- NBA fans interested in the league’s salary cap minutiae will enjoy Jeff Siegel’s latest article at Early Bird Rights, which details the unusual case of the Kings‘ buyout agreement with Anthony Tolliver and explains why it could indirectly cost the Trail Blazers a little money.
- Anthony Tolliver gave back $144,901 as part of his buyout from the Kings, according to Siegel. That’s the equivalent of the 10-day salary for a veteran with 10+ years of NBA experience. Tolliver’s cap hit on Sacramento’s books ($1,620,564) will remain unchanged, since the NBA is reimbursing a portion of his minimum salary. However, the Kings will save a little cash as a result of the agreement.
- Although the Kings have missed Richaun Holmes over the last two months, they could actually have a logjam at center soon, writes James Ham of NBC Sports California. Holmes is reportedly nearing a return, but Harry Giles and Alex Len have played well up front for Sacramento as of late, so it’ll be interesting to see how the team divvies up playing time down the stretch.
- Despite the fact that Anthony Tolliver was waived by the Kings over the weekend, he and Kent Bazemore helped get the team out of its lowest point of the season in January, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. The two recently-acquired veterans told their new teammates in a team meeting that they were better than their record showed. “We were very vocal about the potential here,” Tolliver said. “Coming from Portland and seeing how we played there, and seeing how these guys played here, even though they were losing a lot of games at that point, we were like, ‘You guys are not that far away from winning.'” Sacramento is 11-5 since that motivational pep talk.
- Kings center Richaun Holmes, who hasn’t played since January 6 due to a shoulder injury, is getting closer to being able to take full contact, and hopes to resume practicing with the team this week, the team announced today in a press release.
The Kings have placed veteran forward Anthony Tolliver on waivers, the team announced in a press release.
Tolliver got into nine games with Sacramento after being acquired from the Trail Blazers in a January 21 trade. He averaged 1.0 points and 1.2 rebounds in 9.1 minutes per game. The 34-year-old was on his second tour of duty with the Kings and has played for nine teams in his 12-year NBA career.
Tolliver will be playoff eligible if he signs with another team before the end of the season. Tomorrow is the deadline for players to be released without having their eligibility for the postseason affected.
Sacramento had a full 15-man roster before the move, so the team now one open spot.
After moving to two games above .500 for the first time this season heading into the All-Star break, the Grizzlies lost four consecutive games on a post-All-Star road trip and now hold a 28-30 record. They still have the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA, according to Tankathon.com, and they’re missing two of their most important rotation players, as Jaren Jackson and Brandon Clarke are both sidelined with injuries.
It all points to a team that looks vulnerable to losing its hold on the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. Especially since there are five challengers within 4.5 games of Memphis in the standings, ready to make a run at that eighth seed.
So far though, none of those challengers has gotten on the sort of run that really closes the gap with the Grizzlies. The closest current threats are the Trail Blazers (26-34) and Pelicans (25-33), who are each three games back of the No. 8 spot.
Portland lost its star player, Damian Lillard, to a groin injury at an inopportune time, and has dropped five of its last six games, but the All-Star guard could be back by early next week and the Blazers have the NBA’s third-easiest schedule the rest of the way, per Tankathon. Lillard is probably the best player on any of the six teams competing for the No. 8 slot, so if he gets on another hot streak like the one he was riding before his injury, it’s possible he’ll shoot the Blazers into the playoffs.
New Orleans is a more popular playoff pick, however, in large part because the team has looked rejuvenated since getting No. 1 pick Zion Williamson into its lineup. Adding Williamson to a group that already features Jrue Holiday and Brandon Ingram gives the Pelicans the most dangerous “Big Three” of any of the playoff competitors, and their schedule is the league’s second-easiest down the stretch, according to Tankathon. Still, it’s worth noting that the Pelicans are a modest 7-6 when Zion plays, so it’s not as if his return has transformed them into a contender overnight.
While one of those three teams is probably the best bet to earn the West’s final playoff spot, there are a few other teams not far behind. The Spurs (24-33) have a disastrous 10-20 record on the road, but will play 14 of their final 25 games at home and have the league’s sixth-lightest schedule in terms of opponents’ winning percentage. Gregg Popovich‘s squad won’t let its 22-year playoff streak end without a fight.
The Kings (24-34) and Suns (24-35) also still have an outside shot at a playoff berth if they can get hot. Injuries have hit Sacramento hard, with Richaun Holmes and Marvin Bagley missing for much of the season and De’Aaron Fox now battling an abdominal issue. But they’ve played much better in the last month than they did in the first half, winning nine of their last 14 games. And their end-of-season schedule is favorable — it’s the ninth-easiest, per Tankathon, with 14 of 24 games at home.
Phoenix, meanwhile, will badly miss Kelly Oubre, who had been averaging nearly 19 PPG before going down with a torn meniscus. The Suns are said to be considering free agency options to help replace Oubre, a signal that they haven’t given up on the playoff chase. If they want to stay in the hunt, they’ll need to play well in their next five games, all at home. After that, they finish with 12 of 18 on the road, against a pretty challenging slate of opponents.
What do you think? Will the Grizzlies hang onto the No. 8 seed? Will the rising Pelicans grab it from them? Will last year’s Western Conference finalists, the Trail Blazers, get back into the postseason? Will the Spurs extend their playoff streak to 23 years? Or can the upstart Kings or Suns make an end-of-season run for No. 8?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
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- Center Alex Len has been a pleasant surprise for the Kings since he was acquired from the Hawks, Greg Wissinger of the Sacramento Bee writes. Len has been a factor as a rebounder and shot-blocker in his first two games with the club, both victories. Len has an expiring $4.16MM contract.
- Kings center Richaun Holmes (shoulder) has yet to practice and there’s still no timetable for his return, per head coach Luke Walton (Twitter link via James Ham of NBC Sports California).
Kings big man Harry Giles III recorded his first double-double on Saturday, helping his team pull off an improbable 112-103 victory over the Clippers at Staples Center.
Giles posted 14 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes, proving his worth on both ends of the floor as starting center. He started the 2019/20 season with very limited playing time, but his recent surge has caught the attention of Sacramento’s coaches.
“He’s moving much better now,” head coach Luke Walton said, as relayed by Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. “He’s out there calling coverages. He’s out there at the level, backing up, rebounding the ball. He’s doing all the things that we love about Harry. He looks like, physically, he’s in the best place I’ve seen him since I’ve been the coach here, and his skill set, as far as his passing and rebounding and toughness, that’s something we need.”
Giles has an injury-riddled history, particularly with his knees, but it hasn’t stopped the 21-year-old from continuing to persevere and improve. Instead, it’s motivated him to play better.
“I think with time and reps I’m going to get better,” Giles said. “I’m going to keep getting better. You know how the fouls go. It varies depending on how you’re going to play and depending on how the refs are going to let you play, too, so I’m going to keep getting better at that and just playing hard.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Luke Walton also spoke highly of Alex Len, who made his debut with the Kings on Saturday and recorded eight rebounds in 16 minutes. “It was nice to have a big body out there like that,” Walton said, according to Jason Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). “He did a good job of clogging up that paint. We’ve got to get him a little more familiar with what we’re doing so we can open up the playbook, but he knows some of the basic sets and he helped us win.”
- The Lakers and Clippers are set to play their rescheduled game on April 9 at Staples Center, forcing the Lakers to play three consecutive home games from April 7-9, Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes. The game was originally scheduled to be played on January 28 but was later postponed due to the tragic death of Kobe Bryant.
- The union of Kent Bazemore and the Kings has been a perfect fit for both sides, Jason Jones writes in a different story for The Athletic. Sacramento traded for Bazemore last month, acquiring a proven two-way player at the wing position.“Sometimes fresh blood does help,” Bazemore said. “I hadn’t been having the best year, so it was kind of a match made in heaven. A guy coming over desperate and team in a desperate situation. We’re kind of making it work right now.”
Kings coach Luke Walton said today that new center Alex Len, part of the trade that shipped an unhappy Dewayne Dedmon out of town, will suit up for the first time with his new team tonight, per Sean Cunningham of ABC10 Sacramento (Twitter link).
Len, who had been recovering from a hip flexor injury, is expected to play in small 3-4 minute stints at time today, and just 10-12 minutes overall, according to James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link).
After being taken with the No. 5 overall pick by the Suns in 2013, the Ukranian-born Len has proved to be a solid if underwhelming role player in Phoenix and, since 2018, Atlanta. He has started in just 180 of his 452 NBA games played. He will serve as a big body to shore up the injury-depleted Kings’ frontcourt, providing support for current starting Kings center Harry Giles.
Len will be an unrestricted free agent this summer after signing a two-year, $8.5MM contract with the Hawks in 2018. This season, the 250-pound seven-footer holds averages of 8.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 0.8 BPG in just 18.6 minutes a night.