Sacramento Kings Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Marvin Bagley To Miss 4-6 Weeks With Thumb Fracture

October 24th, 2019 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

After a disappointing start to the season on Wednesday night in Phoenix, the Kings got some more bad news today. According to a press release issued by the team, second-year big man Marvin Bagley III will be sidelined for the next four to six weeks after being diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture in his right thumb.

Bagley had a double-double on Wednesday, recording 14 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn’t much help against a Suns team that opened the season with a 29-point blowout over the division-rival Kings. As they look to bounce back from that loss, the Kings will likely have to lean on Nemanja Bjelica and Harrison Barnes to play increased minutes at the four.

Harry Giles will also be an option up front for Sacramento once he gets healthy. He’s dealing with left knee soreness, but returned to practice today and is getting closer to returning, per James Ham of NBC Sports California (Twitter link).

If Bagley is able to get back on the court in four weeks, that would still rule him out for the Kings’ next dozen games. A six-week timeline would cost him the next 19 games and would push back his return until December.

Kings Notes: Hield, Giles, Gabriel, Outlook

October 23rd, 2019 at 12:16pm CST by Luke Adams

No player who signed a rookie scale extension this week has more potential variance from year to year than Kings shooting guard Buddy Hield. While his new deal has a base value of $86MM over four seasons, Hield can reportedly earn an extra $5MM in annual incentives, increasing the total value of the extension to $106MM.

However, maxing out on all those incentives won’t be easy, as Jason Jones and Sam Amick of The Athletic detail. For instance, more than half of Hield’s annual bonuses are tied to the following achievements:

Being named an All-Star ($1MM)
Kings make the playoffs ($500K)
Kings make it to Western Semifinals ($250K)
Kings make it to Western Finals ($500K)
Kings make it to NBA Finals ($1MM)

Another $2MM in annual incentives are more reachable, but are hardly locks. According to Jones and Amick, Hield could earn up to $2MM if he appears in at least 70 games and achieves the following benchmarks:

Makes at least 85.0% of his free throws ($500K)
Averages fewer than two turnovers per game ($500K)
Leads the NBA in made three-pointers ($500K)
Has a defensive rating below 110.5 ($500K)

Hield wasn’t an All-Star in 2018/19 and the Kings didn’t make the playoffs. However, he appeared in all 82 games and made 88.6% of his free throw attempts, averaged 1.8 turnovers per game, and had a defensive rating of 110.0. So if he were to repeat those numbers, he’d earn $1.5MM in bonus money.

Here are a couple more notes on the Kings:

Big man Harry Giles won’t be ready to start the regular season, head coach Luke Walton confirmed earlier this week (link via Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee). Giles, who is dealing with left knee soreness, isn’t yet participating in the contact portion of Kings’ practices.
Wenyen Gabriel‘s new contract with the Kings is a non-guaranteed one-year deal worth the minimum, tweets Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports. Gabriel, who was moved to the 15-man roster on Monday, would be a restricted free agent at season’s end if he finishes the contract.
James Patrick of The Sacramento Bee explores the best- and worst-case scenarios for the Kings in 2019/20.

Kings Add Wenyen Gabriel To 15-Man Roster

October 21st, 2019 at 8:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

8:29pm: The roster moves are official, according to a team press release.

6:56pm: Wenyen Gabriel will have his two-way contract converted to a standard contract as part of the Kings’ roster tinkering, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets.

An opening on the 15-man roster will be created by waiving forward Tyler Lydon. As previously reported, Sacramento has claimed undrafted swingman DaQuan Jeffries from the Magic.

Jeffries will take Gabriel’s previous spot on a two-way deal, according to Ham. Rookie guard Kyle Guy has the other two-way contract.

Gabriel, 21, averaged 6.8 PPG and 5.4 RPG as a sophomore in 2017/18 at Kentucky but was not drafted. He signed a two-way contract with Sacramento last July, but has yet to make his NBA debut, spending his rookie season with the Stockton Kings. He averaged 4.8 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 12.9 MPG during four preseason games this fall.

Kings Sign Buddy Hield To Four-Year Extension

October 21st, 2019 at 5:03pm CST by Luke Adams

5:03pm: Hield’s extension is now official, according to a press release issued by the Kings.

“Buddy has made tremendous growth each season since joining the team and we are thrilled that he will remain a King as we continue to build an exciting future here in Sacramento,” general manager Vlade Divac said in a statement. “He has quickly established himself as an elite shooter in the league and is an important part of our young, dynamic core.”

11:24am: The Kings and shooting guard Buddy Hield have reached an agreement on a four-year rookie scale extension worth $86MM in guaranteed money, reports Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Amick, the deal will feature another $20MM in incentives. Carmichael Dave of KHTK Sports 1140 (Twitter link) first reported that the two sides were expected to finalize an agreement in advance of today’s deadline.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets that the four-year deal is worth $94MM and can reach up to $106MM, which suggests that perhaps $8MM of that $20MM in bonus money is tied to “likely” incentives rather than “unlikely” incentives, though we’ll have to wait for the full details.

A source tells Amick (Twitter link) that Hield’s incentives will be both team- and player-based, with All-Star berths and NBA Finals appearances among the ways the sharpshooter can maximize his earnings. Woj adds (via Twitter) that there will be “reachable” incentives related to three-point shooting.

Hield’s salaries will also descend annually, per Amick. Like Harrison Barnes‘ new four-year, $85MM contract with the Kings, Hield’s deal will start in the $24MM range and decline to $18MM+ by year four. That will allow the franchise to maximize its cap flexibility in later years, when pricey new deals for De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley could go into effect.

Hield’s four-year extension won’t feature any team or player options, notes Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Hield enjoyed an underrated breakout season in 2018/19, establishing new career highs in PPG (20.7), RPG (5.0), APG (2.5), and several other categories. He increased his productivity while maintaining his impressive efficiency, converting 42.7% of 7.9 three-point attempts per game.

His 278 three-pointers in ’18/19 placed him seventh on the NBA’s all-time list for threes in a single season. Only Stephen Curry (four times), James Harden (2018/19), and Paul George (2018/19) have ever made more outside shots in a season.

Despite Hield’s impressive ascent, he and the Kings had a gap to bridge in contract negotiations this fall as they attempted to get something done before the season and avoid having the former first-round pick become a restricted free agent next summer. Hield used increasingly escalating rhetoric in conversations with reporters, even hinting at a trade demand if he and the Kings couldn’t work out a new long-term deal.

A recent report indicated that Hield was seeking $110MM over four years, while Sacramento was offering $90MM. While we don’t know for sure that those numbers were accurate, the terms of his new deal suggest a compromise — at worst, he’ll earn $86MM over four seasons, but that number could be significantly higher if he hits several of his bonus benchmarks.

If Hield had reached the open market in 2020, he would’ve been eligible for a four-year, maximum-salary offer sheet worth up to an estimated $124.7MM, based on the league’s latest cap projections. However, he always seemed willing to accept less than the max from the Kings in order to avoid a year of uncertainty. Amick notes (via Twitter) that players and agents are also a little worried about the China situation negatively impacting the cap next year and beyond.

With another $24MM+ in guaranteed salary on their books for 2020/21, the Kings are extremely unlikely to be a major player in free agency next summer. And with Hield off the market, an already weak ’20 free agent class looks even less intriguing.

Jaylen Brown (Celtics), Domantas Sabonis (Pacers), and Malik Beasley (Nuggets) are among the top extension-eligible players who still have until 6:00pm eastern time to sign new deals to avoid restricted free agency next year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Kings Claim Forward DaQuan Jeffries

October 21st, 2019 at 4:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Kings have claimed rookie swingman DaQuan Jeffries off waivers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Jeffries was one of five players waived by the Magic on Saturday. The 6’5” Jeffries, who played college ball at Tulsa, was ranked by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony as the fourth-best prospect who wasn’t drafted in 2019. He posted 13.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.2 BPG, and 1.0 SPG in his final college season, shooting .502/.366/.755. Jeffries made five brief appearances during Orlando’s preseason games but didn’t score.

Tyler Lydon will likely be waived to clear a roster spot for Jeffries, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. The former Nuggets forward signed a two-year, minimum-salary pact with Sacramento in July but only $50K was guaranteed in the first year.

Kings Waive Hollis Thompson, Tyler Ulis

October 20th, 2019 at 5:24pm CST by JD Shaw

The Kings have waived guards Hollis Thompson and Tyler Ulis, the team announced in a press release. This likely finalizes their regular-season roster ahead of Monday’s deadline.

Thompson, a veteran who went undrafted back in 2012, has made previous stops with Philadelphia, New Orleans, and various clubs overseas. He’s coming off summer league stints with the team that saw him average 12.7 points per game in Sacramento and 10.8 points per game in Las Vegas.

Ulis, a 5-foot-9 point guard drafted at No. 34 in 2016, holds career experiences with Phoenix and Chicago. He averaged 23.3 points and 8.8 assists in four G League games with the Windy City Bulls last season.

Both players signed deals with modest partial guarantees and are expected to play for the team’s G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings, provided they go unclaimed on waivers.

Power forward Tyler Lydon will likely be awarded with Sacramento’s final roster spot as a result of the transactions.

Kings Deny Buyer's Remorse Over Barnes Deal

October 19th, 2019 at 9:03am CST by Luke Adams

Within that same Athletic article, Charania wrote that the Kings have expressed some remorse over Harrison Barnes‘ four-year, $85MM contract due to its impact on future deals, as we relayed on Friday. However, a Kings source denied that the team is experiencing any buyer’s remorse over Barnes’ contract, according to both Jason Jones of The Athletic and James Ham of NBC Sports California (Twitter links).

Kings Expressing Remorse Over Harrison Barnes Contract?

October 18th, 2019 at 9:53am CST by Luke Adams

One complicating factor in the Kings‘ contract extension negotiations with Buddy Hield is the four-year, $85MM deal the team did with Harrison Barnes earlier this offseason, writes Shams Charania of The Athletic. According to Charania, Sacramento has already expressed some remorse over that deal, since it has set a precedent in talks for Hield and may impact the Kings’ ability to complete extensions for other key players.

Buddy Hield Hints At Trade Demand

October 17th, 2019 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Buddy Hield says he’ll “probably look for another home” if he can’t work out an extension with the Kings in the next four days, writes Jason Jones of The Athletic. Hield’s comments after Wednesday’s preseason game indicate that the stakes are extremely high for the team as Monday’s rookie scale extension deadline approaches.

Hield is reportedly seeking $110MM over four years, which is about $20MM below the maximum four-year deal he’s eligible to receive. Sacramento’s best offer so far has been about $90MM, which Hield has been unwilling to accept. That gap raises the prospect of an unhappy season for one of the team’s key pieces, who will become a restricted free agent next summer if no deal is reached.

“I don’t know if things are going to get done,” Hield told reporters last night. “If it don’t get done, me and my team will look somewhere else, probably look for another home. Until then, we’ll see what happens here. That’s the goal, to be here, and I love Sacramento. But if they don’t want me here, they don’t feel like I’m part of the core — I like respect and loyalty and I feel like I’m part of the group that’s been getting the team back where it needs to be. So like I said I want to be here, but if they don’t want me here I’ll find somewhere else to be.”

Hield played all 82 games last season and led the team in scoring at 20.7 PPG. He was the centerpiece of the trade that sent DeMarcus Cousins to the Pelicans in 2017 and launched the Kings’ latest rebuilding effort.

Negotiations with Hield are especially significant, Jones notes, because they may affect the way that other young players view the organization when it’s time for their extensions. GM Vlade Divac reportedly promised a super-max deal to Cousins before the trade, and the decision to change course has created a sense of distrust toward the front office among some players and their agents.

Coming off a 39-win season and with a wealth of young talent on their roster, the Kings have started to shed their reputation as a poorly-run franchise. But letting a player like Hield get away would be a major setback. Of course, if Hield reaches restricted free agency, Sacramento would be able to match any offer sheet he signs, but the club may want to risk the situation getting more contentious.

The fourth-year shooting guard believes he deserves to be rewarded for his role in putting the franchise on the right track.

“My job is to go out there and hoop and play for the max,” Hield said. “If every player is not playing for the max, I don’t know why you’re in the NBA. And some people will get the max, some people won’t, that’s how it works. But my job is to go out there and kill every night so I can be that max player. And I feel like, especially a market like this, Sacramento, you guys have been covering basketball all your life. Name one big free agent that came to Sacramento.”

Extension Rumors: Hield, Brown, Siakam

October 16th, 2019 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Teams carrying players eligible for rookie scale extensions have five more days to beat the October 21 deadline and lock up those players to long-term deals, with Buddy Hield (Kings), Jaylen Brown (Celtics), and Pascal Siakam (Raptors) among the prime extension candidates.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports has updates on the extension talks for all three players, so let’s dive in and round up the highlights…

The Kings have made Hield a four-year offer worth $90MM, league sources tell Haynes. However, the sharpshooter and agent Brandon Rosenthal are seeking a deal closer to $110MM. Based on the NBA’s latest cap projections for 2020/21, a four-year, maximum-salary contract for Hield with Sacramento would be worth just shy of $130MM, so even a $110MM deal would come in well below the max.
Although the Celtics aren’t typically aggressive when it comes to finalizing rookie scale extensions, they’ve put a four-year, $80MM offer on the table for Brown, league sources tell Haynes. However, the swingman, who turns 23 next week, believes in his ability to become a star and is seeking a more lucrative offer.
Siakam is the most likely player in this group to sign a new contract by Monday, according to Haynes, who refers to the Raptors‘ forward as a “virtual lock” to be extended. However, it will likely require a maximum-salary offer from Toronto, league sources inform Haynes. A five-year max for Siakam would be worth a projected $168MM, and could even get as high as $202MM if it includes Rose Rule language.