The Sacramento Kings waived Justin James on Sunday, hours before the deadline where his contract would have become fully guaranteed for the upcoming season. The move was expected as James never found a consistent role with the Kings over the last two seasons.
The move was first reported by Jason Jones of The Athletic:
The Kings have released Justin James league sources tell The Athletic. His salary for this coming season would have been guaranteed if he wasn’t cut by today.
— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) August 15, 2021
James averaged 3.9 points per game in 310 minutes played.
While James never carved out a role for himself on the court, he was an energetic and enthusiastic teammate on the sidelines. Any big play, James was on his feet supporting his teammates.
James did display fantastic athleticism, and wasn’t a terrible player when he played. He rarely stood out, but never stood out as a problem. I wouldn’t be surprised if another team took a chance on him.
We wish Justin James all the best.
Another excellent Vlade pick.
Good luck to Justin, if he doesn’t stick in the NBA, he’ll certainly stick in an overseas league and make a basketball career for himself.
Thank goodness
Would have rather had JJ than TT, at least JJ could play a position of need at a decent price. I f*ck’n hate that TT trade more every time another decision is made as result of it.
Talk about being upset over a platter of nothing burgers. Maybe save a little rage for Luke being the worst coach in the league or Bagley being a booger eater.
Don’t put Bagley in the same group as my 2 year old. She doesn’t deserve that.
As a long suffering Kings fan, I have plenty of rage to go around.
Bagley as a booger eater.
Could hurt his nose or fingers. Then what is he?
He only picks with the fingers on his left hand.
Lol
They were letting Justin James go either way, I suspect. Tristan Thompson had nothing to do with it.
Maybe, but he at least was on a decent contract and had a potential future. TT is washed up and expensive, there is no defending the trade at all, it was a stupid move that continues make ripples, no matter how small they might be. I have a hate for shitty asset management and this trade is thorn in my side that refuses to go away (we acquired a worse, more expensive, nearly useless player at an already crowded position). An open roster spot itself is more helpful than TT will be this year.
Assuming Delon Wright is still on the roster and Tristan Thompson is not, this deal goes down the same way.
My assumption is that not guaranteeing JJ’s contract has nothing to do with Thompson, who either gets traded or waived on a buyout favorable to the Kings, and everything to do with Louis King who is currently on a TWC.
If I’m the Kings and I think King has a shot at sticking and I know James doesn’t, I’m not keeping James around because fans are mad at a separate trade that really has little to do with the decision to not retain Justin James.
Well, that’s my point. This is one step towards opening up a roster spot now for Louis King assuming the Kings even want to convert him into a standard Exhibit 10 contract. It wasn’t there if you retained Justin James.
Fair or not, this is pretty typical practice for bottom of the roster players. This isn’t a Tristan Thompson for Justin James swap, this is a “Justin James didn’t play much the past several years overall and didn’t have a guaranteed contract and it’s quite likely the FO likes Louis King better” type of deal. Fair or not.
I agree with nearly everything you said except that I see TT as taking up a roster spot from someone more deserving, whether that be JJ, Louis the King, or someone else.
I still don’t see a reason for intentionally adding TT to be on the roster without getting an asset in return to even out the trade.
I hope McNair turns TT’s salary into some salary-matching portion of a larger trade, but I doubt it.
I’m not seeing the connection of TT to JJ. It’s not like the Kings couldn’t have kept JJ, they could have. The roster limit of 15 doesn’t apply until the regular season. There’s a roster limit of 20 atm which they are nowhere near (15 without JJ after officially signing Len).
JJ had a guarantee for his season’s salary that had to be agreed to by today or else he’d be a FA.
So generally I’m not seeing this as a roster issue, but rather a talent issue and specifically ‘whether paying that player is worth it’ type of issue.
Waiving Thompson is still indefensible. There has to be at least one team in the NBA that would have taken Wright’s salary, if not for nothing back, then for less salary than buying out Thompson. I mean, the Kings gave up two second round picks to pay Wright’s salary minus $2.5 million. If they trade Thompson, I guess that’s fine, but again, why not just trade Wright for whatever you’re getting for Thompson?
It seems like this front office thinks “toughness” actually matters, or they’re not real good at evaluating talent, or there’s some other Viveking or Dumarsing happening. I have to think Thompson is here either as a player or a “mentor” because buying him out or trading him makes zero sense when you already had Wright in house.
They were professional and kept him on summer league roster to give him a chance to earn a spot someplace different.
Kind of weird seeing the Kings make grown up decisions.
Agree. JJ was going. Give guys a couple years to make a strong impression, then time to go.
Has nothing really to do with TT except Wright sort of over lapped with TT. That trade was a mistake.
However, with the LAC- Memphis trade today, there is hope for some movement. So tell TT not to rent a place.
JJ was, I believe the 16th roster guy.
L. King is a better scoring option at SF even though I don’t really like him that much now.
Fare thee well King’s James.
Looks like Ramsey may have an opportunity for some minutes on the main roster this season if Davis, Hali, Fox, or Mitchell miss any time. He needs to bulk up more, show consistency on the defensive end and as a passer. But he’s got terrific feel for creating his own shot and a solid handle. Fluid and natural athlete and only 20 years old. He’s been looking good getting buckets in the summer league and I think Monte may have struck again. Could be a microwave oven 6th man one day. Let’s see how it goes with Queta, and maybe Woodard can remember how to play basketball, too.
Davion Mitchell (Off Night) inspired nicknames:
Tristan Thompson: Off Putting
Justin James: Off the Roster
Luke Walton: Off Full
Off Pants!
Kings Fans: Off the Wagon
[Kings fans in the 2nd half of at least 50 games this year]
Len: Off Again, On Again
So non-draft offseason changes thus far: James and Wright out, TT and Len in. Deckchairs successfully rearranged.
This had better not be the last move of the offseason, but it would not surprise me if it is.
I think we’re likely settled until the trade deadline when we have more flexibility for a Simmons trade or whatever Buddy/Barnes + Bagley + picks will get us.
…
Let’s try this again…
So sad Hackman retired…. I always thought he had so much more in the Tank.
Hickory High should’ve just sat Jimmy Chitwood and tanked that season. Could’ve drafted the #1 eighth grader in the state of Indiana and set themselves up for a dynasty-like run, at least until the next war started and all the boys got shipped off to ‘Nam.
I think they are waiting for Daryl Morey to come back to Earth on his demands for Ben Simmons. And that’s probably not happening until Mid September at the very earliest, me thinks. This is going to drag out for awhile.
I agree that Simmons is going to be the big shoe to drop that could change things, but I also think the Kings are delusional that they can offer the best package for him, unless they are giving up a truck load of future picks. There are about 6 other teams that can offer more immediate help for the Embiid and 76ers. Maybe the Kings can make moves after the Simmons domino falls and take advantage while the dust settles.
Disagree, Kings could give up Fox and, short of Portland offering Dame, it would get done.
I don’t think Fox is on the table for the Kings. I feel they best they are going to offer up for Simmons is some combination of Buddy, Bagley, Barnes, Picks and maybe Mitchell.
Agree, but I think they “can” offer the best package for him. Especially since they have three quality point guards.
Why would the Kings even consider trading Fox for Simmons? That seems like a panic move to me, since panic moves seem to be an oft discussed thing around here.
Hmmm, because Simmons has been in the playoffs every year he’s been in the league and Fox hasn’t even sniffed them. Sorry, but Simmons’ game translates to wins, Fox’s doesn’t. And we’re loaded at PG and empty at PF.
I do wonder if this is why Fox hasnt been with the team in Vegas or at least I haven’t heard or seen of him like other years. I think that ultimately Simmons gets traded and sixers holding out for more until closer to the season. If we do deal fox for Simmons they would have to include a young player along with Simmons but Sac is holding for them to come down. They obviously want buddy, I would also include Bagley, Ramsey and one of our 20 centers and 1st round picks in 22,24 pick swaps in 23,25. That’s 4 years of draft capital control including 2 unprotected 1sts. Simmons is worth that much especially when you are keeping your core guys in Fox, Hali, Mitchell. If I had to add Barnes I’d still do it but I’d drop a pick swap. Anything that includes Fox would have already happened in my opinion.
Agree, You don’t give your 25 PPG leader for someone afraid to make a layup.
One layup, one time. Like he’s not going to get that right. He’s played basketball his entire life. And now he has a huge chip on his shoulder. He’s precisely the buy low Sac needs.
There’s a significant risk of acquiring a player with the yips. I don’t know that the stats are, but anecdotally, many of them don’t recover.
I’m not saying don’t acquire the guy, but the risk is real.
Yep. And it’s not a one off thing. He has struggled in previous playoffs and he took 3 shots in 7 4th quarters against Atlanta. This isn’t just a one highlight gaffe.
Buy low, sure. But Fox is too steep a price IMO. He’s going to continue to develop. Maybe Davion will teach him some defense in practice. They’re about a year apart in age.
Nah, Fox IS the buy low. A few months ago, Morey would’ve hung up if Monte offered Fox for his three time All Star, All NBA team, DPOY runner up, perennial playoff player, Simmons. As much as I like him, there’s no reason to believe Fox will ever be any of those.
I don’t think trading Fox for Simmons would be an example of buying low.
It’s not even that. The point is to improve your team, not help Daryl Morey look good.
There’s no way the Sacramento Kings are better off trading De’Aaron Fox for Ben Simmons no matter how much switching the pieces seems desirable. If you’re acquiring Simmons, you’re acquiring him to play with Fox, not instead of.
No, you’re getting him to play with Hali – a true playmaker who will get him the ball where he can succeed and play equally great defense. Then add Mitchell and you have an identity. Fox’s lack of D and inability to stretch a D would not pair well with Simmons. Giving up Hali for Simmons would be the bad move.
Hali hasn’t proven anything. Who is going to be your alpha scorer if you trade Fox? It is like trying to build the Hawks with no Tre Young or the Mavs with no Luka or the Trailblazers without Dame.
Great, an alpha who wins 30 games a year. Fox is Wall or Beal at best. Hardly Luca, Dame, or even Tre. Simmons, Hali, and Mitchell would win like the Pistons did. Who was their alpha scorer? Right, they didn’t need one because they shared the ball and played hard as hell. Besides, who wants some whiney, primadonna alpha running down the shot clock and bitching for calls to close out games every night? Boring.
Agree with this. I especially don’t love the “we’ll just put Simmons in at power forward” takes. 0 career minutes at power forward. Repeat…Zero.
Just because he’s 6”10’ doesn’t mean he knows how to play an off the ball power forward effectively. As evidenced by playoffs when he had ball in hands less.
Could it work…maybe. But good lord that’s a gamble, especially if dealing Fox and you are banking on Hali and Mitchell as your prime ball handlers.
Because this team needs to change. For some reason everyone wants the team to improve but does not want to change the roster.
Bagley plus Buddy is not going to get much of anything. The pick is useless for a team chasing championships.
I actually think Siakam might be more realistic. There’s a world were we could get him without trading Fox or Haliburton. And he’d be a massive upgrade who would fit in very well with what McNair probably considers to be the core of the roster.
And while I realize a home run move isn’t going to be made just to shore up a roster weakness, as of now we have literally 0 stretch big men. Holmes, Bagley, TT, Len, and even Queta are all mostly threats rolling to the hoop or playing inside. That is going to make our offense painfully predictable and will cause issues against teams who have the personnel to defend it well.
Theoretically, Siakam would give us a good stretch big man. Assuming his three point percentage last season was more of a fluke given his performance the two prior seasons and FT%, he could be a more realistic option than Simmons.
I would love to see us make a few more moves to improve our asset base – I was mildly disappointed (thought not really upset) that our biggest move has been decreasing our asset base by going from Wright on a good contract to a big man whose been a net negative on the court.
However, I assume we are really in a stage where we try to improve our assets and most moves appear fairly incremental until the FO takes a big swing. I don’t think we are giving up future picks for a mediocre vet. So I imagine we keep trying to rearrange deck chairs and find some slightly nicer ones until we get fireworks. And then we have to hope that home run move works.
Eh, good luck to Justin James. I’m rooting for him, he’s not a bad dude. This is life for a guy at a bottom of the roster in the NBA, unfortunately.
Pretty much. Still, I could see him getting a spot somewhere in the league or some 10 day deals. Truth be told, I had hoped we would have been part of a packaged trade to sweeten a deal because of his unguaranteed contract. His contract could have been valuable to a team in the tax. Oh well.
Not at what he’s making, he’s not.
Have you seen the Warriors’ tax bill? It’s more than the Kings entier roster. They are paying double tax. James’ unguaranteed $1.5M contract could save a team like the Warriors close to $7M in tax if waived.
That’s Joe Lacob’s dinner tonight. We have Vivek.
Here we stayed
Feel bad for the city of Oakland
Eight years ago. The team was worth 385 mil, now it’s worth 1.8 bil. But somehow Vivek can’t even afford a new coach. This is what it means to be a Kings fan.
It goes back to that dumb 4 year extension. Walton should have been on a year to year contract after season one. If at all. It’s not like he could have demanded better.
Especially after the hotel incident came up and he hadn’t even coached yet. Kings should’ve at least included team options to see how things played out.
“Basketball reasons”
I know the Dubs are paying a lot in tax….but that’s a choice. And that requires the Kings wanting someone that the Dubs are paying in that range.
I think you’re overthinking this a tad, Adam.
2 out of 6 games Mitchell did nothing but run through the motions
first one was excused by an early back to back
excuse tonight?
6 games in 12 days with big minutes? And they won handily. We get like two seconds a year of joy around here. Better enjoy it while you can.
So true. We get like one draft pick a year to be hopeful about, and if we’re lucky, a trade that might actually make the team better. Those two things often don’t even happen in the same year!
I wouldn’t be too concerned. SL only sort of matters if a player looks either too good to be there or like they completely do not belong.
95% of SL is just players getting some run and a chance for us to get a very general sense of either what might translate from college/G-League/FIBA to the NBA and what might take some added time to develop or to see players in a different context (i.e., Sengun, Garuba, Green, and Kuminga against similar competition to their peers or Josh Christopher out of the ASU offense).
Otherwise, SL tends to be one giant Rorschach test where people see what they want to and conveniently ignore the rest. I’d wager anyone telling you that Mitchell is a stud and McNair nailed the draft pick or that Mitchell looked bad and displayed weaknesses for his age, generally believed those things before the start of SL and are looking for any data / film from the games that backs their already formed opinions.
More to the point, Mitchell looked good. He clearly had the athleticism and skills to play in SL and likely the NBA. He had some good moments showing strong on-ball defense against a higher level of competition than college, a great first step he can use in the NBA, and solid scoring/passing instincts. He also showed an up-and-down shot that will likely take time to develop, some trouble inside against length, and continued trouble with advanced passes/reads that suggests he’s likely to be more of a secondary option to start his career, which is just fine.
But again, maybe some of those are my pre-conceived notions and it will be more telling seeing how he plays and adjusts to NBA competition over his first 3-4 months.
Great analysis.
Hopefully he didn’t also show that he will disappear every third game (looks at his Baylor game log)
I use SL to see where the spots on the leopard are
Cool analogy but one problem… leopards don’t have spots.
What do you make of his AST/TO ratio so far?
Good question. I’d say he’s generally a smart player who makes good, basic reads in the flow of the offense. That seems to match what I have seen, though to be fair I haven’t gotten to watch every game.
But again, a lot of room for people to cherry pick on A/T. Overall, glancing at RealGM, which may not include last night – Mitchell has 19 assists and 11 TOs for a 1.7 A/T, which is just fine for SL where virtually no one has played together before and there are few set plays.
But if you exclude the CA Classic, he has 17 assists and 4 TOs, which is much better. If instead you ignore his one game with IIRC 9 assists and no turnovers, he has 10 assists and 11 TOs, which is bad. If you throw out both, he has 8 assists and 4 turnovers, which is very close to where we started with every game included.
So again, I think he did just fine for SL. And think most of the very strong opinions (positive or negative) are just able to use the data to back their previously held narrative.
Did you have an alternate view or perspective?
I didn’t include the VSL & CAC together. If I’m just looking at VSL, thats what stands out. The possibility is there to expect that Mitchell can do the basics now against NBA players. And it’s not like I’m trying to cherry pick, it’s that I see the CAC being the preseason of summer league. SLC same thing. VSL is where the real games are, and there just happens to be a few tuneups prior.
I didn’t jump through any hoops and sort out numbers like you did there. I don’t really have much of a view of any player positively or negatively except I would say Louis King stands out a bit. I’m not sure that means much at this juncture, but it’s better than doing nothing like Woodard.
I really see Summer League as a development tool and Mitchell passed that 1st test. If King turns out to be wing depth you can turn into a 3&D guy longer term, that’s helpful too. I have no idea what to make of Ramsey, and I’ll point out I haven’t seen most of summer league either. It’s hard for me to watch, and it conflicts with the A’s so I’m not watching mainly for that reason as well.
The reason I asked about the AST/TO ratio was that it was an issue at Baylor and that is something to notice in SL. Is he making sloppy decisions, or is he turning the ball over trying to create? Can he run a fast break competently? The assist to Queta in the 2nd game that I saw was a thing of beauty. Can he make those reads when presented, as you’ve mentioned?
I think overall SL has been successful as long as it is taken through the appropriate lens. And Mitchell, numbers be damned, fair or not, might be one of those guys whose numbers don’t really tell the actual story.
As I no longer look at the draft, I no longer pound the table for this prospect or that one. So it seems to me, based on small and extremely limited samples, that Mitchell has a shot at a long career. And that’s what I mainly hope for out of a 1:9.
Agree. Mitchell did everything I would want to see in SL. He wasn’t Kispert.
Bigger point on the A/T was that there is a lot of ways to cut it to fit a narrative. They are all pretty much equal games with some easier and some harder than others. Overall, he finished with a solid A/T and was basically what you would expect or hope for.
No question. I’m not really interested in making Mitchell look or bad, but I have been trying to get a sense of him. I’m closer to that than I was on draft day.
This is mainly what I’m struggling with. Are the first two summer league games the same as the last two? That I’m not buying. Especially since these guys don’t necessarily play with each other all year long.
Yep. I would say the guy that probably stands out is Louis King, right? That could be the development riches that we didn’t necessarily expect at the beginning of SL.
Are you hating on him already? Get tired of dumping on Fox, did ya?
Seemed like a guy you could root for but never got to see on the floor. He did have that one really good game late last season. Hope he gets a chance to continue playing somewhere. Second 2nd rounder from that draft to go away for nothing. Thanks Vlade.
Well considering about 75-80% of 2nd rounders don’t make it past 3 years in the league, it’s not exactly a surprise for any GM to whiff twice…regardless of Vlade’s suckitude.
Yep. Almost all 2nd rounders don’t make it. Many 1st rounders don’t make it either.
Yep. You should expect to churn through second round picks in hopes of finding something. There’s little sense in holding on to a player over multiple years who hasn’t shown much.
Good to see the Kings make this move. He is a good player and has potential. Glad the Kings are starting to recognize that potential does not win.
It was just a matter of time. Like the kid, but he will be better off in Europe or where ever. He’ll be ok, he’s young and rich, what more can you ask for.
Kings back in the championship game……………………
An Eastern team vs a Western team.
look like a real Champion game.
And we got Mitchell on Boston’s PG is good to see.
Offense vs defense. Ironic……. Yes.
Off Topic…. Looks like the California basketball blogs including STR have a bunch of new writers because?……………………………………………………………….?
The law that SBNation used as an excuse to fire everyone (AB5) was amended to exempt writers (AB2257).
They wanted new voices and it’s backfired. Funny, really.
Here’s what they posted about a month ago:
Except the new voices aren’t fans, they’re media wannabe’s. One’s from Arizona so not exactly a local fan and the other’s from Rocklin and was a media person for the Kings in Reno (at least according to their Facebook pages).
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