- John Hollinger of The Athletic liked the Kings‘ offseason on the whole, but questioned the team’s decision to trade Delon Wright for Tristan Thompson, then sign Alex Len and retain Damian Jones. All three big men figure to be backups, with Richaun Holmes starting at the five.
The Kings have waived guards Matt Coleman III and DJ Steward, the team announced in a press release.
Both players signed training camp deals with Sacramento in late July after going undrafted. They faced long odds to earn a roster spot and will likely wind up with the team’s G League affiliate in Stockton.
Coleman, who played four years at Texas, got into all three of the Kings’ preseason games, but didn’t score and averaged just 4.1 minutes per night. Steward, who spent one season at Duke, only appeared in Monday’s preseason contest, scoring two points in 3.5 minutes.
Sacramento is now down to 18 players in camp, with 14 guaranteed contracts.
Kings coach Luke Walton is still tinkering with his starting lineup, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. The forward spots are up for grabs, with Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes and Marvin Bagley III as the top contenders, depending on whether Walton opts to go small or with a more conventional lineup. “I have not come to (a decision regarding Barnes) and there are still open spots,” Walton said. It could all be a moot point if the Kings renew efforts to acquire Ben Simmons.
Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum and Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon are two players widely viewed as potential fits for the Sixers in a Ben Simmons deal, but no trade scenarios involving either player have gained real traction with Philadelphia so far, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (video link).
According to Charania, the Sixers asked the Trail Blazers for a package that included three first-round picks and three pick swaps, which Portland rejected. While Charania’s wording isn’t entirely clear, it sounds like Philadelphia requested all those draft assets in addition to McCollum, so it’s not surprising that the Blazers weren’t interested.
As has been reported repeatedly throughout the offseason, the Sixers’ dream scenario would be to trade Simmons to the Blazers in a deal involving Damian Lillard, but the Oakland native never asked to be dealt and Portland has zero interest in moving him unless that happens. “You’re waiting on a prayer,” one source said to Sam Amick of The Athletic, referring to Philadelphia’s desire to land Lillard.
According to Amick, there has been some chatter around the league about the possibility of the Sixers and Blazers working out a Simmons deal for a package that includes McCollum and Robert Covington, plus draft assets, but the two sides don’t appear anywhere close.
Here’s more on Simmons:
- The Sixers’ front office, head coach Doc Rivers, and agent Rich Paul have continued to discuss the idea of Simmons ending his holdout and reporting to the team, but the three-time All-Star remains “resistant” to that idea, according to Charania.
- Charania says Simmons has clearly “mentally checked out” from the Sixers and even if he were to report to the team, it would be with “short-term intentions.” A source who spoke to Amick said essentially the same thing: “Even if (Simmons) shows up, I think there’s no chance of him ever mentally being back in Philly.” Simmons has packed up his belongings from his Philadelphia home, per Charania.
- David Aldridge of The Athletic believes the Kings make sense as a trade partner for Simmons and has heard the 25-year-old would have no problem going to Sacramento. However, sources have told Amick that the Kings want to see what their current group looks like in the regular season and haven’t seriously revisited the possibility of a Simmons trade since speaking to the 76ers months ago.
The Sixers played their first game of the 2021 preseason on Monday, and – as expected – Ben Simmons wasn’t in the building. The three-time All-Star continues his holdout, having not reported to the team for the 2021/22 season.
The 76ers already withheld an $8.25MM advance payment for Simmons for failing to uphold the terms of his contract, placing that money in an escrow account. According to Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks of ESPN, the team now intends to fine the 25-year-old for each preseason and regular season game he misses.
Those fines – which will come out of the escrow account for the time being – will be worth 1/91.6th of Simmons’ salary for 2021/22, per Bontemps and Marks. That means Simmons will lose about $360K of his $33MM salary for each game he misses, starting with Monday’s contest.
Those penalties will add up quickly. If Simmons sits out the preseason and extends his holdout into the regular season, he’ll have missed 10 games by the end of October — the equivalent of $3.6MM in lost salary.
That fine money won’t be easy for Simmons to recoup. If he’s eventually traded, his new team can’t agree to pay him the lost money, according to ESPN’s duo. That contradicts a weekend report which suggested that Simmons’ new team might be able to waive his fines. Bontemps and Marks says the only path for Simmons to get his fine money back would be by reaching a settlement with the 76ers, and point out that Philadelphia has little incentive to negotiate such a settlement.
Here’s more on Simmons:
- Ian Begley of SNY.tv, confirming that the Sixers and Pacers have talked about the possibility of a Simmons trade, reports that Caris LeVert was among the players discussed in those negotiations. However, Begley cautions that it’s unclear whether talks between the two teams progressed beyond exploratory conversations.
- Begley also says the Kings are among the clubs still eyeing Simmons, adding them to the list of six teams with ongoing interest reported over the weekend.
- According to Begley, members of several organizations around the NBA have privately stated they hope the Sixers don’t trade Simmons, since it would set a bad precedent to relent to a player’s demands when he still has four years left on his contract. Chris Mannix of SI.com spoke to one Eastern Conference executive who expressed that view plainly. “F–k that,” the executive said. “You let a guy force his way out with four years left on a max contract and you set a terrible precedent. They can’t cave.”
- Simmons has put one of his residences in the Philadelphia area up for sale and may put the other one on the market as well, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. While monitoring a player’s real estate holdings typically isn’t a reliable way to suss out his future plans, it’s probably safe to assume there’s a correlation in this case.
- Kings coach Luke Walton is reviewing his options for a starting lineup ahead of his team’s preseason opener Monday, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Richaun Holmes and Harrison Barnes appear set, according to Anderson, so Walton’s decision will likely come down to whether he wants to start Buddy Hield in a three-guard approach or Marvin Bagley III in a more traditional set. Walton’s options stem from Barnes’ ability to handle either forward position. “There are definitely scenarios where (Barnes) could start at the 3 or the 4,” Walton said. “He’s one of those players that has the ability to do both of those things. He’s a matchup nightmare when he’s at the 4 and him and De’Aaron are able to play that 1-4 pick-and-roll, peel-out game, and he’s strong enough to guard a lot of 4s, so that’s definitely a possibility.”
- Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee examines what Tristan Thompson could bring to the Kings this season. Thompson, a 10-year NBA veteran, was acquired by Sacramento in a three-team trade this past summer.
- The Kings are expected to show a lot of three-guard lineups this season. De’Aaron Fox said it’s up to those players to make it work, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee writes. “We’ve talked about playing three guards and, at the end of the day, what you give up is size, so that comes from rebounding and defense, but we have to buckle down and do that,” Fox said. “If we can’t, then obviously the three of us won’t be able to play together and coach (Luke Walton) is going to have to figure something else out, but we all want to play together.”
Few players who returned to their teams for the 2021/22 season came closer to being traded over the summer than Kings sharpshooter Buddy Hield. However, speaking to reporters at the start of training camp this week, Hield sounded happy to still be in Sacramento and unbothered by seeing his name pop up in offseason trade rumors, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee relays.
“Yeah, I saw (the trade rumors), but I can’t control none of that and this is the business we live in,” Hield said. “My job is to come in and work my butt off every day and produce, and try to produce wins, and I can’t get mad at that. I get paid lots and lots of money to do this, so I’m blessed each and every day to come in here and compete. I love being around my guys. I love the team camaraderie we share and all that. The coaching staff has been great. It’s been fun, so I love it. Whatever happens, happens.”
Kings forward/center Marvin Bagley III, who was also the subject of trade speculation during the offseason, downplayed those rumors too, telling reporters that he’s “right where God wants me to be,” per Anderson. Head coach Luke Walton expressed enthusiasm about getting both players back, suggesting that Bagley was having a career year last season before breaking his hand and calling Hield “one of the most elite shooters” in the NBA.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Veteran center Richaun Holmes told reporters on Tuesday that he never got the feeling during free agency that he wouldn’t be back with the Kings, who “came out of the gate and showed (him) love from the beginning” (Twitter link via Sean Cunningham of ABC10). Holmes also lauded the team’s offseason additions of Davion Mitchell and Tristan Thompson. “You add guys like Davion and Tristan Thompson, and a certain attitude comes,” Holmes said of his new teammates (Twitter link via James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area). “They bring a certain attitude, a certain swagger and that’s something we’re going to need.”
- Suns head coach Monty Williams said on Tuesday that Phoenix had been trying to acquire Landry Shamet for two years (Twitter link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic). Shamet was traded during the 2020 offseason from the Clippers to the Nets, who flipped him to Phoenix last month.
- Warriors camp invitee Avery Bradley, who said on Tuesday that he believes he “might be the best on-ball defender in the NBA,” has a viable case for a regular season roster spot, according to Kendra Andrews of NBC Bay Area, who writes that Golden State could use Bradley’s presence on defense — even if he may be overstating his own talents.
- The Warriors are already feeling the effects of Andre Iguodala‘s leadership, says Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. Rookies Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody both spoke this week about looking forward to learning from the veteran swingman. “He’s a guy that’s been through it all in the NBA,” Moody said. “So, especially a guy if a guy of his stature is in the perfect position to teach me as a young guy whatever I need, whatever I need to know.”
The primary motivation for Ben Simmons‘ trade demand and holdout is to steer him to a team that would build around him on offense, league sources tell Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. O’Connor’s story comes on the heels of a Tuesday report which suggested that Simmons no longer wants to play with Joel Embiid, whose style of play isn’t considered conducive to the way Simmons wants to play on offense.
However, according to O’Connor’s sources, Simmons didn’t make it clear during his August meeting with the Sixers‘ brass that his offensive role was a major problem. During that meeting, O’Connor says, head coach Doc Rivers outlined a plan to stagger Simmons’ and Emibiid’s minutes more often, frequently using Simmons more like the Bucks use Giannis Antetokounmpo, with four shooters around him. It sounds as if the three-time All-Star wasn’t enthused by the team’s pitch.
League sources tell The Ringer that the Rockets planned on building their system around Simmons if they had taken the Sixers’ trade offer for James Harden last season, but obviously that didn’t come to fruition. It’s unclear whether any of Simmons’ current suitors are prepared to provide him with the offensive environment he’s looking for — O’Connor suggests that the Kings might be the best candidate to do so.
Here’s more on the Simmons situation:
- O’Connor acknowledges that things can change quickly, but said that as of Tuesday, league sources didn’t get the sense that the Sixers were close to trading Simmons. As O’Connor notes, with Philadelphia not especially interested in packages heavy on draft picks and prospects and so many veterans ineligible to be dealt until at least December 15, it could still be a while before the 76ers start getting offers they deem acceptable.
- Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link) has heard that the Sixers are targeting potential trade partners in the Western Conference.
- With Simmons unavailable, Tyrese Maxey has taken the reins as the lead point guard, writes Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. However, Rivers and the 76ers are prepared to try out some unconventional ball-handling options beyond Maxey. According to Mizell, Rivers said that Furkan Korkmaz and Georges Niang were “very effective” at bringing up the ball with the reserves on Tuesday.