Sacramento Kings Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nets Sign David Nwaba

July 17th, 2019 at 12:12pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 17: The Nets have officially signed Nwaba, the team confirmed today in a press release.

JULY 14: David Nwaba has agreed to a two-year contract with the Nets, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The deal includes a team option for the second season, according to Michael Scotto of The Athletic, who adds that the Pacers, Kings, Rockets and Suns all had interest in Nwaba (Twitter link).

It’ll be a minimum-salary deal for Nwaba, who will make approximately $1.7MM for the upcoming season and $1.8MM in 2020/21 with a July 7 deadline for the option decision, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. The Nets now have 15 players with guaranteed contracts.

Brooklyn will be the fourth stop in four years for the 26-year-old shooting guard, who spent his first three seasons with the Lakers, Bulls and Cavaliers. He appeared in 51 games for Cleveland this year, averaging 6.5 points in about 19 minutes per night.

The Cavs opted last month not to tender a $1.9MM qualifying offer to Nwaba, making him an unrestricted free agent. Even so, Cleveland had expressed some interest in bringing him back.

The addition of Nwaba continues an impressive summer for Brooklyn, which hit the free agent jackpot by signing Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan.

Kings Sign Richaun Holmes To Two-Year Deal

July 16th, 2019 at 2:07pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 16: The Kings have officially signed Holmes, the club announced today in a press release.

JULY 1: The Kings and big man Richaun Holmes have reached an agreement on a two-year deal worth $10MM, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Based on the reported terms of Holmes’ new deal and the other agreements the Kings have finalized during free agency, it appears likely that he’ll receive the team’s $4.8MM room exception.

Holmes, 25, spent his first three NBA seasons in Philadelphia before being sent from the Sixers to Suns a year ago. He averaged 8.2 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 1.1 BPG in 70 games (16.9 MPG) as a regular part of Phoenix’s frontcourt rotation.

The Kings have now reached agreements with four outside veteran free agents in addition to bringing back their own free agent forward Harrison Barnes on a four-year deal.

As our free agent tracker shows, Cory Joseph, Trevor Ariza, and Dewayne Dedmon will also be joining the club once they can officially sign contracts this weekend.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wenyen Gabriel Giving High Effort During Summer League

July 14th, 2019 at 6:59pm CST by JD Shaw

Kings two-way forward Wenyen Gabriel is starting to show the organization more to his game, as written by Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. Gabriel averaged 13.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and two blocks in four summer league games. “I’m trying to keep it simple here in summer league and show that I can complement the team,” Gabriel said. “So I’m out there trying to show my defensive ability and my switching ability and also my ability to shoot the ball as well.”

Several Teams Interested In Kosta Koufos

July 14th, 2019 at 11:08am CST by Arthur Hill

The Kings would like to re-sign free agent center Kosta Koufos, but he has attracted preliminary interest from the Pistons, Raptors and Bucks as well, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Haynes suggests Koufos might remain on the market until the latter stages of free agency.

Koufos, 30, has spent the past four seasons in Sacramento, but has seen his role diminish as the team has added younger talent. He played just 42 games this year, averaging 3.7 points and 4.2 rebounds in 12 minutes per night.

Koufos is a traditional low-post center known for his defense and rebounding, but his inability to stretch the floor or hit free throws has limited his effectiveness.

A first-round pick by the Jazz in 2008, Koufos bounced around the NBA before landing a four-year deal with the Kings in 2015. He also spent time with the Timberwolves, Nuggets and Grizzlies.

Warriors Notes: Curry, Livingston, Cauley-Stein, Cook

July 12th, 2019 at 10:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Warriors All-Star guard Stephen Curry is confident he’ll mesh his skills with D’Angelo Russell, who was acquired from the Nets in a sign-and-trade, according to an ESPN report.

“The chemistry will develop quickly. We’ll be really purposeful about that and trying to set the tone for how we’re going to play this year,” Curry said.

He’s also looking forward to being in an underdog role for a change with Kevin Durant signing with Brooklyn and Klay Thompson expected to miss a large chunk of the season.

“I’m excited, to be honest with you,” he said. “Five straight years in the Finals and we’ve accomplished a lot, and three championships. There’s a lot to be proud of. But everybody wants a new challenge in terms of how do you get back to that level.”

We have more on the Warriors:

The Warriors are likely to offer Shaun Livingston a role in the organization if he opts to retire, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. The veteran guard was waived this week before his $7.7MM salary for next season became fully guaranteed.
Willie Cauley-Stein was courted by Curry, Draymond Green and coach Steve Kerr and that made his free agency decision easier, as Anthony Slater of The Athletic relays. Cauley-Stein accepted a salary slightly above the veteran’s minimum in order to join a perennial winner after the Kings rescinded his qualifying offer. “It honestly just came down to situation. I know I had said something about getting paid at the beginning of the year,” he said. “But by the end of it, it was no longer about getting paid. It was about staying secure and building off that security.”
Guard Quinn Cook harbors no ill will toward the organization, though he was surprised it pulled his qualifying offer in order to clear cap space, as he told Mark Medina of the San Jose Mercury News. Cook wound up signing a two-year, $6MM deal with the Lakers. “It was tough for me with how everything went down, but no hard feelings,” Cook said. “We’re family forever and champions forever.”

Kings Sign Second-Rounder Justin James

July 10th, 2019 at 6:05pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 10, 6:05pm: According to James Ham of NBC Sports California, James’ new contract with the Kings is a three-year, minimum-salary deal with the first two seasons guaranteed. The total value of James’s contract is $4,198,912.

JULY 10, 1:30pm: The Kings have officially signed another one of their second-round picks, announcing today in a press release that No. 40 overall selection Justin James is now under contract.

Terms of James’ first NBA deal aren’t yet known, but players selected in that range often sign contracts at or near the minimum that include at least a couple guaranteed seasons. Sacramento still had a little cap room left over after signing a handful of veteran free agents, so the team could go up to three or four years for James.

A 22-year-old guard out of Wyoming, James filled up the stat sheet during his senior season with the Cowboys, averaging 22.1 PPG, 8.5 RPG, and 4.4 APG in 32 games. However, he struggled with his efficiency, making just 40.9% of his attempts from the floor, including 29.6% from beyond the three-point line.

The Kings didn’t have a first-round pick in this year’s draft, but selected three players in the second round. The team has signed No. 55 pick Kyle Guy to a two-way contract and appears likely to stash No. 60 pick Vanja Marinkovic overseas.

Free Agent Notes: Ellis, Green, Speights

July 9th, 2019 at 6:15pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Representatives from nearly half of the league’s teams were in attendance for a workout that included former NBA stars Amar’e Stoudemire and Monta Ellis, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets.

The Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Knicks, Thunder, Bucks, Pistons, Kings, Nuggets, Blazers, Magic, Hawks, Wolves and Wizards were all in attendance. Haynes adds that 15 international teams from Europe and Asia also had representatives in Las Vegas for the workout.

Here’s more from around the league:

The Spurs, Nuggets, and Knicks were all interested in JaMychal Green before the forward re-signed with the Clippers, Jovan Buha of The Athletic writes. Those teams were offering him a more lucrative offer than the one he signed with Los Angeles. The Clippers put on a “full-court press” to retain Green, Buha adds, and the 29-year-old ended up inking a two-year deal worth slightly under $10MM.
Green has the ability to be a free agent next summer, having secured a player option as part of his deal with the Clippers. Buha (in the same piece) speculates that Green could have commanded a deal in the $10MM+ range this offseason and that the forward should have the opportunity for a similar contract next summer.
Mo Speights, who played in China last season, is working out for teams in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated tweets. Speights last played in the NBA for the Magic during the 2017/18 season.

Terrence Ross Says He Received Interest From Kings

July 9th, 2019 at 1:26pm CST by Luke Adams

As John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com details, Ross said he received either serious interest or a contract offer from the Lakers, Jazz, Mavericks, Pacers, and Kings while he was a free agent. Like teammate Nikola Vucevic though, Ross preferred to stick with the Magic.

Walton Says Sexual Assault Allegations Not Backed Up By Facts

July 9th, 2019 at 11:27am CST by Luke Adams

In a court brief filed last week in response to sexual assault allegations by former sportscaster Kelli Tennant, new Kings head coach Luke Walton claimed that those allegations aren’t backed up by facts and are designed to attract media attraction. Stefanie Dazio of The Associated Press has the full story.

Contract Details: Porter, Rozier, Spurs, Kings, Raptors

July 9th, 2019 at 8:52am CST by Luke Adams

For the first time in several years, a first-round pick has accepted below the standard maximum of 120% of his rookie scale amount, tweets Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights. According to Siegel, No. 30 overall pick Kevin Porter Jr. will only earn 80% of his rookie scale amount during his first season and will continue to get less than 120% of the rookie scale amount in years two through four.

The rookie scale amount this year for the No. 30 pick is $1,613,700, so Porter’s expected salary for his rookie season would have been $1,936,440. Instead, he’ll get just $1,290,960, according to Siegel.

While this is just my speculation, it seems likely that the Cavaliers would have checked in with Porter and his agent before drafting him to see if he’d be okay with that reduced first-year salary, given how rare it is. Porter, the final pick in the first round, will still earn significantly more than the rookie minimum of $898K that many early second-rounder selections will receive, while the Cavs, who are up against the luxury-tax line, will put themselves in better position to avoid potential repeater penalties.

Here are more contract details from around the NBA, all courtesy of Siegel unless otherwise indicated:

Terry Rozier‘s three-year, $56.7MM contract with the Hornets has a declining structure (Twitter link). It starts at $19.9MM in 2019/20 before eventually dipping to $17.9MM by 2021/22.
The base value of Rudy Gay‘s two-year deal with the Spurs is $28MM, with $2MM in annual bonuses to bring the potential total value up to $32MM (Twitter link). DeMarre Carroll‘s deal, meanwhile, only has a partial guarantee of $1.35MM in the third year (Twitter link). The Spurs tacked on that third season when they pivoted to acquiring Carroll via sign-and-trade rather than signing him outright.
Trevor Ariza‘s two-year, $25MM contract with the Kings only has a $1.8MM partial guarantee in year two (Twitter link). Meanwhile, Sacramento’s deal with Dewayne Dedmon has a base value of $40MM over three years, with $300K in annual incentives (Twitter link).
Blake Murphy of The Athletic provides details on a pair of Raptors contracts, tweeting that Patrick McCaw‘s new two-year deal is worth $8MM, while Matt Thomas‘ three-year, minimum-salary contract is non-guaranteed in year three. Both of those deals will come out of Toronto’s mid-level exception — Stanley Johnson‘s might too, though if the team has plans in mind for the rest of the $4.36MM on its MLE, Johnson could be signed using the bi-annual exception instead, notes Murphy.