building around.
Hmmm…ok then. I swear that’s not the impression I get from your comments, but could be misinterpreting.
I, too, am struggling with that impression Marty. I don’t think wanting Bagley on the court is a bad thing at all. He should be on the court IMO.
Also, I’m seeing small but incremental improvement.
It could mean that while Bjelica getting minutes in Sacramento doesn’t necessarily advance the team’s goals, he is the kind of player who could advance the goals of a different team.
“What does it say when multiple friends of yours want a slice of your pizza, but you won’t eat any more of it because you’re full?”
Honestly.
If there’s any validity to the rumors, it says we should move him soon for whatever we can get. It also says there’s no use giving veterans who have no future with the Kings playing time that should go toward evaluating and developing our young players.
Then explain Cory Joseph.
The only thing I can say about Joseph is this. He has his limitations and he’s not a fit for the Kings and he’s overpaid BUT he does work his ass off and he has a great attitude. Maybe Walton wants to reward that.
Maybe, but it doesn’t fit with the reported narrative that the Kings are benching a vet like Nemanja in favor of a youth movement.
Joseph doesn’t have standalone trade value. They probably aren’t going to get much to help build around Fox unless he’s included as salary filler.
It does fit when Walton wants to send a message that he’s going to reward effort and attitude especially when there’s so much negativity. I don’t see a lot of passion in Bjelica’s game right now although he’s had patchy success. I also havent seen anything from James in terms of either passion or performance so frankly I’d release him. There was some irrational exuberance going around about Jeffries and I still play him but he’s showing his limitations. You know we all focus on the top of our drafts which haven’t been good but our performance in the second round has also been abysmal. I realize second rounders are a long shot but you’d like to think we’d get something serviceable at some point. We had Trent jr and traded that pick for some inexplicable reason.
Give it time. Woodard is showing some really good moments in the bubble before the injury.. Hopefully after the trade deadline he could get some burn with the main club.
Miami can fit Bjelly into their $7.5 million TPE.
You are very correct. I had that in my notes to include, and then I just…didn’t?
Yeah, i think that one makes a lot of sense, but Miami doesn’t really have ay future assets to trade. All of their own 2nd rounders are spoken for through 2026. All they have the less favorable 2nd rounder of Philly or Denver in 2022, and that is gonna be in the 50’s. All that being said, I wouldn’t mind a KZ Okpala.
The Sixers also have an $8.1MM TPE.
Others over $1MM for current playoff competitors.
Celtics – 28.5, 4.7, 2.5
Pacers – 4.7, 2.8
Jazz – 3.5, 5.0
Clippers – 3.5, 1.4, 1.9
Blazers – 2.3, 2.3, 1.7
Nuggets – 9.5, 3.3, 1.8
Warriors – 2.1, 1.6, 1.8, 1.9, 1.6
Grizz – 4.1, 1.8
Bjelica to PHI for Paul Reed and/or the 2021 NYK 2nd seems like a natural fit.
Sure does, but can a team trade a rostered player for a two-way player?
That would mean the Kings can’t trade anyone on the roster.
yes but we potentially have to cut one of our 2 way guys
Or could we upgrade one of them or Reed to a full NBA deal? Either way, I’m fine. I’d rather have Reed than either of our 2-way guys.
LOL I just made this:
I would love to get Paul Rudd, great in Anchorman!
The best part is he never ages so we can have him for an infinite amount of time.
The Paul Rudd fan boyz have arrived:
I love the edit when he was eating with himself lol
Who in the SAM HELL is Paul Reed?
google Paul Reed highlights. He’s fun as hell. Also, he’s been killing it in the G League. 22/11/2/2/2 plus shooting 44% on almost 4 threes a game. His shot looks like it fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down, but it goes in!
And he’s all energy, all the time. He probably needs to focus more on positioning and tame the whirlwind a bit, but he’s an impact defender and rim-runner.
speaking of all energy, all the time check out this sick steal and windmill dunk by my boy Trev Queen:
Yeah, Trev just started getting some real minutes. You know I’m a fan.
You had me at “he’s killing it”. Pretty lengthy too. Where does he sign???
We’re going trading! Come on …
Can we trade Walton?
Yes, but the Kings would have to send him with multiple picks.
And a ball gag.
Let’s hope the kings are on the correct side of buy low, sell high.
They’ll try to sweeten the deal with some $GME shares.
The Celtics beat writer on The Athletic did mention Buddy as a potential trade, but discussed the amount of money still owed compared to his diminishing production.
So there has been no rumors at all since early December about Buddy Hield. I’ve been saying it, he’s untradeable at this point especially if the Kings are trying to get good value (either a promising young player or a 1st rounder). Even if he goes to the bench, teams aren’t committing to take on 3 years $60 mill plus for a 6th man.
If we think that Buddy has value just because he can shoot than we are insulting NBA scouts all around the league. They aren’t casuals like Shaq, they watch our games and see no IQ, no ability to dribble for more than 3 steps, no mid range or rim attacking and atrocious defense just like we do. No one is giving up anything of value for a $21 million Tim Hardaway Jr type, who btw is a better player at this time. We’re stuck with him unless we juat take anything to get rid of that contract.
Nobody is untradeable, but your caveat is important. We’d have to take back a similarly overpaid player, although maybe we get out from under a year of Buddy.
That’s why I do the eye roll at the remaining Sixers/Buddy talk. Anyone watch the Sixers recently and think they need to push Seth aside for Buddy?
Now, if Buddy wants to come off the bench and stand in the corner that would friggin awesome, but his contract suggests that’s too small a role for the Sixers to lose valuable assets for.
I was wondering the same. Does Buddy do anything better than Seth Curry in how it relates to the Sixers success? I don’t think so. Buddy would be an expensive redundancy for them.
Seth has high BBIQ so it would be stupid. So do Shake and Maxey actually. They’re committed at this point to follow Embiid’s second half FT dominance, so far so good. I worry is this is a championship level strategy, but it is a skill, and he does turn that shit on and off which has been awesome to watch this year.
It makes no sense at this point for Buddy, the Sixers are dialed in. They could use a Redick for sure, but that ain’t Buddy’s contract.
I think Nemanja could be of use to them, but that is about it from the Kings perspective.
I don’t disagree but Dwight has also had an impact. His unit comes in and holds the fort defensively, the starters come back in and dominate. It’s been happening all year so I really question how much of the apple cart they’re willing to upset. They do rely heavily on Harris to score when the starters are out so I suppose he could alleviate some pressure there, IDK.
I rely heavily on Harris to score in my fantasy league. Can you pull some strings and get him back on the court please?
It won’t help when playing against the juggernaut of Kyle Kuzma and De’Anthony Melton.
LOL, you left out Steph!
It’s an interesting season, isn’t it? I’m just hoping to get through tonight without getting too far behind you, as KD and Siakim are due back after the break.
he’s pretty good too. I just checked and I have 5 players that are either DTD or OUT. We really should’ve added an extra IR spot for this season.
Agreed, there have been very few times this season when I didn’t have multiple players in an Out status.
The all-star break can’t come soon enough for me. I have 3 guys out and 1 suspended at the moment. At least a couple of them should be back after the break.
Another layer is Buddy can be a 6th man but is he one of your 5 at the end of the 4th quarter?
For the Kings? Yes.
For a contender like the 76ers? Hell no.
It is kind of crazy to have one of your best shooters out there at the end of games when you’re trying, I guess, to win them.
Even I can’t bang on Failson for this. The Sixers having more talent 1-10 than the Kings is hardly the kind of thing that you can use to tar Buddy’s likely role as a sixth man in Philly or another superior team.
If Milwaukee wants Bjelica, DiVincenzo absolutely has to be part of that deal. They screwed us last summer.
Aside from cap relief relating to Boston’s trade exception, is there any other tangible benefit to Sacramento? Cap space machinations are not remotely my strong point, but with the expirings at season’s end, and being clear of the Bogdan overpay, my assumption was that the Kings would have a decent amount of flexibility in that regard. I think that the current projected cap space is almost $31 million, which I assume includes Bjelica’s salary falling off, so to move Barnes would up that to about $51 million. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Sacramento might be able to put most or all of that to use in free agency.
(I must reiterate, I barely understand how the cap stuff works, so any guidance/corrections are welcomed.)
A team in the luxury tax would benefit from taking back Boston’s exception, but a team with a relatively low payroll would seem to only be lowering the quality of the roster, and getting back only the theoretical ability to sign expensive free agents.
I guess I’m saying that I think Barnes is worth some combination of picks and/or young talent. He can be a difference-maker on a playoff time. Things can be so volatile during a playoff run, and part of what Barnes provides is steadiness. He’s the kind of player who can be counted on to contribute, even when his shot isn’t falling, since his game is so well-rounded. That’s worth something tangible in return.
I think one often overlooked gain from trading a player like Barnes or Nemanja into another team’s TPE is the that it will also create a TPE for the Kings. There is the cap benefit of trading those salaries for less money in return, but also that year long TPE that can be of value later down the road.
For instance, trading Barnes into Boston’s TPE and only taking on minimal salary, like Nesmith, gives the Kings a fat TPE of around $18M for a calendar year.
My hope: Barnes for Nesmith (which also creates a TPE for Sac) and a protected 1st. Those are 3 future assets for Barnes, IMO.
That seems like a reasonable ask.
With this explanation, I get it now. And I would assume that since TPEs move around that way, it would bring more contenders (who tend to be cash-strapped) to the table trying to gain it for themselves. That could mean gaining a solid player for little on our end.
From my understanding TPEs are created when a team sends out far more money than they take back, under normal trade cap rules. This is done with a team that either has large amounts of cap space to absorb said contract or has a TPE of their own. The last time the Kings did a move like this, but foolishly let the TPE expire, was when they let IT go for nothing in a S&T to PHX. I think that TPE was around $7M.
Ah, that trade exception…it had so much potential!!
Don’t forget Alex Oriakhi!
And it’s sad that I can spell his name without hesitation.
Oriakhi is now just forty years away from being 2 years away from social security!
That TPE wasn’t that big Adam. It was like 3 million. One of the many travesties in how IT22 walked.
…and anything that helps them move up. I’d like to see their potential #8 from this year packaged to move up, significantly. I’m no GM but this is where my brain is.
Holmes fits in under that TPE to give more to us, and we could ask for another piece like Langford or Grant Williams
When you have something credible and specific put it out, otherwise………
IDK, Shams fills an important void for us. Our locals have a line to our FO only, and not the league. We kind of rely heavily on Shams and Woj to report the whisperings outside of G1C.
Got one. Buddy and Bags to the C’s for Nesmith, RW3, and Daniel Theis. Maybe Bjelly fits in there ð¤ð¤ð¤
Seems like overpaying to me.
What??? The players we’re getting back are way better than what we have now. Let me fix this.
Fox, Hali, CoSlow
Hali/Nesmith, Guy
Barnes, Nesmith, Woodard
RW3, Parker, Woodard
Holmes, Theis, Whiteside
I think one more move is made for a combo guard. Finding a good pick won’t be too difficult. The draft is pretty loaded. I believe more stars will emerge than thought. We can move Whiteside. RW3 plays center as well. The rim protection would be crazy.
When we run Fox, Nesmith, Barnes, RW3, and Holmes, that will be the phi slamma jamma 2.0. Those cats got hops!
no picks no thanks.
Marty you’re a playahater .
They’re on the record for prioritizing defense and versatility. Hield certainly doesn’t do that, and I’m not sure what Bagley does for them.
I am trying my DAMNEST to get them outta here.
Maybe on some hopeful shit, but I can actually see Bags ballin for Boston.
I continue to believe that the Kings absolutely should move Barnes because this is probably the highest his value is ever going to be. He’s a big wing having a solid season that’s an outlier and if it’s true that multiple teams are interested then there’s an opportunity to have a couple teams bidding against each other. I’m guessing we’ll know a lot more about what kind of GM Monte is in the next couple weeks.
Agree. Well said.
I think we should keep Barnes. He’s our glue guy and probably the most versatile. He’s Doug Christie. Not that Doug Christie, but that Doug Christie.
I agree he’s a glue guy and very Christie-like in that sense. That said, Doug Christie was so valuable to that team because he was “the” missing piece in the starting lineup that took them from “fun team” to “championship caliber.” Guys like that have way more value to teams that are already good. To bad teams like the current Kangz, they may be glue, but what are they holding together, exactly?
I agree with this in general, but it’s also worth noting that Christie was a significantly better defender and ball handler.
Definitely a better defender but limited. Christie could lock down maybe 1-3. Depending on the line up, Barnes could guard 1-5. Barnes is stronger, and can play outside in.
Now I ABSOLUTELY loved Christie for the Kings. Especially hairless Christie. That dude could ball and will knock your ass out…see Rick Fox. Point is, they are both glue men, it’s just Christie was surrounded by ultra talented players.
Christie guarded 1-3 at an elite level. Barnes guards big forwards and small 5s at a pretty decent level.
This is a case where the further Christie gets from retirement the more his legend grows with Kings fans. To say Christie was an elite defender is being really generous. Kobe was an elite defender and Christie was a far cry from that. As for Barnes, take a look at his numbers when Dallas traded him to us for basically nothing. I think we’ve been watching Buddy play defense for too long because I wouldn’t call Barnes anymore than an average defender.
Christie was an elite defender. He was on the All-Defense 1st Team 1x & the 2nd Team 3x; he deserved those accolades.
Larry Hughs was all defense first team and John Stockton was constantly on the second team. I wouldn’t call either of those guys elite and neither was Doug. Good and elite are big differences. Elite is for the select few.
What is the “glue” holding together at the moment?
I believe the answer is a wet dump.
Touche
Can we just trade CoJo already? He’s the fucking worst
Unless, he’s part of a bigger deal, you’d probably have to attach assets or taken on money to unload him right now. They’re better off just waiting till the offseason, giving him his $2.4MM guaranteed, and releasing him.
This is why I never got overly excited about the idea of DiVincenzo. Sometimes we expect way too much out of role players who excel on really good basketball teams.
Definitely, though I think DiVicenzo has a broader skillset and more upside than Joseph did. I think he’s easier to fit into variety of lineups in productive ways.
Ya I know it’s not very feasible – more of pipe dream at this point
The 3 guard (for lack of a better description) lineups continue to produce the most success for the Kings. The starting lineup also continues to have a plus 7 positive rating. Of course all stats in a vacuum can be misleading.
Barnes, .R. Holmes, .B. Hield, .D. Fox, .T. Haliburton Net Rating +16.8
Whiteside, .C. Joseph, .H. Barnes, .B. Hield, .T. Haliburton Net rating + 14
Joseph, .H. Barnes, .R. Holmes, .D. Fox, .T. Haliburton Net rating + 12.6
Joseph, .G. Robinson III, .B. Hield, .C. Metu, .T. Haliburton Net rating + 20.3 That’s a strange one.
Whiteside, .H. Barnes, .B. Hield, .D. Fox, .T. Haliburton Net rating + 4.3
copy/paste
I notice that Haliburton is the common component of all of those lineups. Probably not a coincidence.
I think that’s the big takeaway from that.
How about Bjelica and a second rounder to the Knicks for Keven Knox. He’s only 21 years old and maybe worth a low compensation flyer. Then move Barnes and Guy to Boston for Pritchard and their first round pick. Then move Buddy to Orlando for Gordon and Mo Bamba. Go into the offseason with Fox, Haliburton, Pritchard, Knox, Bagley, Gordon, Jeffries, Woodard, Bamba, two first round picks and a little more cap space. Offer Holmes 2 yrs. 15mil. We end up younger, cheaper, deeper, better and more exciting.
Whats up everyone. Long-time reader first time poster. I heard this trade floated on a Miami heat podcast that they would do. Not sure if it’s already been discussed but I’m checking to get yalls thoughts on it.
Badge Legend