NBA free agency – there’s nothing like it. Each year, we as Kings fans pine for an established, good player to sign in Sacramento, and when that inevitably fails, we hope that a bargain-bin contributor will sign for a steal and somehow outperform their contract, a la Richaun Holmes a couple of seasons ago. This offseason, the Kings are in a bit of a different spot, as they won’t have any cap space to sling at veterans who will hopelessly underperform to their contract level (glares in Dewayne Dedmon), meaning exceptions and trades will be Monte McNair’s primary tools to improve a roster in desperate need of a talent infusion.
Cap Sheet
Before diving into what avenues of spending are available to the front office, it’s important to note why Sacramento won’t have the ability to go out and sign a Miles Bridges or Deandre Ayton to a max deal. When first glancing at the cap sheet, it seems as if the Kings should be able to find some flexibility in the marketplace. Their total guaranteed salaries as of this moment are around $103 million, well shy of the $122 million cap set earlier this year. There are the non-guaranteed salaries of Trey Lyles ($2.6 million) and Chimezie Metu ($1.9 million) to consider, and with Lyles’ late-season performance and Metu’s relationship with Mike Brown, fans should expect one or both of those players to return to Sacramento next season, especially with their low-cost deals.
With that pair of contracts pushing the Kings to around $108 million in salary, the Kings also have several significant cap holds on the books. Prior to some adjustments to the CBA in recent years, teams were able to wait on rookie deals to generate additional cap space, but that’s no longer the case. Unsigned first round picks account for 120% of their standard rookie-scale salary, putting Keegan Murray at an $8 million hold, pushing the Kings to $116 million in accounted salary.
In addition to Murray’s salary, the Kings will also be dealing with holds from pending free agents. While several aren’t expected to garner any interest to return to the team, Donte DiVincenzo, Damian Jones, and Neemias Queta could all be interesting re-sign candidates for the front office. Damian Jones’ ($1.8 million) and Neemias Queta’s ($1.6 million) cap holds are incredibly low, but the same cannot be said for DiVincenzo. If the Kings wish to retain his restricted free agent rights, and therefore the ability to match any offers from other teams, Sacramento must keep his hold on the books, which is an eye-opening $14 million. At that point, the Kings will be well, well over the cap line.
Of course, there is always the theory that the Kings could do everything in their power to create cap space for a Miles Bridges or whoever, but that path isn’t particularly realistic or helpful. If Monte McNair was dead set on shaving off as much salary as possible, he could cut Chimezie Metu and Trey Lyles, renounce all of his free agents, and even stretch the salary of a player like Maurice Harkless. If all of that happened, the Kings would be assessed three cap holds of $1 million apiece for empty roster spots, putting their total cap hold at about $111 million. And while all of that sounds executable in theory, Sacramento would be down to nine rostered players and would possess just $11 million in cap space, as well as the room mid-level exception, which starts at $5.3 million and can total 2 years, $11 million. Conversely, if they remain above the cap, they’ll have access to the non-taxpayer MLE, the bi-annual exception, and they’ll have Trey Lyles, Chimezie Metu, and Maurice Harkless on the roster, as well as still hold the rights to Donte DiVincenzo, Damian Jones, and oNeemias Queta. Operating above the cap is the only sensible option for Sacramento.
Restricted Free Agents
As was mentioned, the Kings hold the restricted free agent rights for Donte DiVincenzo and Neemias Queta. Assuming that Sacramento is willing to keep both of their cap holds on the books, the Kings will control the right of first refusal for both players, meaning they can match any contracts offered by any other teams for either contributor, and that player will return to Sacramento with the exact terms of that contract. The Kings don’t need available cap space for those players to return, and the front office can also negotiate new deals with those players without them ever entering contractual talks with other teams.
The only exception to the above rule is if DiVincenzo or Queta decide to take the qualifying offer, which is an incredibly rare occurrence. In that case, the player would be granted a one-year contract at a specified amount ($6.6 million for DiVincenzo and $1.6 million for Queta), and once that contract expired, that player would enter unrestricted free agency the following offseason. For DiVincenzo, a player still coming back from a serious injury who is seeking his first big payday, the qualifying offer doesn’t make much sense, while Queta would only be able to take the Q.O. if the Kings offered it to retain his restricted free agency, which may not be the case. Sacramento can also revoke the Q.O. at any time if they wish to open up a roster spot or for whatever other reason.
Unrestricted Free Agents
The Kings also have several unrestricted free agents hitting the market. The two players to likely capture the interest of Sacramento’s front office are Jeremy Lamb, who came over in the Domantas Sabonis trade, and Damian Jones, who stepped up in Richaun Holmes’ absence last season, eventually usurping his minutes as Holmes struggled when he returned. For Lamb, the Kings hold Bird Rights, which would allow them to re-sign him to any contract amount, up to the maximum amount, for up to five years. As with all of the other exceptions, Sacramento would not need cap space to use Bird Rights for Lamb’s contract.
Jones is a bit of a different case, as he has only been with the Kings for two years, which is a season short of full Bird Rights. Instead, the front office can offer him a contract using Early Bird Rights. While the terms aren’t as flexible as those listed above, securing a player of Jones’ level should be relatively east with Early Bird Rights, assuming they want him back and he wants to come back. The exception will allow Sacramento to re-sign Jones to a deal worth either 120% of his previous contract, which would be a starting salary of around $2.3 million, or the Kings could offer a contract at 104.5% of league-average salary, which would grant a starting salary of up to $12 million in the first season, and in either case, the new deal could go for up to four years.
Spending Exceptions
With cap space out of the question and with the different restricted and unrestricted free agents sorted out, the last opportunity for Sacramento to spend some cash is with salary cap exceptions, of which they’ll control two.
The first, and the biggest, is the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. The Kings will be able to allocate $10,349,000 toward the MLE, and while the MLE cannot be combined with other exceptions (like the bi-annual exception or a traded player exception), it can be split among multiple players. In short, the Kings can offer one player a contract of up to 4 years, $44.5 million or they can split that up into two or three deals for lower-level contributors. Sacramento can also hold onto part or all of the exception to spend later on the year if players become available after being stretched or waived or whatever may be the case.
In addition to the MLE, the Kings will also have access to the bi-annual exception. As the name indicates, the BAE can only be used every other year, and the exception also triggers a hard cap for any team using it, although that likely wouldn’t cause any concerns for the Kings this season. The bi-annual exception is a much smaller tool than the MLE, as it has a starting salary of $4 million and the contract can only be two years, as opposed to four with the MLE. Typically, teams utilize the bi-annual exception when they’re targeting a player who deserves (or wants) more than the veteran minimum but who doesn’t quite deserve a chunk of the full MLE.
Assets
Outside of outright signing or re-signing players, Monte McNair’s final path toward improving the roster is trades. While this isn’t a review of potential available trades for Sacramento, understanding the team’s current assets, outside of players on the roster, can help build theoretical deals throughout the offseason.
The good news for the Kings is that they fully control all their future first round picks; there aren’t any J.J. Hickson-esque first rounders floating out there. Sacramento can trade every other first round pick in their control, up to seven years, according to the Stepien Rule. If a star player becomes available, and that team is looking for picks, the Kings hold quite a bit of flexibility in that arena.
Second round picks are also something that the Kings are swimming in, especially after Monte McNair’s draft nights moves last week. In addition to their own entire portfolio of future second rounders, the Kings also own the following trade chips: 2023 Indiana, 2024 Dallas, 2025 Portland, and 2028 Dallas. And while no combination of second rounders could ever equal the value of a single pick in the 1-30 range, second rounders can often be used to lubricate trades that are otherwise on hold, especially when value-balance is a hair off for one side. They’re the “sign up for emails for a 10% off coupon” of the NBA – perhaps not deal makers, but rather, deal sealers.
While the Kings may not possess the cap space of years past, in which they were able to throw barrels-full of cash at hopeful difference-makers, they can still make an impact in free agency through smart spending and positional targeting. Finding a backup forward or two to support Keegan Murray and Harrison Barnes, and perhaps finding a tertiary ball-handler should be the priorities for Sacramento, and their available exceptions should be enough to complete those objectives, assuming they’re aggressive in their negotiations.
Prediction: only move is a trade for Cory Joseph.
Monte kicks back in recliner, lights a cigar, and pronounces, “I’m good”
He played pretty good last time he was in town. I am sure he is on Vivek’s radar.
Joseph is a lot better player than 2020 no. 5 pick , Killian Hayes and a key to Piston beating Kings at G1 two straight seasons . Just being fair .
but but but but Kevin O’Connor/The Ringer had him number 1 on his big board for the 2020 draft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you suggesting some of these “experts” don’t know it all????????
!!!!!!!
???
!!
I think O’Connor was the only one that had him in the top 5. It was a weird infatuation that season.
Cherry picking one example. No one that covers the NBA is going to get everything right. KOC is awesome at what he does and is one of the best at covering the NBA.
TKH just analyzed and ranked all the professional “rankers” and KOC was by far the worst. Not sure that “awesome” is a fitting description.
The destruction created by a hurricane or wildfire can certainly be described as “awesome.”
As ever, happy to help!
Just trade Vivek and his family to the Warriors.
and make Anjeli World Myer’s boss.
Lol, this made my day.
This does not appear to be a strong free agent year. The best ones will all re-sign.
A few possibilities if they could be had on the less expensive side: Olidipo on a short term deal, G. Harris- the same and the Martin twins.
Kyrie opts in, what now for the Brooklyn Nets?
I have no sympathy for the Nets, because it’s not as if there was no history of Irving being a flake. Kyrie is going to be playing only for Kyrie this season, and I don’t expect that it’s going to result in particularly good basketball in Brooklyn.
If Simmons plays I think they’re a contender in the East as long as they can fill up the bench with some decent role players. Kyrie, BS and KD all have a lot to prove resepctively on a personal level.
If him and KD are on the floor for majority of the season that’ll be a fun team to watch but him and KD bring a lot of drama
Kyrie & Simmons bring even more drama.
Bold Prediction:
The Kings set up a big trade and lo and behold, it actually goes through!
No idea what that trade is: Heyward, Bridges, Collins, Bamba, Issac, Powell, Siakam, Heurter, Kennard, Randle, Dillon Brooks, Kyle Anderson – any, none, dunno.
There was the vague suggestion that trading away the 37 was part of a bigger trade. What to make of that, I have no idea.
a vague elliptical comment from Monte about open roster spot for any trades
Considering he was vaguely making some kind of point, I’m going with obtuse over elliptical…
Besides the Sabonis trade, MM hasn’t done much on the trade front even with trade chips like HB and Richaun. I don’t forsee any trades, especially with the Keegan selection rendering a Collin’s trade moot.
I count 4 guys on that list who would qualify as a “big trade.” I feel like they almost have to find some way to off-load some deals, (Holiday, Len, Harkless, Davis, in that order) so hopefully your right. I’ve had a similar feeling for quite some time. They dumped the biggest dead weight (Buddy, Bagley) in the Sabonis deal. That’s still a lot of dead salary though, with most of those guys being on reasonable contracts, and probably still able to contribute to a playoff bench (near the end). Maybe Monte can convince Vivek it’s his idea!
The best asset that Monte had was the #4 and he handled it abt as poorly as he could. It will take a miracle for him to have a decent roster going into October.
lets first give Murray a chance. The more I watch his highlights from college the more I like the pick.
Hope you’re right, but I think has been making a lot of sense in regards to the way Monte handled the build-up to the draft. Every GM knew he was in love with Keegan a month ago, and he lost all leverage. Murray alone can’t save this team. I believe that Monte could have gotten Murray/another quality lottery pick and a quality player(s) by the time draft day was done.
Just because you believe it doesn’t make it so. Only way we still got Murray was to trade with Detroit. They knew it and were willing to risk not getting Ivey because they still would of got Murray to replace Grant.
If Monte was so completely locked in on Murray, that poor kid better get this team to 50 wins this season…
That is ridiculous on many levels .
Monte hopes you’re right…but Vivek isn’t one to show patience in these situations.
What are some of the scenarios you think were available, or even feasible, that would have yielded the Kings a quality asset, along with a promising new rookie?
That’s the problem, we don’t know b/c it appears Monte only got 2 guys drafted in the top 10-15 to come here for workouts. By last Thursday, Monte should have had a list of guys he wanted between say 4-12, and what other assets he would need from those teams to move back. Instead, he locked in on Murray early and every other GM knew it.
Maybe the scouting department did their homework on the other guys, and the analytics also didn’t like those other guys in the models the King’s use?
None of us have any clue how much goes in to tracking these guys from high school on.
Murray could have been miles ahead of the others in the analytics, he fits a need as well, so why mess around and take a chance that their guy goes to someone else?
I hope you’re right and appreciate your optimism, but a starting 5 of Fox, Sabonis, Murray, DDV and Barnes (guessing here) might make the play-in this season. Getting a guy you may have slightly loved less than Murray but would have also yielded a Collins/Grant/Brogdan etc. would have likely improved the team. Who are they better than next year? Houston and OKC? And both got better in the draft.
Prioritizing next season instead of the long-term would’ve been foolish if Monte had done that. Getting Collins or Brogdon might’ve helped the long-term, but it would’ve depended on the deal.
there is no way that Collins/Grant or Brogdon would have been the asset used to move to 4.
Hawks had #16- way too big of a drop.
Portland’s offer for Grant was better than the difference between 4 and 5 and the Kings would have had to trade a real live body player to make that work. Portland used a trade exception so Detroit did not have to get a new player. They wanted a future first round pick which they got and no player and no Grant salary. Much better deal for them.
Getting Brogdon may have been possible, but he is hurt all the time and Kings would have been stuck with non-Murray, non Ivey.
That isn’t what I asked you. I’m not talking about visits, which are meaningless. I’m asking you about actual, reasonable scenarios where there was a deal possible, and I’m not talking about the garbage DC and the Knicks were throwing around.
Even with Grant, you move down a spot, you get a guy who you’re not likely to re-sign, and it costs you Harrison Barnes.
Action for action’s sake is often worthless, or worse.
Little action for action’s sake has yielded Monte what exactly in 2.5 years?
Cleaning out bad contracts, bad teammates, and upgrading the roster? Oh, and getting a better head coach. The wins have bot come yet, but he did what should have been done years ago. The process is happening
I want Gary Harris to start at the 2 for us.
I’d rather see TD start at the 2 than Harris if we’re not retaining DDV.
agree
in a sense, so what?
Either those teams did not want to deal ( they would all from 7 and below lost out on Ivey and Murray) and/or did not want to part with assets.
Monte got the guy he wanted.
There was a big drop off from Murray to below (and some say from Ivey to Murray). To still get Murray – and they really had to get a topflight player if they got the #4 pick-the only option was to trade one spot with Detroit. Detroit liked Ivey and worried about Ivey/Cade fit and liked Murray. The difference between them was not as great as any asset. So, no go. And Kings probably did tip their hand.
It would have been possible to trade down to #6 with Pacers, Ivey and Murray gone, Daniels there but the asset from Indiana would not have been worth the difference between Murray and Daniels.
I wanted Ivey but I understand this scenario.
I do not, however, understand the trade of #37 for two future picks – neither of which will be in the 30’s. Monte mumbled something about roster slots etc. but that’s bunk. There were a few guys at 37 who might have been worth the pick. Agents do not want their early second rounder picks to be 2-way players and the roster slots were close to full but not full.
I think they thought Vezenkov would come over but I frankly, doubt it.
The promising new rookie would have been Mathurin, Daniels or Davis- nowhere near the Murray caliber.
one nattering nabobs of negativism
one of…
If you’re going to quote Spiro Farking Agnew, I’m going to have to reconsider my position.
Finished. I am 100% correct.
Why aren’t you working in the front office? Let’s see all of the trades you made and your NBA trophies.
The classic lame comeback…
As you have no solutions sitting on your couch eating Doritos complaining about a GM who has had solid draft picks since he has gotten here. You are just like all the haters…… bitch and complain when you wouldn’t know what the hell to do if sat in his chair.
Without taking a side…I think you probably don’t know what this board is for. And please leave my Doritos out of your ad hominem attacks.
Although I don’t agree with it, because I’m a Kings fan, I kinda get the sentiment you are trying to express.That said, taken at face value, your comment is completely non-sensical.
God doesn’t perform miracles in the NBA. The #4 was not Monte’s best asset. Monte could have traded #4 for a future lottery protected FRP.
Taken all together, you’ve added zero to the conversation. Great job!
Always so respectful and positive.
Thanks!
Talent is as talent does.
We need talent
Kangz don’t believe in accumulating talent. Striving for mediocrity is the name of the game.
They believe in accumulating talent. However, they often struggle at identifying talent.
Very nice explainer, Tim. My brain just doesn’t seem to absorb & retain this kind of information, so I’ll use it as a reference.
I read an article today about a three way trade between the Kings, Spurs and Hawks.The Kings would get Collins with a second but would have to give up Barnes and 2 first round picks. If Monty would do this and I hope he wouldn’t I would use some but not all of said trades from above to acquire Kyle Kuzma. I did some comparisons on Collins and Kuzma and in the major stats Kuzma wins.He would play small forward and Murray power forward where with Collins it would be the opposite.Collins at this time makes over 10M a year above Kuzma’s salary. What do you think?
Kings first round picks are gold (ESPN predicts them to be #5 next year), this is a terrible deal for Collins.
When it comes to pundit trades involving the Kings, the Kings get screwed and the other teams get what they want. Go back to last week and see what the Punditry were exclaiming the Kings were going to do – Fox/Barnes and #4 for Julius Randle and #11 type garbage.
That aren’t enough grains of salt to convince me that any of these sources have anything within reasonable when it comes to Sacramento conjecture.
Hogwash. Balderdash. Poppycock.
Another reason at this point its more difficult for Monte to get decent deals…he is turning around the worst franchise in sports, including image and how other teams deal with the kings.
I mean, if he’s moonlighting as the gm of the Browns, we’re definitely boned.
I don’t think that’s likely to be true. Front offices hire professionals, and I doubt that any of them are under the impression that Monte McNair is a dope. With that in mind, a team is certainly entitled to throw a trade offer at Sacramento that would be detrimental to the Kings, but I’d think that general managers don’t much care to waste their own time, or that of their peers.
Now, Sacramento’s image among the media, and casual fans? It’s bad, and little short of getting back-to-back titles is going to change the narrative. The Kings are a lazy joke, a meme to these groups, and the ignorant don’t tend to have their minds changed very easily.
For players? I don’t really know. Sacramento, geographically, isn’t one of the top league destinations, and that is definitely a factor. Ones that are paying attention have certainly noticed that the front office has put together a pretty good group, and hired a respected head coach.
Most players, and people in general, don’t relish putting themselves in situations where they might fail, so even if Sacramento had the space to offer a max deal, a player may not want to captain a boat that’s been taking on water for a long time.
The organization has made progress in the last almost-two years, and that must continue. It’ll never be easy to get top talent to sign here, but winning will certainly help. Things are clearly better, which isn’t the same thing as saying that they’re good. Free agency will be the ultimate determinant of how the season goes, and free agency has never once been kind to the Sacramento Kings.
If summer is relatively quiet trade-wise, the ’22-23 season and beyond may hinge entirely on what happens next February as the trade deadline approaches.
Hogcock.
I agree. I would try and get Kuzma on a cheaper deal.
A truly terrible trade for Kings . Barnes is a better all round player than Collins just for starters. Ugh
I’m not a huge Collins fan and I’m definitely not advocating giving up 2 1sts plus players for him, but he’s better than Barnes and 6 years younger.
They’re both better than Kuzma though.
If you look at Kuzma’s stats compared to Collins Kuzma wins out and is 10M a year cheaper.
You’re going to have to tell me which stats you’re looking at. Because that isn’t what I find. What I do find is that Kuzma had the ball in his hands a lot more this year due to the Wizards having no other options with Beal out half the season. The only thing Kuzma is better at is passing, though he isn’t especially good at that.
Here’s a comparison of last season
Here’s a career comparison
I agree. Would rather have Kuzma than Collins.
I’d be willing to part with a ransom like that for Dejounte (maybe), but not Collins. If that was on the table, good on McNair for dismissing it.
Murray doesn’t fit with Fox so not happening. All moves are made with Fox in mind.
If you say so!
You need to explain your comment so I can get more details on why Murray won’t fit with Fox.
This take is at the top of your “most ridiculous comments ever” list. Quite the mountain this comment had to climb to achieve such great heights
I guess I did’t state the trades properly. I would rather have Kuzma than Collins.
Need to use the free agent market to replace the non NBA talent. A game changer for this team is simply elevating from D level players to C level players.
Simply competing against actual NBA talent at all levels will help build this team.
King’s have had so little talent from spots 4-15 over the years. It has slowly improved but still needs to get much, much better
I like your idea of picking up the kind of players you mention.
I’d argue their problem is not having enough talent in the 1-4 range. They have a roster full of 5-12 types.
1-4 is now average in my opinion. Sabonis gets us there.
5 – 12 is the weakest in the NBA in my opinion. Maybe three of those players actually make another NBA roster.
Who’s the 1-4? Fox, Sabonis, and…
Next season, it’ll presumably be Sabonis, Fox, Barnes & Keegan.
I hope they don’t guarantee Keegan a spot just because they drafted him. Winning teams don’t do that. KaNGz do that.
Fox, Sabonis, Barnes, and ???
Sabonis and Barnes are good enough to drag the group to average. Fox is a wildcard, sometimes an F sometimes a B. ???? is whoever but, Sabonis creates enough to make them an average at best starting line up. The bench unfortunately is shit beyond Mitchell and Holmes.
I have to think (hope) there is something in the works involving Barnes (or Holmes, which might be a taller order.) Murray would have to be at least Kyle Kuzma on day one and things would really have to go right for this roster to get 42 wins. This is possible, but it’s not likely.
prediction: 39 wins, just enough to be outside looking in on BOTH the playoffs and Wembanya-mania
Yep. I have them in the high 30s right now.
Murray had better out-perform Kuzma, or we did waste a pick.
Thoughts on trading for Eric Gordon, Oubre, Hayward, RJ Barrett?
Not the flashy names, but they could be had and would theoretically improve the roster.
A step in the right direction.
I like Hayward but as outlined in this article there is not really space for his 31M/year contract
King’s would have to send out enough salary to Charlotte to make the trade work. Holmes+Holiday+Davis? Something like that.
huge lost opportunity since Charlotte was willing to move the #13 to get rid of Hayward
Not sure how this is relevant since Sac would need to send back salary.
Holmes-Holiday-Harkless-Len-Davis=almost $30 million. Straight up, no picks involved. This deal seems like almost a no-brainer for both sides. Charlotte would need 4 roster spots open, or just cut some guys. Why not? Who knows what these guys have in mind? Maybe it just doesn’t make sense for someone’s agent, who happens to know where some bodies are buried.
I think Oubre for Holmes makes sense.
That might have a chance but the others sure don’t .
Hayward is to old and hurt all the time.
Probably have to include fox for Barrett.
Other ones very gettable without major immediate pieces.
Knicks seem to want to keep the cap sheet clean. That may change now that Kyrie opted in, though.
But some expiring deals and a 1st could probably get Barrett
Barrett was the Knicks 2nd leading scorer and 3rd pick in 2020 draft . Zero chance they trade him for that .
No.
Meh, as long as it doesn’t cost much if anything.
How many picks/young talent does he bring along with him.
No. The cost it would take to interest the Knicks would probably be WAY too much.
Lower names that i’d kick the tires on
Trade: Landry Shamet, Luke Kennard, Kenrich Williams, Terrence Ross, Mo Bamba, Cam Reddish, KJ Martin, Darius Bazely, Josh Hart, Seth Curry, Max Strus, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
FA: Yuta Watanabe, Bruce Brown, Martin twins, Malik Monk, Gary Payton 2, Victor Oladipo, Gary Harris, Taurean Prince, Otto Porter
Thoughts?
Olidipo might go for a short term deal to prove himself worthy of a later, larger deal. I worry about the price for Prince and Brown.
Yuta can’t shoot but he does play D. Harris might be ok, better than Lamb. I like the Martin twins. Payton 2 is not a shooter. Fit well in GSW system but may flounder elsewhere. Monk wants to stay in LAL. All these guys will want some guarantee of playing time.
For sure, they’re just options. Acquiring 1 or 2 of these names definitely would help because they are all mostly better options than Josh Jackson or Jeremy Lamb.
For me, Oladipo/Monk only makes sense if we let DDV go. One of the Martins or even Cam Reddish would be solid backups for the 2, 3, and 4 positions because I am a fan of playing two wing players at a time. Who knows, maybe Cam could supplant HB?
Kennard would provide the spacing needed off the bench of the list I provided. Also, Kennard for Holmes actually works..
Some interesting names. Thanks.
Gordon- too old, too hurt
Oubre- would need another ball since he never let’s go of his.
Hayward- huge 2 year contract and gets hurt
Barret- NYK love him.
I would try to work out a S&T with the Nets for Bruce Brown at 11 mil, for Holiday and a 2nd round pick from the Mavs. Then split the MLE in half with Josh Okogie and Jalen Smith. I know its underwhelming but this is probably the best we could do. Also want to retain Divencenzo at 8-10 mil.
Trades have to happen this offseason as well, Barnes and Holmes need to go, I would say a draft pick or two should be on the table as well for real talent.
I hadn’t thought of Brown, he had a very nice season filling in the gaps for BKN and I like his hustle. I would be all for getting him but why would they want to move him? He is severely underpaid and they are trying to win with the recent opt-in from Kyrie.
Hes probably replaceable for them with a cheaper player, and they can use depth pieces, something like Holiday or Harkless+Metu and a 2nd rounder would be a nice return. With their luxury tax situation, a 10 mil contract for him cost about 20 mil in taxes. He would be a good Swiss army knife type of player for us.
I’m not certain that Bruce Brown without Hall of Fame talent around him is going to be particularly effective, but I could easily be wrong. A guy gets a lot of clean looks when Durant and Irving are on the floor.
i think you are under estimating his ability to read the floor and finish. he had a pretty impressive season as a very unconventional roll man. IMO he is better than anyone on our bench (or potential bench at the moment).
That wouldn’t stop me from trying to snag him, he may have learned how to be an extremely effective role player as a fourth option.
agree- system guy and where does he play here? – Fox needs a shooter at the 2 spot.
I don’t think Nets are worried about the cap- no one seems to have that much concern now a days. the Duds will spend about $400M next year.
He would be a good get . Fills several holes and seems to be getting better .
Another reason I forgot to list, Ben Simmons should be returning and getting a lot of his minutes, he is going to be playing that similar role.
Is he, though?
Coming back? Yes! Or what? Retire? At 25? Is this really worth wondering about?
This would be an impossible trade for a couple of reasons. One, any S&T with Brown automatically makes him BYC at a number higher than 5.683M. Two, if you are offering a starting salary to Brown at 11M, you have to send something back close to that to make the trade legal from Sacramento’s end.
However, you can make a trade work that would satisfy both sides. Brooklyn has a number of trade exceptions that would allow them to trade a smaller contract for Brown in one transaction, and use a trade exception on another player. So in this case this is what a successful S&T of Bruce Brown to Sac for Justin Holiday (6.292M) and Alex Len (3.918M) looks like:
Brown’s 11M salary at BYC trade value (5.5M) can be traded for Alex Len. At the same time, The Nets do have a left over trade exception (6.267M) from their DeAndre Jordan trade that is set to expire in mid August and can be used to cover Holiday’s salary. In case you’re wondering, I’m aware there is a 25K difference between that trade exception of DeAndre Jordan’s and Holiday’s salary but the NBA allows for an extra 100K to be tacked on to pretty much any transaction. Using that extra 100K, you can use that trade exception to acquire Holiday if you’re the Nets while satisfying that Sacramento send enough salary to make it work from their end.
That’s about the only way I see anything is possible. You could also substitute Davion Mitchell, Mo Harkless and Terence Davis in this as well. Actually, for that matter, you could also use Chimezie Metu and Trey Lyles as well provided their team options are picked up.
I kind of figured there were other moving parts needed, sorry I didnt mean to outline the exact details, but I just knew it would be possible to work something out due to the exceptions and the multiple low level deals we have, Len, Metu, Davis, Harkess… Thanks for the information though, I forgot about the BYC. I would still be interested if it was a possibility.
From a cap perspective, absolutely. Whether or not a deal is workable with Brooklyn? Your guess is as good as mine.
analysis is correct but why would the Nets do any of this?
I’ll be really interested to see what Jalen Smith’s market looks like. In theory, he’s a pretty decent match for Sabonis.
I really like Smith on this roster.. was hoping Mcnair would pick him up last trade deadline when he was waived by the Suns.
I don’t know him so I looked him up. Decent stats, especially at Indy (bad team), looks like he misses a lot of games though. HoopsHype rates him as #10 FA power forward, after Carmelo #9, and Bagley #8. Not exactly a ringing endorsement but… buy low?
For what its worth, Smith started his career with the Suns and was not able to get minutes behind Crowder and Cam Johnson. He was waived then landed in Indiana where he was able to play and showcase his skills.
His worthy as a buy low candidate and is still 22 years old. Wouldn’t mind getting him and getting rid of Metu and Lyles
Agreed @RAP. He had a very strong stretch of games for IND. Was knocking down a ton of threes and blocking shots/rebounding. I think he is definitely better than Metu or Lyles and has significantly more upside.
With flat earth back at the Nets, Brown will likely stay.
He is a system guy- needs the right system. Where would he play here?
well, Brown signed on with Denver for 2 years, 13M. I think he will outplay that contract and wish we could have snagged him. On to the next…
Fans are fans, and after years of V (your pick, viv or vla) the negativity could be expected. But a safe pick is not bad. Also all teams get better after the draft, until the games really begin. Furthermore, did monte really have many options to trade and still get a qualiy player whise upside isnt based on potential?
Like many drafts the best player may well have been picked in the teens.
Or forties?
Every year there are surprises that are picked much later in the draft. Imagine the reactions by some if the kings picked SGA at #2 instead of Bagley (or Luka). Not the best example, since they passed on Luka too and SGA is a guard. Interestingly, the comps were bagley (garnett), luka (rubio), and SGA (tyreke).
with Lyles’ late-season performance and Metu’s relationship with Mike Brown, fans should expect one or both of those players to return to Sacramento next season
My first thought was, “that wouldn’t be that bad,” but then if they are both back, your basically bringing everyone back (barring trades). That can’t be acceptable considering last years debacle.
Considering each player in a vacuum, both are incomplete players with room to grow, not bad. And that applies to %90 of the current roster. Why were they so bad collectively? In a word, Luke! It’s hard to not keep coming back to the disaster of his tenure. A thousand NBA deaths will never be enough for Luke Walton!
The decision by Monte to endorse and embrace his leadership is the one thing about Monte I can’t justify, or even reconcile. Will he ( or anyone else representing the org.) ever acknowledge the calamity they and us are still paying for? Between Musselman and his DUI ,and Luke and his alleged unwanted, sexual advances, will the organization learn things that start out bad don’t usually end up good? Bagley, Vivek, (worst owners record ever). I’m sure I’m forgetting many. Does D’Alessandro fit the description of obvious mistake from day 1? or was he slowly revealed to be incompetent? Like Vlade?
I’m hardly ready to call for Monte’s head, but there should be some accountability. Someone should get a refund on their season tickets!
J Reynolds says, “the Kings worst failure over the years is their refusal to acknowledge their mistakes.”
Has someone asked for a refund on their season tickets?
Allow me to help:
McNair: “Can I fire the idiot and bring in my own head coach?”
Ranadive: “No! We still owe him a lot of money, so he’s going to work!”
Should you have any questions, please let me know.
Someone’s life been reading some DUNE. Sick.
Does the BAE expire early, or can it be held and used mid-season as well?
Myles Bridges, and DeAndre Ayton, are not options. Aside from these two, and the Kings own, there were no other FAs even worth mentioning? That’s disappointing!
Such muted optimism. Platinum days are arriving. Kings will be the surprise salary dump location for AD to complete the Kyrie trade. Just after everyone is in an uproar a huge reveal KD re-location to Sacramento will be announced cause he wants bus driver revenge and thinks he can do it in the Warriors backyard after recruiting Mr. Davis. Ox, Fox, AD, KD and Cash Considerations will be fun. League approves the trades right after the Kings announce a label change, “Anaheim Kings of Los Angles located out of Sacramento”
Ok, back to my normal life. Pete Davidson keeps bothering for more dating advice, gonna to charge him 6 figures for the next 90 minute phone call. Have to let Ana de Armas out from under my workstation so she can breathe for awhile. Plus tomorrow I have to wake up early because the exchanges open on the east coast. Selling off my Apple and Pfizer stocks to dump everything into Dogecoin, gonna be a trillionaire soon. Peace out!
LOL,pretty funny stuff. How does this guy get dates with these hottest? He must be not only funny, but rich too!
the work station bit got me, lol
If I send you my life savings, would you invest it for me? I’d also like to subscribe to your newsletter.
I would like to see Oladipo on a short term deal. We have expirings that will free up cap space next year or this year in potential trades. If TD can come back strong, there is potential for better roster balance and depth. Oladipo paired well with Domas in OKC and Indiana. He’s still only 30 and has been an all star.
yeah maybe, but what amount is the right amount for Dipo?
Under the circumstances, I’d think $6-8 million with a shitload of incentives ought to do it, but I’d probably go as high as ten mil. It’s a gamble, but for one year or a 1+1, it seems like a reasonable risk scenario.
Talking myself into a trade with the Clippers because they are going to acquire John Wall and seem to have a logjam. I think they can use a center aside from Zubac and can resign Batum.
Holmes for Kennard works (I’d even see if Terance Mann could be had). Then we resign Jones.
Fox, Mitchell
DDV, TD
Barnes, Kennard, Ellis
Murray, Lyles
Sabonis, Jones, Queta
If no on Mann, we could then offer multiple seconds for a Cam Reddish or KJ Martin. Would be intrigued to see what Mike Brown could do with this team.
Personally, I would like to see them retain DDV, Jones and Queta. I’d like to see them move Holmes because I think he’s too good for his role here. I’d also like to see Harkless and Len moved to free up some space and roster spots.
I’d like DDV to come back and start this year. The goal of upgrading the SG position would have to wait for next year, moving DDV to more of support/bench role with Mitchell and Davis where I believe he is best suited.
As for the SF role, I think we need to contact Philly and advise them that we are willing to be part of trade where we end up with Thybulle and we’d put in the 2024 FRP (top 5 protected) and Barnes (with his expiring contract) to get it done. Philly is still looking to move Harris and they could use some potential spare parts from the Kings for salary purposes in a multi-team trade.
Fox/Mitchell
DDV/TD
Thybulle/Holiday
Murray/Meto/Lyles
Sabonis/Jones/Queta
If accomplished, I still think we are piece away, but I think that piece is a SG and we’ll need to wait another year to upgrade, but I see the above as a progressive step in the right direction while still being a team capable of 4-8 range in the playoffs.
Thybulle scored 27 pts and had 9 rebounds in the playoffs this year. In 137 minutes!!
Honestly don’t care how good your defense is if you are that much of a liability on offense. If you could get him relatively cheaply as a 15-20 minute back up, fine. But I’m not trading Barnes and more importantly not trading a lightly protected first round pick for him either. Barf.
Also the only real change in the current roster to this proposed one is Thybulle. That gets Kings comfortably into the playoffs? Didn’t know Thybulle was worth 10-12 wins…MVP, MVP, MVP!
Agree, Thybulle is a nice spot defender and worth maybe Holliday and a 2nd !
Well, you won’t be getting a potential perennial DPOY candidate with Holiday and a 2nd rounder.
I’d rather work on a trade for OG Anunaby.
There was chatter that he was gettable. Just don’t know if the Kings have anything Toronto would want.
OG would be a nice addition, but he seems to be injured a lot, and that considerably tempers my interest in a deal.
Yeah, I’m reticent to spend much (in cash or trade assets) on guys with injury issues. For me, injury prone players either need to come relatively cheap (ie. Oladipo?) or with additional assets (ie. Hayward).
Somebody on this team should be focused on defense. As you pointed out, Thybulle scored 27pts and had 9rebs and still starts every game BECAUSE his defense is game-changing (he’s the 4th or 5th offensive option on Philly and he’d be the 4th or 5th option on the Kings as well).
The Kings don’t need more offense, they need defense. Trading Barnes this year is the only way to maximize his remaining time here as he won’t be re-signing with the Kings again so if you don’t trade Barnes, you lose him for nothing. I’m down with trying to sign someone else in FA to play the SF role, like Caleb Martin or Lonnie Walker, but defense wins games and there aren’t many other players in the league who provide the level of defense that Thybulle does. With Sabonis flanked by Murray and Thybulle, we’d have a decent defensive front-court.
Thybulle can easily win the Kings 4-5 more games per year with his defense alone, throw in Murray, a healthy DDV, and a full year of Fox & Ox and a competent coach….then yeah, a 10-12 win improvement is reasonable.
Can anyone tell me how the Warriors get to spend 2 to 3 times more $$$ on their roster than the Kings do? It’s a huge unfair playing advantage.
They can go over the cap to re-sign their players, just like any other team.
Their owner isn’t paying for 3 coaches and 2 GMs that are no longer employed by the team. And likely if he were he still wouldn’t give a damn cuz he’s RIIICH rich. Like rich AF. Our owner’s just sorta rich.
I guess a billion dollars is sorta a lot of money.
They “get to spend” it because they have drafted and built their team extremely well and are willing to pay to keep it together. In the same situation the Kings could make the same decision. The Warriors are playing by the same rules as the rest of the league. The unfair advantage they have over the Kings is having an excellent FO/ownership that is committed to success on the court.
I would upgrade the frontcourt with a trade for PJ Washington. He is better than Metu and Lyles.
Maybe see what Denver wants for Monte Morris. He would help the backcourt as well.
Also Luke Kennard. Sniper off the bench with Mitchell to help cover some of the defensive liability.
PJ has options. Which is why he won’t be coming here.
If we could I’d like to see us get Porter,GP2,and Iguadala from the Warriors. Let me explain: all 3 Are good defenders in Mike Brown’s scheme. They can really teach the system to the rest of the team. Not only that but he’d be a player coach, as he wouldn’t be playing that much. As restricted as the team is, not sure how they pull this off, but would love to see it.q
Good breakdown of the CBA considerations. I do believe Queta’s qualifying offer is $86,946 with only $50K protected. He was a two-way player and is eligible to be one again, so that is his QO.
If we can move Holmes for a non-center and either don’t re-sign Jones or move Len, I would be in favor of giving Queta a standard contract as third center. He could get more time with the Sacramento team, and that opens up a two-way spot for a young prospect. The age floor of the current team is very high.
Seems pretty reasonable. Let me ask you this, because I’m clueless with salary cap stuff:
What are the implications of releasing and/or stretching Len and his $5 million? I think that Jones is worth keeping around, but you don’t need all of Sabs, Holmes, Jones and Len. Along those lines, what are the implications of buying out Len, even if for his full salary?
thanks for breaking all this down. It seems like this year’s free agency situation is relatively uncomplicated, unless there’s a bigger trade idea brewing. I think there will be possibilities for small trades using some of the expiring contracts. At least three of the expiring contracts will likely be out of the rotation. Understandably “small trades” probably do not sound exciting, but one could be valuable if it lands a quality role player.
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