Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2018 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2018/19 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Sacramento Kings.
Signings:
Standard contracts:
- Nemanja Bjelica: Three years, $20.48MM. Third year non-guaranteed. Signed using cap room.
- Yogi Ferrell: Two years, $6.15MM. Second year non-guaranteed. Signed using cap room.
- Two-way contracts:
- Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Jamel Artis: Two years, minimum salary (waived).
- Brandon Austin: One year, minimum salary (waived).
- Kalin Lucas: One year, minimum salary (waived).
- Cameron Reynolds: One year, minimum salary (waived).
- Taren Sullivan: One year, minimum salary (waived).
- Gabe Vincent: One year, minimum salary (waived).
Trades:
- Acquired either the Timberwolves’ or Lakers’ 2019 second-round pick (whichever is more favorable), the Heat’s 2021 second-round pick, and cash ($1.5MM) from the Trail Blazers in exchange for the draft rights to Gary Trent Jr. (No. 37 pick).
- Acquired Ben McLemore, Deyonta Davis, the Grizzlies’ 2021 second-round pick, and cash ($1,544,951) from the Grizzlies in exchange for Garrett Temple.
- Note: Davis was later waived.
Draft picks:
- 1-2: Marvin Bagley III — Signed to rookie contract.
Departing players:
- Bruno Caboclo
- Vince Carter
- Jack Cooley (two-way)
- Nigel Hayes (waived)
- JaKarr Sampson (two-way)
- Garrett Temple
Other offseason news:
- Signed Zach LaVine to offer sheet; matched by Bulls.
- Bogdan Bogdanovic to miss start of season due to knee surgery.
- Former Kings employee Jeffrey R. David accused of stealing funds from team sponsors.
- Hired Ty Ellis as head coach of G League affiliate Stockton Kings.
Salary cap situation:
- Used cap space; still under the cap.
- Carrying approximately $90.84MM in guaranteed salaries.
- Slightly under $91.68MM salary floor.
- Approximately $11.02MM in cap room still available.
- Full room exception ($4.45MM) still available.
Check out the Sacramento Kings’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.
Story of the summer:
Sacramento’s front office knew none of the top-level free agents would seriously consider signing with its downtrodden franchise. So it tried to make a big splurge in the restricted free agent market. The Kings made an offer to shooting guard Zach LaVine that they hoped the Bulls would refuse. Instead, Chicago bit the bullet and matched the offer sheet, denying the Kings a player they viewed as a difference maker.
LaVine played 24 games last season after recovering from an ACL tear, yet Sacramento was willing to give him a fully-guaranteed four-year contract worth $78MM. Sacramento figured it could pair up a prolific scorer with De’Aaron Fox, giving it a dynamic backcourt under team control for the next few seasons.
Once they lost their bet that the Bulls wouldn’t want to retain LaVine at that price, the Kings went the bargain basement route. They signed backup forward Nemanja Bjelica to a three-year contract worth a little over $20MM.
Bjelica landed in Sacramento under an odd set of circumstances. He entered the market as a restricted free agent but became unrestricted after the Timberwolves withdrew their qualifying offer. He then agreed to a one-year contract with the Sixers, only to back out of the agreement. It was originally presumed that Bjelica was headed to Europe.
Instead, the Kings swooped in with the multi-year deal that Bjelica had been seeking. He’ll get minutes at both forward spots with his ability to stretch the floor.
Bjelica established himself as a rotation player with Minnesota the past three seasons. He averaged 6.8 PPG and 4.1 RPG in 67 games last season, including 21 starts.
