Kings center Richaun Holmes is expected to be a sought-after free agent this offseason, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, who spoke to a number of league personnel members about the 2021 FA class. Fischer’s sources suggested that a four-year, $80MM deal wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for Holmes.
“I think everyone’s going to be chasing him,” one team analytics staffer told Bleacher Report.
The Kings figure to make an effort to re-sign Holmes. General manager Monte McNair referred to the big man today as “an integral part of the team,” as James Ham of NBC Sports California tweets. And Ham himself made the case that retaining Holmes should be Sacramento’s top priority.
However, since the Kings only have Holmes’ Early Bird rights and don’t project to have a huge chunk of cap room, their ability to make a competitive offer may be limited if his price gets anywhere near as high as Fischer’s sources believed it could. The Hornets and Mavericks are among the other teams expected to have interest in Holmes, according to Fischer.
Here’s more from Fischer:
- One personnel evaluator who spoke to Bleacher Report referred to Mavericks wing Tim Hardaway Jr. as “one of the best pure scorers in the league,” and won’t be surprised if he receives another lucrative multiyear deal now that his four-year, $71MM contract is set to expire.
- That same personnel evaluator said he believes Trail Blazers guard Norman Powell can get $20MM annually in free agency, according to Fischer. “He’s just a guy that can play with anybody,” the evaluator said of Powell. “He doesn’t need the ball in his hands to be effective. He’s a good defender, he’s a great athlete, he gets to the rim. You can play him at the three, you can play him at the two. He’s a great character guy.”
- Multiple league executives believe that Lakers guard Dennis Schröder is aiming to be paid like a top-tier point guard and that he’ll be prioritizing a starting role. The Knicks are among the teams mulling a run at him, sources tell Fischer.
- League executives who spoke to Fischer identified Nets guard Bruce Brown, Knicks big man Nerlens Noel, and Lakers teammates Alex Caruso and Talen Horton-Tucker as some other under-the-radar free agents who could be in line for eight-digit annual salaries on their new deals.
Who will get the biggest pay?
Holmes
Powell
Schröder
Hardaway
I checked it
18 free agents will get around $20 million per year this summer
Just speculating, but the source on that Hardaway Jr quote may in fact be Tim Hardaway Sr
So four $4/80 guys? I think not for HardawayJr. His offense is on par with what he did in ATL to get him that big contract, but his defense & on-off has slipped. He looks poised next to herky-jerky high-involvement Doncic, but anyone would.
Powell should age well. Interesting that Dallas may prefer him, simply b/c Hardaway has not seemed to have an effect on Doncic.
Holmes yes. Everyone wants a center now.
Caruso, about time.
Brown takes advantage of occupied defenses without taking shots away from the stars.
Schroeder
Dinwiddie
Hardaway
Powell
This FA class is chock full of borderline starter, shoot-first perimeter guys who are looking for long-term deals in their late 20’s
I’d love to have any one of them as my 6th man but it’s hard for me to envision a team giving any of those guys a multiyear $20m/yr contract and being satisfied with it 2-3 seasons down the line.
Schroeder…. maybe. Probably worth it to Lakers 20 mill tops. Plays both ways.
Dinwiddie to me is worth 20 mill, better than Schroeder. But is coming back so I say 15-16 mill. Plays both ways.
Hardaway is a scorer, but gets lost sometimes. Inconsistent to me. Not worth more than 10-12 mill.
Powell has stepped up big time. His shooting is there, 20 pt scorer. And plays very good D. He still has upside IMO. He’s worth 15 mill easy. Team needs will also help all these players.
Schroder isn’t nearly as good as he thinks he is, but a mediocre team will likely overpay him. I could see that being the Knicks. Regardless, it won’t be a championship-caliber team and the one that does sign him will regret it.
Agree. He had a season to prove it. Not sure what excuses there are for him.
He sucks lol. We want no part of him. Get the Knicks out of your vocabulary. It’s a new day. Or WTF you been.
Talk to Bleacher Report about the connection. Or dictate to them, as your case may be.
The team most likely to overpay him IMO will be the Lakers. They can go over the cap to do it and they really don’t have much of a choice when you think about it. They’re not going to be able to sign an equivalent talent on the market if DS walks, and you’d assume they’d want to maximize talent while LeBron is still a top player.
Maybe a S/T materializes but it would have to be a team DS wants to go to and they’d have to have to have impact players to give LAL.
Lakers with AD n Bron can’t afford to lose him now. Unless Lowry takes less money to come. Lakers desperately in win now mode. Bron has what 1 more yr. maybe two at high level.
Cant see Caruso getting 8 digits/per …..
Has not taken the step offensively, was weary of the early shooting % and they indeed turned out to be fools gold
Think THT gets 4/50 tho as there still is a lot unknown/upside there
No team is going to spend 20m on a non shooting big. Can’t blame Holmes agent for trying tho.
I think in the right system, Holmes would be a fantastic deal at 4/80. His post defense and his reallllllly nice perimeter D for a big bring a lot of value. If he’s put into a motion system, similar to Utah, he could be a devastating roll man.
Golden State literally won chips with Andrew Bogut and JaVale McGee, they have been drooling over the chance to get that type of player back, to the point where they have tried (of varying levels of success) to shoehorn any big they get into that role (Looney good, Wiseman bad). GSW should be in on Holmes by any means necessary.
Doubt GS has much money to pay him to make a competitive offer (assuming Holmes’ market goes somewhat according to the rumors), so he’d have to be buying in (likely a cheap 1-2 year contract in that scenario) on the chance to be on a potential championship contender IF Klay is healthy and near his pre-injury level.
And a sign-and-trade isn’t easily put together. Obviously GS wouldn’t move Curry or Klay to make the money work. Doubt they consider moving Green. Wiggins doesn’t push the needle for the Kings and he just fills a spot where they already have a ton of high priced players. And I doubt GS considers moving Wiseman for Holmes.
Agreed but this reinforces LL’s point on $$. The teams that want Holmes probably can’t or won’t be paying him 20m/per.
He’s a solid piece for the right team. But he’s not an elite rim protector and he doesn’t shoot threes so that will probably limit his suitors. If any team offers 4/80 I would bet on Sac.
Plenty of posters here said from beginning. GS needed a big even just to mentor and provide depth. Even more after their big went down. And Marty of course crucified them. Now after season he’s on board. Reckless Homer.
Schroder isn’t a top tier point guard.. turns the ball over way too much and isn’t a good shooter..he’s gone after this season and I think lakers do a sign and trade this off season..
DS isn’t even necessarily a starting PG, forget top tier. Remember this guy was pretty much a bust until he resurrected himself as a 6th man in OKC. To me that’s really where his value lies. All this other talk is delusion of grandeur.
Noel can help a team. Knicks not paying him. We can get a nice big with our picks. Been saying this for two yrs now. Minny should sign Noel to start next to KAT. He’s perfect there.
Fischer has to stop cornering personnel evaluators at the bar, or at least do it earlier in the evening. I doubt the Kings are losing any sleep about Holmes getting offers at the 20 mm/4 level. Nor should they. The market for C’s won’t support bidding at that level for any player that’s not a true star.
Hardaway is not a pure scorer of any kind, as he can’t create his own shot, and his efficiency disappears whenever he tries. Unless Mills is running a FO again next year, he won’t see numbers like those in his current contract.
Powell is the only player mentioned that might possibly get 20 mm. Great way to turn a terrific 2 way player into a liability.
Well put. I’m a fan of Powell. Any team would love to have him and he’d fit on any team. But you put a $95 million contract on him – go get that money, Norm, absolutely, but we the message board fans will turn on that soon enough.
Let’s see if Holmes wants to be on a playoff team, or remain on a trash team…
Powell may go to the lakers, Schroder will be signed by some desperate team…