Sacramento Kings Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Kawhi, Little, O’Neale, Warriors, Kings

March 14th, 2024 at 7:56am CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers got a health scare on Tuesday, when Kawhi Leonard had to leave the team’s game against Minnesota in the first half due to back spasms, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. If Leonard has to miss any time, it would complicate L.A.’s push for one of the top playoff seeds in the West, writes Law Murray of The Athletic.

However, Leonard traveled with the Clippers to Chicago and is listed as questionable for Thursday’s game, tweets Youngmisuk, so it doesn’t appear the issue is significant.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Suns forward Nassir Little, who has missed the past seven games due to left knee inflammation, was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice and is expected to be available for Thursday’s game in Boston, tweets Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Little is listed as probable for the showdown with the Celtics.
Suns forward Royce O’Neale said on Wednesday that it “means a lot” to hear team owner Mat Ishbia say that re-signing O’Neale will be a priority for the club this offseason, adding that it shows how much Ishbia “wants to win and keep the guys together” (Twitter video link via Rankin).
The Warriors‘ loss to Dallas on Wednesday makes it increasingly likely that Golden State will end up in the bottom half of the play-in bracket in the Western Conference, meaning they’d have to win two play-in games to even qualify for the playoffs, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. The 34-31 club is now 3.5 games back of the No. 8 Mavs, who would hold the tiebreaker edge on Golden State if they win one of the team’s two remaining meetings in early April. “Yeah, it feels daunting,” Brandin Podziemski said.“Just for the fact that you don’t want to be the 10th seed. The 11th seed is, I think, four or five games behind us. So for us to get that low I don’t think is going to happen. But you don’t want to be the 10th seed and have to play two road games before you get into an actual series.”
A pair of Kings players set franchise records in a blowout win over Milwaukee on Tuesday, as Domantas Sabonis registered his 47th consecutive double-double, while Malik Monk took the lead for most career assists by a Sacramento reserve, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Sabonis increased his double-double streak to 48 games on Wednesday in an impressive victory over the Lakers that moved the Kings up to sixth in the Western Conference standings.

And-Ones: Lamb, Thomas, McLemore, Biggest Buyers

March 10th, 2024 at 8:14pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jeremy Lamb suffered a season-ending ankle injury while playing for the Kings’ NBA G League team in Stockton, Sacramento Kings radio reporter Sean Cunningham tweets.

Lamb resurfaced in the G League after the Sacramento waived him during training camp.

A former lottery pick, Lamb has appeared in 573 career regular season games with four teams, including – most recently – the Kings. However, the veteran swingman wasn’t in the league last season following a down year in 2021/22. He averaged 7.3 PPG on .383/.324/.840 shooting in 56 games (16.7 MPG) for Indiana and Sacramento in ’21/22.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Isaiah Thomas made a strong impression in his first game with the Jazz’s G League in Salt Lake City. Thomas, who signed with the Stars less than a week ago, posted 32 points and four assists in a win over the Texas Legends on Thursday. He followed that up with a 30-point, 8-assist outing on Sunday. Thomas is aiming to get back in the NBA. “I’m not going to give it up until nobody calls and they’re like, ‘Just stop.’ This has just been my life. It’s been an amazing run and I’m going to just keep it going,” Thomas told Alex Vejar of the Salt Lake Tribune.
Former NBA guard Ben McLemore has issued an apology for a drunken driving incident in Lugo, Spain, according to Eurohoops.net. McLemore is currently playing for CB Rio Breogan. “I have made a mistake that I am not proud of. Now, more than ever, my wish is to continue helping my teammates and the club, learn from this mistake, and set the right example for all those who believe in me, especially for the little ones,” he said via the statement. “For this reason, I sincerely apologize and I ask that no one doubt that I will give my best, personally and professionally, to help achieve the goals that we all want.”
Who will be the NBA’s biggest spenders this offseason? Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report takes a closer look at that subject, naming 10 teams that could be major players in the free agent market.

Pacific Notes: Russell, Davis, Kings, Monk, Suns

March 9th, 2024 at 8:18am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Lakers picked up their 11th win in their last 16 games on Friday against the Bucks despite not having LeBron James in the lineup. Guard D’Angelo Russell was a major factor in the win, scoring a season-high 44 points.

“That’s D-Lo man, just play-making, constantly thinking the game,” head coach Darvin Ham said, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. “He kept his word when I told him to take over the game. I told him in the first half, stay aggressive. I need you to be aggressive all night. And he did that.”

Russell is averaging 18.1 points and 6.2 assists per game this season while knocking down a career-best 42.4% of his 6.7 three-point attempts per contest.

“On the floor, I’ve always felt like I was capable of doing things, [and] getting hot makes it a little more exciting,” Russell said. “Off the floor, obviously you all know what I’ve been through. Public humiliation has done nothing but mold me into the killer that you all see today. I never lack confidence. I never fear confrontation. I want all the smoke. … I just feel confident in what I bring to the basketball game, so whatever room I walk in, I’m confident.”

The Lakers re-signed Russell last offseason and he holds an $18.7MM player option for next season. While the Lakers reportedly explored trading Russell at the deadline, reports suggested the guard was more valuable to them than other teams. Given that he’s averaging 21.6 points after the deadline, it’ll be interesting to monitor how other teams value him in the offseason.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Lakers star center Anthony Davis said he “couldn’t really move” his left shoulder after the win against Milwaukee, according to ESPN’s Malika Andrews (Twitter link). Ham told reporters that Davis will be evaluated by the medical staff and an update will be provided later Saturday. The big man is averaging 24.7 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks this season while having appeared in 61 of L.A.’s 65 games thus far.
The Kings defeated the Lakers in dominant fashion on Wednesday before barely beating a Victor Wembanyama-less Spurs team on Thursday. It’s this sort of unevenness that has defined Sacramento’s season, according to The Athletic’s Sam Amick. Even though the difference between this and last year’s team that snapped a 16-year postseason drought is just a .004 difference in win percentage, the Kings are fighting to avoid the play-in after finishing at No. 3 last year. Home losses to Charlotte and Portland are among a large selection of missed opportunities for a Kings team that has shown it can hang with the best, Amick writes.
Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels recently provided the Kings with bulletin-board material after Sacramento defeated Minnesota in overtime on March 1, Amick writes in the same story. McDaniels said following the loss that he felt confident his team could defeat the Kings four times in a row if the two were to square off. Malik Monk responded to McDaniels’ claims. “[The Timberwolves] ain’t won a playoff series [since 2004], so I don’t think they can talk,” Monk said. “They’re in the same boat as us, basically. They ain’t won a playoff series, and we ain’t won a playoff series [since 2004], so you can’t really talk. That’s just him being a competitor, though.“
The Suns are entering a potentially season-defining stretch starting on Saturday when they face the Celtics. As Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin writes, the 37-26 Suns take on the Celtics twice in their next three games, along with the Cavaliers in Cleveland on March 11 and the Bucks in Milwaukee on March 17. Star guard Devin Booker is working his way back from injury, doing his first on-court work Friday since the injury, per Rankin, but he’s listed as doubtful for Saturday’s tilt against Boston. The Suns are 0.5 games ahead of the Kings for sixth in the West before Saturday’s slate of games.

Held Players-Only Meeting Prior To Friday's Victory

March 4th, 2024 at 1:28pm CST by Rory Maher

Prior to Friday’s overtime victory over the Wolves in Minnesota, the Kings held a players-only meeting that lasted about 35 minutes, per Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee. It was the first time the team held such a meeting since Mike Brown became head coach in 2022/23. “We had a team meeting to talk about (how) we have to take this s–t seriously because we got 23 games left now,” Malik Monk said after Friday’s game. “The coaches are going to say what they’re going to say, but we’re out they’re playing. We knew we had to come together and outwork somebody.” Monk finished with a season-high 39 points, including 35 after halftime, and Brown was “thrilled” that the players took accountability for their up-and-down play, Biderman adds.

Pacific Notes: Wiggins, Suns, S. Lee, Fox, Huerter, Reddish

February 29th, 2024 at 2:27pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins will miss his second straight game on Thursday vs. New York due to personal reasons, with Anthony Slater of The Athletic describing the absence as a “family matter.” It’s unclear when Wiggins will return to the lineup, though head coach Steve Kerr said the team expects him back at some point.

“Don’t know,” Kerr said of a return timeline. “We’ll obviously respect Andrew’s wishes for this to remain private. Personal reasons.”

As Slater notes, Wiggins missed the final 25 games of the 2022/23 season due to personal reasons, returning just before the postseason began.

Here are a few more notes from the Pacific Division:

The Suns have an open roster spot. Veterans Mike Muscala (Pistons) and Patty Mills (Hawks) were recently waived by their former clubs, with Muscala reaching a buyout agreement. Would Phoenix be interested in either of those players? John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 says the answer is no (Twitter links). The Suns are much more likely to convert Saben Lee‘s two-way contract to a standard deal, according to Gambadoro, who says (via Twitter) the odds of that happening are “very high.” It’s worth noting that Lee, who was the 38th pick of the 2020 draft, is in his fourth NBA season — he will not be eligible for two-way contracts in 2024/25 and beyond.
After building an early lead on Wednesday against the Nuggets, the Kings wound up being blown out in Denver without star point guard De’Aaron Fox, writes Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee. Fox, who sustained a left knee contusion in Monday’s loss to Miami, went through the team’s shootaround yesterday morning and his pregame shooting routine prior to being ruled out, which seemingly indicates the injury is relatively minor.
According to Biderman, guard Kevin Huerter was frustrated with his lack of playing time following Wednesday’s game, in which he played just 18 minutes. “I don’t know if I could put my finger on one (thing),” Huerter said of the Kings being outscored by 35 points over the second and third quarters. “I wish I was out there to help us more though.” Huerter declined to expand on those comments, but Biderman points out that the 25-year-old is playing a career-low 25.2 minutes per game and briefly lost his starting job in December before reclaiming it.
After missing the previous 14 games with a right ankle sprain, Lakers wing Cam Reddish returned to action in Wednesday’s win over the Clippers, per Khobi Price of The Southern Califnornia News Group. The former lottery pick played 20 minutes and supplanted second-year guard/forward Max Christie in the rotation, Price adds.

Chris Duarte Perseveres Despite Limited Playing Time

February 24th, 2024 at 11:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Swingman Chris Duarte, who was dealing with a sprained right ankle earlier this month, logged 20 minutes Thursday in the Kings‘ first game after the All-Star break. Duarte talked about staying focused even though playing time has been elusive in his first season with Sacramento (video link from James Ham of Kings Beat).

Fox Dealing With Minor Shoulder Injury; Do They Have Right Offense-Defense Balance?

February 24th, 2024 at 3:52pm CST by Rory Maher

Head coach Mike Brown has continually stressed that the Kings need to improve their defense to have a shot at postseason success, Anderson writes for The Sacramento Bee. After being ranked No. 25 in defensive rating last season, Sacramento is currently No. 19 in that category this season. However, the offense — which was ranked No. 1 in the league in 2022/23 — has slipped to No. 14. “We know we’ve got to improve the offense back closer to what it was last year,” GM Monte McNair said after the trade deadline. “If we do that, I think we can make some noise, but we’ve got some work to do because the West is tough 1 to 12 or 13 this year and every game is going to be a dogfight.” Anderson considers whether the team’s coach and top front office executive are on the same page when it comes to the balance of offense and defense.

Brown Once Again Gripes About Officiating

February 15th, 2024 at 5:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mike Brown isn’t backing down from publicly criticizing officials, even though he’s already been fined by the league for it. The Kings coach was upset about a number of officiating decisions during the team’s loss to Phoenix on Tuesday, including what he felt was a foul by Devin Booker that wasn’t called in the final minute. “I don’t know, man. You fight so hard and then you just feel like it’s just not fair down the stretch,” Brown said to Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee and other media members. “That no-call — I’m going to be interested to see the 2-minute report, because if they say that’s not a foul on Booker, I’m really lost.” Brown was fined $50K last month by the league for comments about the officiating.

Kings’ Vezenkov Sprains Ankle, Out At Least 4-6 Weeks

February 13th, 2024 at 12:29pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

FEBRUARY 13: Vezenkov has been diagnosed with a grade 3 sprain in his right ankle and will be reevaluated in four-to-six weeks, according to an announcement from the Kings.

FEBRUARY 11: Kings rookie forward Sasha Vezenkov re-aggravated a right ankle sprain this weekend and will miss several weeks of action, per Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).

As Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (subscriber link) writes, Vezenkov had just rejoined his Sacramento teammates after being sidelined for two weeks due to a sprain in the same ankle.

Vezenkov missed seven games total with that initial ailment, then injured the ankle again in a Saturday practice ahead of today’s ongoing Thunder game, a source informs Anderson.

The 28-year-old reserve, who is the reigning EuroLeague MVP thanks to his efforts with Olympiacos, joined the Kings on a three-year, $20MM deal as a free agent last summer.

In 12.6 minutes per game thus far this season, Vezenkov has averaged 5.6 points on .448/.380/.769 shooting, along with 2.5 rebounds per game. Anderson notes that the forward has been an inconsistent part of Sacramento’s lineups.

NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots

February 13th, 2024 at 12:27pm CST by Luke Adams

A number of free agent signings have been finalized in the days since last Thursday’s trade deadline, but there are still many teams around the NBA with one or more open spots on their respective rosters.

For clubs with just a single standard or two-way opening, there’s not necessarily any urgency to fill those spots, especially ahead of the All-Star break. But the clock is ticking for teams who have two or more openings on their standard rosters to make a move, since clubs are only permitted to carry fewer than 14 players on standard contracts for up to two weeks at a time.

With the help of our roster count tracker, here’s where things stand for all 30 teams around the NBA as of Tuesday afternoon. As a reminder, teams are typically permitted to carry up to 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.

(Note: Teams marked with an asterisk have a player on a 10-day contract.)

Teams with multiple open roster spots

Brooklyn Nets
- Note: One of the Nets’ roster openings is a two-way slot.
Golden State Warriors
Milwaukee Bucks
- Note: Both of the Bucks’ roster openings are two-way slots.
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
New York Knicks *
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns

The Warriors, Timberwolves, and Pelicans are all currently carrying 13 players on standard, full-season contracts, with all three of their two-way slots filled. That means they’ll have to add a 14th man at some point in the not-too-distant future to adhere to the NBA’s minimum roster requirements.

Golden State and Minnesota made trades on February 8 that dropped them below 14 players, so those two teams have until Feb. 22 to add a player. New Orleans’ deadline is coming a little earlier, since the club dipped to 13 when Malcolm Hill‘s 10-day contract expired on Feb. 6.

No roster moves are required for the Nets and Bucks, as both teams have at least 14 players on standard contracts, with one or more two-way openings. I’d expect Brooklyn and Milwaukee to fill those two-way slots before the two-way signing deadline in early March, though they don’t necessarily have to.

The Knicks and Sixers currently only have 12 players on standard, full-season contracts. New York also has Taj Gibson on a 10-day deal, while Philadelphia is poised to sign Kyle Lowry to a rest-of-season contract. Both teams will need to make at least one more roster move by Feb. 22 after dipping down to 12 players on trade deadline day last Thursday.

As for the Suns, they’re currently carrying just 13 players on standard contracts, but it sounds like they’ve already lined up a deal with a 14th man — a report earlier today indicated that they’re preparing to sign Thaddeus Young.

Teams with one open roster spot

Boston Celtics
Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers *
Dallas Mavericks
Indiana Pacers
Miami Heat
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards

One of the 14 players on the Cavaliers‘ standard roster is Zhaire Smith, who is on a 10-day deal. Once his contract expires next week, the Cavs will have to either re-sign him or add another 14th man — and they’ll have to do it right away.

In addition to being prohibited from carrying fewer than 14 players on standard deals for more than two weeks at a time, NBA teams are limited to 28 days of carrying fewer than 14 players over the course of a season. The Cavs have already reached that 28-day limit, having carried just 13 players from January 4-18 and again from January 28 until February 11.

The rest of these teams have 14-man standard rosters with no two-way openings, meaning there’s no urgency for them to make any moves, though they’ll likely fill those open roster slots at some point between now and the end of the season in April.

Teams with no open roster spots

Atlanta Hawks
Denver Nuggets
Detroit Pistons *
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Memphis Grizzlies *
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic
Portland Trail Blazers *
Sacramento Kings
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors *

Twelve of these 13 teams have full 18-man rosters, with 15 players signed to standard contracts and three to two-way deals. However, the Pistons, Trail Blazers, and especially the Raptors are worth monitoring here, since they all have players on 10-day contracts and can open up roster spots when those deals expire.

Detroit and Portland are each carrying a single player on a 10-day deal, while Toronto has two, meaning the Raptors will dip down to 13 players on standard contracts during the All-Star break. They’ll have up to two weeks to get back to 14.

The Grizzlies are actually carrying 19 players at the moment, with 16 players on standard contracts (15 full-season deals, plus Jordan Goodwin on a 10-day) because they’ve been granted a hardship exception due to all the injured players they’re missing.