- New Kings center Hassan Whiteside is dealing with a mild calf strain and likely won’t be available for the team’s preseason opener, head coach Luke Walton said on Monday (Twitter link via Jason Jones of The Athletic).
- Analytical data provided by new Kings general manager Monte McNair is expected to influence Walton’s new uptempo offensive system, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee writes. “It’s been great working with Monte,” Walton said. “We’ve talked and he’s going to bring ideas analytically to what he sees, and then at the end of the day I can take what ideas I want and leave the ones I don’t.”
The Kings have discovered two positive COVID-19 tests among their players, according to head coach Luke Walton, per Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).
Jason Jones of The Athletic tweets that, in accordance with NBA protocols surrounding this information, Walton would not divulge the names of the players afflicted with the virus, or which players were working their way through injuries.
Anderson adds that those players have been quarantining since being alerted about their test results over the last few days. He tweets that the players tested positive last weekend, before Sacramento’s practice facility, the Golden 1 Center, was opened for players.
The Thunder and Trail Blazers also announced discovering multiple positive novel coronavirus test results among their organizations today.
A league determination on the status of this Friday’s scheduled preseason contest between the Kings and Trail Blazers remains up in the air at present.
Kings guard Buddy Hield didn’t have any second thoughts about going public with his displeasure over his situation last year and doesn’t believe his relationship with head coach Luke Walton needs to be fixed, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.
“I have no regrets,” Hield said today during a Zoom session with the media. “There’s nothing to be worked on. I never had a problem with nobody here, so everything that was being heard, it wasn’t put out by me. I love everybody here in this franchise and this organization, so I don’t regret nothing I said. I’m going to keep it 100.”
Hield’s unhappiness first emerged when Walton began leaving him on the bench in the fourth quarter of some close games, and it got worse when he was removed from the starting lineup in January. Hield contributed as Sacramento won 13 out of 20 games prior to the shutdown, but he remained upset about how Walton was using him.
The departure of Bogdan Bogdanovic, who signed an offer sheet with Atlanta that the Kings didn’t match, may open the door for Hield to become a starter again. However, Walton wasn’t ready to commit to that as training camp began.
“Even last season, Buddy started more than half of the season, and when he didn’t start, he played a huge role for us coming off the bench and being a dynamic 20-point-a-night scorer,” Walton said. “Every decision is always based on what I feel is best for the group and best for the team, and with this training camp, this is part of what we have to see. What do we have? What groups are playing well together? Who complements who? And at the end of the day, every decision that gets made will come down to what I feel as the head coach is best for this team and giving us the best chance of winning.”
Hield responded to Walton’s statement by saying he’s ready to earn a starting role and will do anything the coaching staff asks of him.
“I always love competing and it doesn’t matter,” Hield said. “That’s not my job. I don’t control that. The head coach controls that. They brought me here to play basketball and win basketball games, so whatever they need me for, I’m going to do it and try to compete at the highest (level) I can.”
The Kings have picked up the fourth-year option on Marvin Bagley III‘s contract, Jason Jones of The Athletic tweets.
Bagley, who has an $8.96MM salary during the upcoming season, will make approximately $11.3MM in the 2021/22 season. He’ll be a restricted free agent in the summer of ’22 if the team extends a $14,762,309 qualifying offer.
Bagley, the second overall pick of the 2018 draft. is coming off an injury-plagued season in which he appeared in just 13 games. Bagley averaged 14.2 PPG and 7.5 RPG in 25.7 MPG. Bagley missed the restart due to a right foot injury and also missed time during last season due to left foot and thumb ailments.
He saw action in 62 games as a rookie, averaging 14.9 PPG and 7.6 RPG in 25.3 MPG. However, Bagley has yet to solidify a starting role, which pales in comparison to the blazing starts that two of the three players taken right after him, Luka Doncic and Trae Young, have enjoyed in their young careers.
After reporting earlier today that the Kings passed on a Hawks sign-and-trade offer for Bogdan Bogdanovic that would have allowed Sacramento to acquire either a lottery-protected 2022 first-round pick or two future second-rounders in exchange for the restricted free agent, Sam Amick of The Athletic has updated his story with some new intel.
As Amick explains, that Hawks offer came with caveats. Atlanta wanted Sacramento to accept Tony Snell‘s expiring $12MM+ salary and asked for an answer within an hour. Additionally, the Kings didn’t know at that point what sort of contract the Hawks were offering Bogdanovic, so they were reluctant to agree to a sign-and-trade if Atlanta’s offer was one they were comfortable matching.
The Kings asked for some of the Hawks’ young talent in a deal, but didn’t have any luck, and Atlanta ultimately took its chances by signing Bogdanovic to an offer sheet. Sacramento didn’t match it.
While The Athletic’s new information lets the Kings off the hook to some extent, Amick says there’s “strong reason” to believe that Atlanta would have done a sign-and-trade for Bogdanovic that included a draft pick even if the Kings hadn’t been willing to take on Snell’s contract. However, sources tell Amick that scenario wasn’t discussed.
Here’s more out of Sacramento:
- In talks with teams about a possible Buddy Hield trade this offseason, the Kings were asking for draft compensation, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv. There’s nothing imminent on the Hield front though, Begley adds. At this point, it would be a surprise if Sacramento doesn’t open the season with Hield on its roster.
- Glenn Robinson III and Frank Kaminsky each received modest guarantees on their new one-year contracts with the Kings. Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports tweets that Robinson got a $100K partial guarantee, while James Ham of NBC Sports California tweets that Kaminsky’s partial guarantee is worth $50K.
- Hassan Whiteside‘s first stint with the Kings a decade ago saw him play just 19 games in two seasons for the team before he spent two years out of the NBA. He’s counting on having more success this time around, as Ham writes for NBC Sports California. “My first (time) around, I had a couple of injuries that kept me from being the player that I wanted to be,” Whiteside said. “But I think this is a great opportunity to come back and revamp that.”
- The Kings confirmed today that they won’t have any fans in attendance at Golden 1 Center to start the 2020/21 season (Twitter link via Ham). Given the COVID-19 restrictions in place in California, that was a given.
12:05pm: The Kings have officially signed Ramsey, they announced in a press release.
10:27am: One of the last unsigned players from the 2020 draft, rookie guard Jahmi’us Ramsey has reached an agreement with the Kings on a three-year deal that includes two guaranteed seasons, sources tell Jason Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). Because it exceeds two years, the contract will be completed using a portion of Sacramento’s mid-level exception.
As a Texas Tech freshman in 2019/20, Ramsey averaged 15.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.2 APG, and 1.3 SPG in 27 games (31.2 MPG), making an impressive 42.6% of his attempts from outside the three-point line. He left the Red Raiders in the spring to enter the NBA draft.
The terms of Ramsey’s deal are interesting, since the No. 43 overall pick looked like he might be a candidate to fill the Kings’ second two-way contract slot. Instead, he’ll become the 14th Sacramento player with a guaranteed salary for 2020/21.
[RELATED: 2020/21 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
The Kings can carry up to 15 players on their regular season squad – not counting two-way contracts – so the team isn’t facing a major roster crunch. Still, Glenn Robinson III, Frank Kaminsky, and Chimezie Metu have all joined the team on non-guaranteed deals, and it looks like there will only be one roster spot up for grabs for that trio unless Sacramento trades or cuts a player with a guaranteed salary.
It has been a rough few years in Atlanta, where the Hawks have failed to crack the 30-win mark since the 2016/17 season. However, given the flurry of roster moves the team made to upgrade its roster in recent weeks, Bogdan Bogdanovic is confident that the Hawks are prepared to put those days of losing behind them.
“I know they went through the rebuilding, but as far as I know right now, this is the reason why they brought me here,” Bogdanovic said, per Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We are all about winning right now. That’s why they’re all in this year, and they brought other players next to me that are really experienced in the league. We know why we are here, you know? It’s time to win, really.”
Of all the players signed by Atlanta this offseason, Bogdanovic received the most significant long-term commitment, a four-year, $72MM deal that includes a trade kicker and a fourth-year player option. Despite being aggressive on the terms of Bogdanovic’s offer sheet, the Hawks weren’t certain the Kings wouldn’t match, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic.
As Amick explains, before the Hawks signed Bogdanovic to that offer sheet, they explored some possible sign-and-trade scenarios with the Kings that would’ve allowed them to acquire the RFA swingman outright. Sources tell Amick that Atlanta offered Oklahoma City’s lottery-protected 2022 first-round pick as part of a potential sign-and-trade, but was rebuffed by Sacramento.
That pick isn’t especially valuable – the Thunder will probably be a lottery team in ’22, in which case it would turn into two second-round picks instead of a first – but it’s still surprising that the Kings would turn down the opportunity to acquire an asset if they were prepared to let Bogdanovic walk. It’s possible that Atlanta’s full offer didn’t appeal to Sacramento for another reason, but for now, there’s no clarity on why the Kings didn’t work to complete a sign-and-trade with the Hawks, says Amick.
Here’s more on the Hawks:
- New Hawks point guard Rajon Rondo – who will be the oldest player on the roster – said that he’s looking to forward to “mentoring these young guys,” as Paul Newberry of The Associated Press writes. “I’m not coming here to be the starter. I’m not coming here to play 30 minutes a night. The biggest role for me is to lead,” said Rondo, who also spoke about the possibility of transitioning into a coaching or front office role with an NBA team once his playing days are over.
- Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce believes the team “hit a home run” in free agency and doesn’t feel as if Atlanta skipped any steps in its rebuild, writes Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.
- Within that same story, Kirschner relays John Collins‘ comments when asked if he’ll insist on a maximum-salary contract in extension talks: “I’m not really too sure, but I just feel like with my relationship with the organization, I feel like we have nothing but positive things or nothing but positive areas to grow with, so I’m just leaning on that. I’m hoping we can come to an agreement before the season starts.”
- Although Danilo Gallinari will be earning more than $20MM per year on his new deal with the Hawks, the team plans for him to come off the bench behind Collins. Gallinari confirmed as much when he spoke to reporters this week and indicated that he has no problem with that role, as Sarah K. Spencer writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- After signing a maximum-salary extension with the Kings last week, De’Aaron Fox said on Tuesday that he loves playing in Sacramento and wants to help turn the team into a contender, says James Ham of NBC Sports California. “I want to be able to bring wins to this city, bring wins to this franchise,” Fox said. “I’m very happy that we have that commitment and we have that trust in each other. But now, it’s about winning. I think that’s what it’s always been about.”
- In a separate story for NBC Sports California, Ham writes that the Kings‘ relatively quiet offseason was one factor that motivated Bogdan Bogdanovic to leave Sacramento. “Since (the Kings) didn’t do any moves in the offseason, I was like, ‘OK, I’m ready to leave,'” Bogdanovic told reporters today. “And I was really excited about Atlanta.”
- Although Bogdan Bogdanovic is no longer in the picture, Kings head coach Luke Walton isn’t ready to lock in Buddy Hield as his starting shooting guard, preferring to encourage open competition in camp, writes James Ham of NBC Sports California.
By the end of the 2019/20 season, it appeared that Buddy Hield‘s days in Sacramento might be numbered. He had bristled at being removed from the starting lineup last winter and the Kings appeared committed to investing in Bogdan Bogdanovic, the man who had replaced Hield as the club’s starting shooting guard.
However, Sacramento let Bogdanovic walk in free agency and Hield remains on the roster. Addressing the situation in a conference call with reporters this week, general manager Monte McNair expressed a belief that Hield can still be – and is – a part of the Kings’ long-term plans.
“I’ve talked with Buddy, as well as his agent, I think we’re all on the same page,” McNair said, per James Ham of NBC Sports California. “I think we’re really excited to see Buddy kind of let free in this system. I think he’s going to be fantastic.”
The Kings are aiming to increase their tempo on offense this season. As Ham notes, that would seem to be a good fit for Hield’s outside shooting ability.
“‘Buddy is such an incredible talent, especially his shooting is at an elite level,” McNair said. “(That) is something we saw this offseason was at a premium. I think we’re really excited to see him in this system.”
Here’s more on the Kings:
- Asked during his media availability this week about the Kings’ decision not to match Bogdanovic’s offer sheet, McNair provided many of the same reasons that were reported at the time of the move. As Ham writes for NBC Sports California, the Kings’ GM said the team wants to “maintain as much (salary cap) flexibility as we can” and cited the presence of Hield and Tyrese Haliburton as the backcourt as factors in the decision to let Bogdanovic go.
- Using McNair’s comments as a jumping-off point, Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee explores how not having Bogdanovic’s contract on their books will affect the Kings’ projected cap room in 2021 and beyond.
- The Kings used part of their mid-level exception to sign free agent forward Chimezie Metu to a three-year, minimum-salary contract, according to Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Metu only has a $50K partial guarantee for now, though that would increase to $250K if he makes the opening night roster, Smith adds.