Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
July 13th, 9:58pm: The signing is official, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
July 4th, 10:01pm: The Kings will sign Kosta Koufos to a four-year deal worth $33MM, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The deal will include a player option after the third season that will allow him to return to free agency during the summer of 2018, Stein adds (Twitter link).
The center had previously received interest from the Mavs, Magic, Celtics and Lakers in addition to the Kings. Koufos is the second center the team has added this offseason. Sacramento drafted Willie Cauley-Stein with the No. 6 overall pick in this year’s draft. The moves seem to correspond with DeMarcus Cousins‘ insistence to play more minutes at the power forward position. The team now has the depth to accommodate such an arrangement. The signing also gives Sacramento a back-up plan if the Cousins-George Karl relationship is found to be unsalvageable and the team opts to trade the 24-year-old. Koufos previously played under coach Karl for two and a half seasons as a member of the Nuggets.
Koufos averaged 5.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game last season. The 26-year-old was the ninth best center defensively, according to ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus/Minus.
True, Cousins can play the four, and Willie Cauley-Stein is a rookie. But Sacramento loading up at center doesn’t exactly portend a long future for Cousins and the Kings.
So think the kings might trade cousins even though the Lakers already have a center