The Sacramento Kings have signed veteran wing Doug McDermott to a one-year deal. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania, and confirmed by James Ham and Sean Cunningham. McDermott is a veteran wing player who can stretch the floor for the Kings, and has experience playing alongside Domantas Sabonis from their shared time in Indiana.
Free agent F Doug McDermott has agreed to a one-year deal with the Sacramento Kings, sources told ESPN. McDermott is a career 41 percent 3-point shooter and joins the Western Conference playoff contender for his 11th NBA season. pic.twitter.com/qw9kCfBGvS
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 16, 2024
McDermott’s biggest skill is his shooting. A career 41% three point shooter, he is a great bench piece for a team that needs a variety of players to provide spacing for De’Aaron Fox, DeMar DeRozan, and Domantas Sabonis. Doug isn’t a great defender, so this move is really leaning into the concept of improving the offense and getting it back near the top of the league.
Overall, this is a solid addition. McDermott is nearing the end of his career, but he’s still a significant upgrade over Jalen McDaniels, who was traded to create the space to sign McDermott.
The lowest of bars.
What an underwhelming, unbalanced roster construction by Monte. We can celebrate the signing of DDR and (re)signing of Monk all we want, but this roster has significant holes and IMO none of the main needs identified after last season have been addressed.
So correct me if I am wrong, but we got rid of Davion, Sasha and two 2nd round picks to get McDermott? That would be disappointing asset management.
I agree, this is meh. It fills zero holes the Kings currently have.
It’s actually 3 second round picks. 2 in the Toronto deal and 1 in the Spurs deal, and no I don’t count the top 55 protected pick from Chicago the Spurs traded to the Kings. It won’t convey.
Just a bunch of deck chair rearranging for a guy that gives you pretty much what Huerter gives you, but plays worse on defense. Lord help the defense when Monk, Huerter, and McDermott are on the floor together. Yikes.
It’ll be hard to watch that defense.
i will say it again. This doesn’t move the needle at all. IMO we do not need to get a free agent who now nobody wanted. If Monty really wants to improve this team then we need to find a young SF/PF that can help the team win now. He needs to defend , shoot the 3 on a high level and help protect the rim especially the weak side rim. When the Kings need a defender on a SG or SF then start Ellis. If we need to defend the paint and a PF and defend the weak side now we have that guy. Will it cost the Kings like a first round so be it. He needs to last not just for one year. He needs to be part of the future. There are players out there who fill that requirement. I know I’m harping again but a guy like Tari Eason. I like Cam Johnson but we have Huerter to fill that spot. IMO dfs doesn’t move the needle that much. We have a core right now but add one more good player that would move the needle. Monty said once if you want something you have to give up something. As a reminder Derozan, as good as he is, won’t be around forever.
I completely agree that we still have holes to fill and have an unbalanced roster. But the players and picks you mention were not going to fix that. This is moving around deck chairs when there are issues with the engine. None of the pieces we got rid of were going to fix that.
I don’t think making these moves had any impact good or bad on the roster holes. Until we decide to move someone who actually plays significant minutes, I don’t see us fixing the bigger issues.
A. It’s still bad asset management.
It seems to me that we might have packaged Sasha, Davion and 3 second round picks for someone a bit more impactful than Dougie. And for just him it is a serious overpay.
B. With the current salary cap issues, 2nd round picks become more valuable, IMO.
Davion, and the second round picks maybe. But honestly, we used the second round picks to basically dump Sasha’s salary. That tells you pretty much everything you need to know about his value. And honestly, I think Davion was salary neutral at best.
I think we could have possibly used the salary space to sign someone in free agency if we’d made the moves sooner. But I don’t think Davion, three second round picks, and Sasha could have gotten us anyone that would move the needle in a trade.
That isn’t going to happen unless we trade someone like Kevin or a starter. At least that’s my take.
Yes, you’re wrong. Sorry, but that is not the whole picture. They moved off Davion and Sasha as part of creating the cap room necessary to acquire DeRozan.
Huh? The Kings traded away Barnes and Duarte as part of the S&T for DeRozan. Their salaries combined for 23.8M while DeRozan signed for 23.4M.
What did Davion and Sasha have to do with DeRozan S&T? Couldn’t the DeRozan S&T have happened even if the Toronto deal didn’t? Plus the Toronto deal happened during the draft and a full 10 days before the DeRozan deal.
I should add, if anything, I assumed the Toronto deal was more about freeing up the space to re-sign Monk, which also happened before DeRozan.
I am not sure that this deal was strictly necessary to accomplish the resigning of Monk, but again, I could be wrong.
It may not have been necessary. I honestly don’t know. If I recall correctly, the Kings were pretty much capped out as the season ended. The Monk announcement came early, like before the draft, but he obviously couldn’t officially re-sign until July.
The draft came over two days, of in which that time the Toronto deal happened, and I think many of us assumed that was to remain flexible under the tax after taking into consideration the Monk re-signing. The Kings DID NOT have the space to sign DeRozan so the contracts of Barnes and Duarte (which matched DeRozan’s first year of his deal) were shipped out.
All 3 deals seem to be completely independent of each other and all 3 could have happened without either of the other 2.
The only only 2 that are linked are the Toronto deal (which cost the Kings two seconds) and the recent Spurs deal (which cost the Kings another second), of which has now allowed the Kings to sign McDermott to a vet minimum deal while remaining just below the tax line.
I should also note, I believe the Kings could have simply stretched and waived McDaniels and still have signed McDermott, but perhaps Monte just liked the clean slate of trading him at the cost of a 2nd rounder.
Moving off that money got them below a cap threshold before the end of the league year that opened up roster tools like the full MLE (which to date has not been used, unless they used it for McDermott). It also gave them space to re-sign Monk without going into the luxury tax. If you’re over the luxury tax, you cannot acquire a player via sign and trade.
Are there better ways they could have gotten there? Maybe, I don’t know. But the Kings had open roster spots with cap holds, as well as the hold for Monk’s ability to return. Monk could be re-signed to the early bird contract regardless of cap space, but DeRozan would not have been able to come via S&T if Sac was over the tax line.
Ok, that’s the kicker I needed to hear. My guess is Monte set himself up in free agency to remain below the tax and keep options open, but not sure if he really had DeRozan in mind when he made the trade during the draft.
Either way, Monte wanted to open up more possibilities by moving off of Sasha and Mitchell. It was a move that allowed for the easier possibility to acquire DeRozan later on.
Still….the $0 buyout by Sasha with Toronto chaps me.
That’s fair to say that the move wasn’t specifically done for DeRozan, but to allow for any number of options that otherwise were off the table.
And the $0 for Sasha sucks, no two ways about it, but the Kings did not have time to play chicken with Sasha, while Toronto did.
True, the Sasha “buyout” didn’t come for another month and much later into free agency. Monte wasn’t about to sit on the fence and wait.
I refer and defer to my favorite spokesman Adamsite and look forward to your response.
Technically, we got rid of Davion, Sasha, and two picks to get the cap room to further unbalance the roster with DeRozan.
To go a bit further, HB. Davion, Vezie, Duarte & three 2nd rounders for DDR & McDermott. Slight win I guess but have to consider DeRo’s age also, could fall off any year now. And the 3 point shooting & D doesn’t look too good so far in the preseason.
There is also the 2031 first round pick swap with the Spurs as part of the DeRozan deal. That could be brutal if the Spurs are dominating the league in 2031 with prime Wemby and swap their late 20’s pick for a possible Kings lottery pick. Time will tell.
Considering our lottery history, I’m not having heartburn over the idea of losing it.
You mean you are concerned about the team with the most lottery appearances over the past 30+ years may have to worry about a pick swap with the team with the least amount of lottery appearances over the last 30+ years? What’s to worry about!!!?
Sure, but considering who we’ve taken with the majority of those picks, we probably would have been better off over the years if we had traded a lot of them away.
Truth.
Yeah good point, forgot to list that. I’m sure the Spurs will be back to dominating any year now, unfortunately, haha. 20 years of being great, 5 years off, then 20 years being great again ????
Those ? marks were supposed to be a laughing crying emoji, but didn’t work lol
lol he’s 32
This signing smells like Velvet is being shopped…
Doug is just a one-dimentional, but far cheaper version of Huerter, so this could be the case.
I agree. I’m not holding my breath on trading Kevin, but this would make it at least a little easier. Although Kevin is much younger and would have much more long term value.
That was my first thought, see if there is a way to move Huerter for a Lyles+ player, someone that would add a little length and depth up front.
Agreed. We desperately need length to contest outside shots or teams will be shooting nigh-open threes against us all night.
In a world where Danny Ainge does not exist, Huerter, Lyles and a couple of 2nds for John Collins might get done. It would completely change the look – DeRozan becomes the starting 2 and Keegan the starting 3, though both of them would both spend time at the 3 and 4, respectively. Hell, I’d settle for Bobby Portis – might even prefer him.
Kings Swap Talented Rookie for Bucks Big Man in Mock Trade (si.com)
Will Zimmerle likes Portis too. Not sure an injured rookie and draft picks get it done though.
I totally forgot that the Kings can trade into the MLE! Is that still possible now that they are hard capped because a trade like that would send them into the tax. I’m still not clear on a lot of the new rules
I don’t even think you’d need to attach picks to get that deal done for Collins. Huerter and Lyles’ contracts are far more valuable than Collins. It’s a trade that actually makes a lot of sense for both teams.
If it were to be, I’d still start Keegan at the 4 and just have a three headed rotation of Keegan, DeRozan and Collins at the 3/4 spots.
I do not see Ainge as the roadblock to any deal happening. If someone is willing to give him what he wants and his team needs a deal gets done. He has built a few teams. This does not happen if he does not make a deal. Ainge has players the Kings need. The Kings do not have anything that Ainge needs or wants. If he needed or wanted something from the Kings history shows Ainge will get it.
IMO you can get a Tari Eason type player and still keep Huerter. It would take a first but IMO it would be worth it.
I would do that Jack
Alright there’s our length and athleticism up front!
I think I’ve been confusing McDermott with someone else, because I thought he was about 6’10”. Sam something? I can’t figure out who it is, but I am reasonably certain that he exists. Isn’t/wasn’t there a tall white boy called Sam who makes threes at a good clip?
Regardless, McDermott has had a solid career in the NBA doing what Vezenkov was supposed to do, but couldn’t. As many have rightly noted, it does make the potential departure of Huerter less traumatic, and I’d expect that there will be a decent market for him as the season progresses and he gets his legs back under him.
Kev is on a very nice contract that would be pretty easy to move if the right return materializes.
Are you thinking of Sam Dekker?
Or his Cajun cousin Blackened?
That is exactly the guy, thank you, I could not come up with the name. I went to stats-reference and typed in Sam, but no Dekker popped up. Type in his last name and you’re in business.
And I see that he wasn’t all that great shooting threes. The important thing is that I’m not crazy.
just to be clear, you could still be crazy
Sam Hauser
Not a Sam, but maybe Frank Kaminsky?
I probably had him in my head, too, good one.
There’s also Sam Merrill, a good three point shooter who the Kings had for camp and cut and now he’s real good for Cleveland. He’s not tall though.
And another Sam that doesn’t show when you type in his first name!
I thought there looked like there weren’t enough Sams when I first checked, given that it’s a common name. Now I’m wondering how high this conspiracy goes.
I’m biased as a Creighton Grad, but I LOVE McDermott, and am excited to have him! And while I know he’s not fast, not long, and not a great defender, I don’t think he’s one-dimensional, either. The guy was player of the year in college, and he didn’t get there just by standing in the corner and shooting 3’s–he can shoot on the move, post-up, catch-and shoot, finish going to the basket, etc. And he has the type of “see-the-floor/read/cut/pass/drive” floor game that should work with our team philosophy of “read & react” rather than calling set plays all the time. Combined with a Huerter resurgence, we could see a little more of that 2022 magic where we led the league in offense. If’s he’s your starter, you might be in some trouble…but if he’s your 8th, 9th guy? You might just be winning some barn-burners. Going to be a great fit, I suspect!
I am a Creighton grad as well
Doug can shot and in many ways. Not good on D
a in case of trouble break glass or whatever
good depth
#RDJ!
NBA title incoming
Well, we wanted our defense to be more Doug in…
I’ll see myself out.
go faster
This is cute but as a drummer, I resent seeing sticks used on congas.
But you are cool with a chimp being a drummer? 😉
Pirate Chimp- has the striped shirt, the bandana (kinda Mr. Smee looking gear) and topped off with a tricorn complete with Jolly Roger – he could drumstick bongos and it would work.
And he’s doing a sting (ba dum tsss) this is only goodness.
Haha, he’s mastered drums so well that he looks bored with it.
And hell yeah, I’m cool with chimps on drums! One could argue I’m just a monkey behind the drumset.
Could be the smartest drummer that ever lived. I don’t know why drummers get such a bad rap when it comes to smarts, but it did remind me of an old joke.
Why do drummers leave their sticks on the dashboard when they park?
So that they can used handicapped spaces.
Feel free to send your complaints to HR.
It’s because drummers are usually the least reliable member in any band, present company excluded, of course.
Q: What do you call a person who hangs around with musicians?
A: A drummer
Q: What do you call a drummer who has broken up with his girlfriend?
A: Homeless.
BTW, I’ve always like McDermott. He doesn’t seriously move the needle but if there’s one thing we’ve learned from this preseason, it’s that the Kings’ 3P shooting is unreliable at the moment.
I for one am relieved that this fixes the team’s defensive issues.
I’m not going to defend the signing, but understand that this team went from a good three point shooting team a few years ago to a bad three point shooting team today.
2023-24 – (3pt%) More than 1.5 threes per game:
Ellis – 41.7%Barnes – 38.7% (Gone)Lyles – 38.4%Vezenkov – 37.5% (Gone)Fox – 36.9%Mitchell – 36.1% (Gone and probably not sustainable anyway)Huerter – 36.1% (Yips? Or return to form?)Murray – 35.8% (WAY down from previous season)DeRozan definitely isn’t going to help you with threes, and asking Sabonis to shoot threes seems like a bad idea.
This is a team that has to outscore their opponent while not being a very good three point shooting team (or a good defensive team). I’m not excited about McDermott, but the team probably did need three point shooting, though it needs defense more.
If we can fix 2 things then IMO we are fine. If it takes a trade for a player that can defend the 3 and also shoot the 3 it would definitely help.BUT we have the shooters who can shoot the 3 ( look a their averages as players in the NBA) and we have players( Fox, Ellis, Murray) who can defend the 3 then they have to have the confidence to do it. I am looking forward for the season to begin. GO KINGS!
If a team is allowed to shoot 40% against the Kings then the Kings need to shoot the three at a rate greater than that. Or they can choose to play defense.
In terms of free agents, what do you guys think about kicking the tires on Greg Brown III? 6’8″ forward that has some NBA experience and could be had for cheap (I imagine)
I’m logging in just to say you all are wrong. McBuckets is a totally underrated NBA player and this is a low key genius signing. I’m stoked to have him on the roster.
Needle not moved. Got rid of a player who was never going to contribute for one who will average 3.4 ppg
Because a team has never lost a game by fewer than three points.
A team that is down by fewer three points does not win that game by giving minutes to a player averaging 3.4 ppg. Defense or a few players scoring in excess of 25 ppg will do that.
Interesting trade:
Journeyman 6’6” wing (6 teams in 11 seasons, Kings will be 7th) 3 point specialist. Will be targeted on defense.
He can only be a Kevin Huerter substitute as their size and skills are redundant for the most part. Does this move McBuckets to 11th man and keep Huerter 7th/8th after Lyles or 9th/10th after Len or JMac?
This pretty much eliminates a roster spot for Terry Taylor, Brodric Thomas, and does Colby Jones get waived?
Reminder: Orlando Robinson’s $500K guarantee settles on … Saturday?
Yeah, Robinson may be the next shoe to drop. He’s the 3rd string center with a partial guarantee that may not play until December. You have to wonder if Monte thinks he’s worth keeping around.
This is a good move for 10-15 minutes a game. Depending on how things shake out, staggering his bench minutes with Huerter keeps a floor spacer out there for whatever rotation they want to do. With Lyles and Huerter out, they literally had zero 3 point shooting off the bench if Monk was having an off night so just adding a dude that can knock it down or is a threat to will be helpful. To that effect, Colby Jones not looking like an NBA player is probably the most disappointing thing of the preseason.
I’d argue that Monk isn’t even a reliable 3pt shooter, in fact he is below average. He shot 35% from deep last year, which is right along his career average. That put him at the 130th best 3pt shooting player. The league average is 36%
Side story to that…I have a buddy in the Bay who’s a Dubs fan. We talk shit and basketball whenever we get together. Months back, after a few beers, he posed the question. “Do you think Monk is better than Jordan Poole?” I immediately said yes, and he asked me to prove it. We went down the stat rabbit hole and honestly, he got me second guessing my initial response. Either way, we both agreed Poole is paid way too much and wouldn’t be starting on a good team. We also agreed Monk’s best use is as a 6th man.
Poole shoots… and, and, and… what else does Jordan Poole do?
The Don’ts:
man defend
team defend
rebound
assist
No translatable Arabic equivalent
The Do’s:
can shoot, and watch out when he’s hot.
3PG (+ – 42% career)
FT% (++ led the League once)
team attitude worries (this makes him fit my thoughts on the Wiz, btw)
Monk Don’t:
man defend
team defend
rebound
Monk Do’s:
scores, but not a great shooter.
(used to be a solid (+) now just an okay one) FT%
assists
Arabic meaning (++)
Great teammate
It’s a fair comparison. I think of ‘Lik as a Jordan Crawford, Terrence Ross type and though Jordan Poole could be that guy – he seems more a drag (me, me, me) than a spark type. But I don’t know nothin’.
”No translatable Arabic equivalent”
Isn’t Jordan an Arabic country?
Yes! That accountability is important!
We liked Doug during his time with the Pacers for his offense but he simply was a liability defensively.
When I read this, instead of seeing “Doug” I read “Tyrese Haliburton.”
Haliburton is known for his defense on the three point line. His competitive drive is sorely missed here.
Probably won’t happen, probably shouldn’t happen – but I would consider purchasing a Kings jersey if it had McBuckets on the back.
As an aside: with the offload of Harrison Barnes – from Ames, Iowa when now have returned to the previous standard, as Dougie McB hales from that very same place. Maybe Keegan demanded it !?
And then into the hat of numbers: DB has worn numbers 3, 11, 17, 20 (many times) and 25 in his tenures with various clubs. For Sacramento – 3 is retired (Rock Richmond), 11 is retired (Davies) but now in use with Domas (by permission and blessing from the Davies family – which I hadn’t realized nor heard of someone doing before), 20 is Colby Jones, and Alex Len is wearing 25.
Wild Guess time: he former Creighton Blue Jay doubles the 20 and fames the Ames and grabs HB40’s number to become DM40.
Trade: Lyles , Colby Jones and a first for Tari Eason and Jeff Green, Green is 38 on an expiring contract. A first for Eason is well worth the trade. Only 23. He would be around for quiet some time.
trade for Tari Eason? I’ve not heard this before.
Just razzin’ you, Jack. I would bet dollars to doughnuts, as they say, that all on this site would be overjoyed with such a trade, for reasons and more reasons.
Just change your name to Anyone That’s Eason.
EasonDownTheRoad
Take It Eason
Quantitative Eason
Eason Rider
Okay, maybe not that last one…
Richmond was 2, so #3 is available.
Of course- Mitch was #2
Dougie will wear #7 and it will say McDermott not McBuckets on his jersey.
Does anyone know why McDermott only played 18 games last year? Was it injuries or was he just a garbage time player?
McDermott is another move that is all in on scoring and a veteran presence. As fans we refuse to acknowledge the reality of this roster. This team is built to simply score. Defense is not something that has been intentionally dealt with on this team. As fans we need to understand this and accept it. One or two average to good defenders is in no way going to change this to a defensive team. Wins have not been easy while trying to simply out score every team that can easily score against a team that has no ability to stop them. That ability to stop other teams with defense in the NBA comes with the individual players desire to do so. These are capable world class athletes. If they want to play defense they can. McDermott is a guy that will compete and not do dumb things. A minor improvement to the team overall.
Will his veteran presence inspire those with the ability to play defense to actually play defense?
No
Will he play enough minutes to even matter statistically?
No
Does he balance the roster with size?
No
The fringe moves on the bench are not changing the culture of this team. We can all point to statistics to show what we believe is real. Reality is this team is soft and has been soft for a very long time.
When will the team intentionally deal with that obvious reality that is an individual decision for each player?
This is why all these so called little pickups aren’t going to solve a bit. The Kings if they really want to go farther than where they are now need to do something bigger. They have the resources to do so. I really don’t understand why they don’t. The front office has to know what it would take to improve. The Kings have a great core. They got Derosan but how long is he going to last.The core players other than Derosan are all in their prime so would it not be the time to move this team to the next level which would be a championship level?
The core is Sabonis. The rest of the supposed core has shown they will not compete consistently in my opinion.
Welcome Dougie McBuckets! Now I have another fun thing to yell when a King hits a 3. I also go with “Foxy 3s”, “Trey with the trey”, “Velvety smooth”, and “His name means King in Arabic” (The last one obviously being said in my best Mark Jones voice).
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