JULY 9: McLaughlin has officially signed with the Kings, according to the NBA’s transaction log. It’s a minimum-salary deal, Hoops Rumors has confirmed.
JULY 7: The Kings and free agent point guard Jordan McLaughlin have agreed to a one-year contract, agent Greg Lawrence tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento (Twitter link) was the first to report that the two sides were nearing a deal.
McLaughlin, 28, has spent all five of his NBA seasons to date with the Timberwolves, providing backcourt depth behind the team’s various starting point guards — he has come off the bench in 235 of 242 career regular season outings. In 2023/24, the former USC standout averaged 3.5 points and 2.0 assists in 11.2 minutes per game across 56 appearances.
While McLaughlin’s counting stats are modest, he does a good job taking care of the ball, having averaged just 0.3 turnovers per game last season, and is a solid shooter. His .472 3PT% in ’23/24 was an outlier, but he has made 36.9% of his career three-point attempts.
McLaughlin will give Sacramento another option behind De’Aaron Fox in a backcourt that will no longer feature former lottery pick Davion Mitchell, who was traded to Toronto in June.
While terms of the agreement have yet to be reported, the Kings project to have little breathing room below the luxury tax line once they complete their sign-and-trade deal for DeMar DeRozan, so I’d expect McLaughlin to sign for the veteran’s minimum. For a player with his five years of experience, that would work out to a salary of about $2.43MM for him, with Sacramento carrying a cap hit of approximately $2.09MM.
DeRozan trade = Kings save money
Before trade Kings salary $162 million
After trade Kings salary $161 million
Tax room $10 million
My prediction this season
Playoffs teams
Thunder
Wolves
Mavs
Grizzlies
Kings
Pelicans
Play in teams
Nuggets 2022 champ
Warriors 2021 champ
Suns Super Team
Lakers 2020 champ
Lottery teams
Clippers
Rockets
I wouldn’t put Grizzlies up in the top 6 since nobody knows how their chemistry will be with so many new players. Rockets could take a leap forward with so many young players. Clippers another team that is a unknown. Lakers need to make a move to be considered a play in team they did nothing and lost a bench player.
Looks pretty accurate but I’d just switch Nuggets & Grizzlies’ spots.
Wish we could have brought him back to the wolves. Hope he gets a bigger role with sac
Seems like a solid, efficient guy. Like his shooting numbers and that 5:1 assist-turnover ratio.