We’re deep in the summer doldrums now, but Kings basketball is now just a month away. Still, there’s been some tidbits regarding the Kings recently so let’s play a little catch up.
Darius Acuff and fellow young Kings at Rico Hines runs
Former Kings assistant Rico Hines has long been famous for his offseason summer pick-up games that he hosts at UCLA. This year, it seems like half of the Kings roster has been in attendance. Darius Acuff Jr. is obviously the biggest draw, but Nique Clifford, Emanuel Sharp, Alex Karaban, Dylan Cardwell, Jonathan Mogbo and Adam Flagler are all also in attendance. It’s nice to see the young Kings already working out and playing together, building up some chemistry for the upcoming season. Here’s over 30 minutes of highlights from the run. Acuff in particular looks pretty smooth.
The Raynau-ssance continues
Max Raynaud’s summer with the French National Team has continued as he’s scored 13 points in both of his second round qualifying games against Slovenia and Sweden. He was particularly good against Sweden as he went 6/7 from the field including 1/1 from three. Raynaud is playing with both Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama, and this has to be a great experience for him. Raynaud will likely start the season coming off the bench despite starting so much last year (his fit with Sabonis wouldn’t be the best), but it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s even more efficient as a result. Also just being around guys like Wemby and Gobert should hopefully help with his defensive IQ (even if he doesn’t possess nearly the same length those guys do).
Jalen Duren situation still unresolved
Free Agency is mostly over and done with, but one of the earliest question marks has yet to be resolved with Jalen Duren still refusing to sign Detroit’s offer. The two sides continue to be far apart, but Duren has little leverage aside from threatening to sign the qualifying offer and waiting for next season when teams (like the Kings) will have actual space to sign him outright. Anthony Slater recently mentioned on the Hoop Collective with Brian Windhorst that Kings GM Scott Perry has Duren’s name “marked in highlighter” for the 2027 offseason if he does opt to go that route. However, I have my doubts that Duren will turn down what is likely going to be a $175 million payday. Just look at the Jonathan Kuminga situation to see how this can go very, very poorly. Kuminga was reportedly offered a 3 year, $75 million extension from the Warriors last summer, only to turn it down and sign a two-year $48.5 million deal with a player option, which he exercised only to find that interest had dwindled this year. He ended up signing another one-and-one deal this summer with the Timberwolves, but for just $12.4 million total. No matter how his agent spins it, that decision probably cost Kuminga at least $45 million.
Sabonis angling to leave?
Also in that same podcast, Brian Windhorst mentions how Domantas Sabonis changes agents this summer to Aaron Mintz at CAA. Mintz and CAA have just recently facilitated the exits of Trae Young and Walker Kessler from their respective teams, so Windhorst speculates that Sabonis could be trying to do the same thing. For what it’s worth, I don’t doubt the Kings would be very willing to move Sabonis elsewhere if they could, it would just have to make sense and the problem is that there aren’t a ton of teams that want Sabonis at his current price. That’s why a potential deal with the Raptors broke down last season, and why the Pistons don’t want to accept Sabonis in return for Duren in a sign-and-trade. Sabonis is a very good player, but he’s also a player with very specific weaknesses that need to be accounted for. Now that his contract only has two years left on it, perhaps a deal will seem more palatable to someone. Sabonis also only played 19 games last season due to injury, so he’ll have a chance to rehabilitate his value this season if he can stay on the court and play at the high level we are used to seeing from him.
Ben Simmons to Sac?
The Kings still have two empty roster spots, and now that they have opted to stretch DeMar DeRozan’s $10 million cap hit over three years, they have some room under the tax to operate to get their final pieces. We’ve previously heard about the Kings looking at adding another veteran guard, but one of them might be a player who hasn’t played in nearly two years: Ben Simmons. Simmons took the year off last year to become a professional fisherman, won a championship at that, and now wants to make an NBA return. Scott Perry and the Kings were in attendance at a Simmons workout recently, and now rumors say that he has been spotted in Sacramento recently.
Simmons doesn’t have the same allure as he once did, and is now 30 years old but he still intrigues me much more than the other names I’ve heard mentioned (Cam Payne, Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton). We all know that Simmons can’t shoot, but what he has always been able to do is pass and defend, and he’s also huge at 6’10, meaning the Kings who are always short on wings could slot him as a secondary playmaker with guys like Acuff, Zach Lavine and Malik Monk. His fit makes sense here, and he wouldn’t have the same type of pressure that he had early on in his career. Even if it’s just a stopgap solution for guard/wing depth, it’s a swing I’d make over adding another retread.
OT: I think I’m okay with the penalty the Clips get for the Leonard situation.
Kawhi’s $700,000.00 fine is a bit light though.
“Based on his 2026–27 NBA base salary of $50,300,000, it takes Kawhi Leonard approximately five days to make $700,000.” per ABC7 Bay Area. It would be like being fined a little less than $1,400 if earning a $100,000 annual salary.
No word on whether he has to give up the $28 million from the no-show contract (or even more potentially paid to him through the Clippers’ “consulting fees” contracts). So, I guess he only made $27.3 all told from the deal?
Finally! The ghost of David Stern must’ve visited Silver in the night.
Heh, and here’s the Clippers’ response:
“I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgement by people in my inner circle…”
Kawhi should be a politician. Accepting responsibility while still blaming others.
KL is a POS for not accepting responsibility. And you said it well, he comes off like a politician and Lord knows everyday Americans are sick and tired of them and their BS.
Why is it when incredibly rich people get caught doing bad things they claim it’s all rigged?
The reality is, they got incredibly rich because it’s all rigged in their favor.
They are all just a bunch of petty children who wanna take their ball on go home when they don’t win.
Eat the rich.
Amen brother!
The older I’m getting, I realize that nice guys really do finish last. Seems like being a POS gets you farther in life.
I have to give Silver his flowers here, this surprised me. I do not respect Silver for the direction he has taken the league (which has generally been a middle finger to fans and a big hug to corporate gambling interests), but he got this one right.
He was forced to. Because of Pablo Torre, and actual journalism, which keeps getting crushed by Rich folk,
the powers that be and those in the White House.,
Silver tried to ignore it, but he couldn’t. This country needs journalism back. And journalist. The only checks we have for these powerful assholes.
So in my quick interwebs looking the 5 picks are for 2029 first round pick from Indy (it won’t convey and Indy doesn’t get it back), 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033 first rounders of their own.
Their 2027 first is locked in a pick swap with OKC, which goes back to the SGA trade.
Their 2028 has already been traded away.
The Clips 2033 first rounder from Toronto is still pending on the Leonard trade.
That means the Clips don’t have control of their first round picks until 2034. LOL. Suck it Ballmer.
Adding, it kind of sucks the for players association as those later draft pick penalties means one less guaranteed salary those years.
I say give the Clips picks, regardless of where they land in the draft, to the worst team in the league. Don’t punish dudes coming out of college with one less team to go to.
Or they could be used as a reward for winning the IST. There are enough picks for 5 years of a high quality asset being the incentive for fans and teams to care about the tourney.
A buddy of mine is a lifelong Spurs fan (all the way back to the Ice Man), and on draft night last year he was bemoaning the Spurs passing on Raynaud in the 2nd round. He would have been a nice fit for them.
Maxine when he realized the Spurs could’ve drafted him and was taken by the Kings instead:
Of all the rumored vet guys Kings have been linked to, Simmons intrigues me the most. I think he could easily get slotted in as a point forward and used in a Draymond Green type role. He fills a lot of holes: play making, ball handling, defense, and length on the wing. The Kings don’t need scorers, they need guys who bring the intangibles that make those around them better.
Kick those tires if he’s willing to take the vet minimum.
Agree, seems he could be a great fit with Acuff, Sabonis and Keegan . Has the skills to cover their weak points and help each . Just hope he actually wants to play .
The more I think of it, the more I kind of like the idea of adding Simmons. He’s got something to prove, is still young, has the skills (in theory) that the Kings need. Low risk and potentially a high reward.
“…is still young,…”
He just turned 30, but certainly hasn’t played in nearly as many games as a typical 30-yr old vet.
Looks like Simmons is indeed coming to the Kings.
Ben Simmons the max player has glaring flaws and not something I would want to be a cornerstone of the franchise.
Ben Simmons the vet min player has tons of upside and skills and could easily get minutes on this team.
Sure, might as well.
Yup, exactly how I see it.
These are the types of moves the Kangz should be making but never do, so kudos to SP. Buy low on players that have a decent shot at outperforming their contract.
I think that’s important here. It’s a one year vet minimum. The Kings had to give it to someone to get to 14 and I think Ben has the best shot at out performing that deal. Who knows, if he does really well his play and contract could have significant value come the deadline. On the flip side, if he can’t stay on the court and becomes a problem, simply cut him.
Agreed. Best fit of the rumored guys they were considering IMO
It’s a good move for him – zero worries of flaming out in a playoff game. And I’ll set the health over/under at 45 games.
Totally off the grid Sacramento Kings takes a lot of pressure off him as well. The media here certainly isn’t going to provide much heat. Expectations are as low as possible.
Agreed, I weirdly think he’ll be a solid player on this roster and playing in the obscurity of Sac should help him a lot.
Plus it adds some intrigue to the season as the only other interesting players on this roster are Max and Acuff.
I might start Acuff, Zach, Keegan, Ben & Domas
Reports: Ben Simmons agrees to one-year deal with Kings | NBA.com
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