- Lowe is skeptical that the Kings will be able to use their $11MM in remaining cap room to land a first-round pick, since he hears from sources that the team is wary about taking on multiple years of bad money.
[SOURCE LINK]
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.
The Kings announced today that they have waived guards Cameron Reynolds and Kalin Lucas, per an official media release. Sacramento’s roster now stands at 15 players on standard contracts and one player on a two-way contract, Wenyen Gabriel.
Reynolds, 23, appeared in four preseason games for the Kings, averaging nine minutes per contest. The Tulane product was also a member of the Kings’ Summer League squads in the Sacramento and Las Vegas leagues in July. As we relayed back in September, Reynolds will be joining the Stockton Kings, Sacramento’s G League affiliate, so his release comes as no surprise.
Lucas, 29, also averaged nine minutes per game with the Kings this preseason. The Michigan State product has an NBA season under his belt, appearing in one game for the Grizzlies back during the 2014-15 season. He may join Reynolds in Stockton now that he’s been waived.
- The Kings will be bringing back most of the same players that were on the roster in 2017/18, but with Garrett Temple no longer in Sacramento, the team is without a leader, writes James Ham of NBC Sports California. Head coach Dave Joerger acknowledged this week that Temple is “greatly” missed in the locker room, adding that his club is dealing with a “vacuum of leadership.”
The 2018/19 NBA regular season will get underway in just four days, which means it’s time to get serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign. With the help of the lines from Bovada and the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division, to have you weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.
Having already looked at the Atlantic, Central, and Southwest divisions this week, we’re moving onto the Pacific today…
Golden State Warriors
- 2017/18 record: 58-24
- Over/under for 2018/19: 62.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: DeMarcus Cousins, Jonas Jerebko, Jacob Evans
- Lost: David West, Nick Young, Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee
- Note: Patrick McCaw also remains unsigned for now.
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Warriors poll)
Los Angeles Lakers
- 2017/18 record: 35-47
- Over/under for 2018/19: 48.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Lakers poll)
Los Angeles Clippers
- 2017/18 record: 42-40
- Over/under for 2018/19: 36.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Clippers poll)
Phoenix Suns
- 2017/18 record: 21-61
- Over/under for 2018/19: 29.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Suns poll)
Sacramento Kings
- 2017/18 record: 27-55
- Over/under for 2018/19: 25.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Marvin Bagley, Nemanja Bjelica, Yogi Ferrell, Ben McLemore
- Lost: Garrett Temple, Vince Carter, Bruno Caboclo, Nigel Hayes
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Kings poll)
Previous voting results:
- Boston Celtics (59.5 wins): Over (53.63%)
- Toronto Raptors (55.5 wins): Over (56.95%)
- Philadelphia 76ers (54.5 wins): Under (51.19%)
- Brooklyn Nets (31.5 wins): Under (56.04%)
- New York Knicks (28.5 wins): Under (54.13%)
- Houston Rockets (56.5 wins): Over (69.33%)
- New Orleans Pelicans (45.5 wins): Under (53.4%)
- San Antonio Spurs (44.5 wins): Under (60%)
- Dallas Mavericks (34.5 wins): Over (55.16%)
- Memphis Grizzlies (34.5 wins): Under (60.87%)
- Indiana Pacers (47.5 wins): Over (62.04%)
- Milwaukee Bucks (47.5 wins): Over (73.7%)
- Detroit Pistons (38.5 wins): Over (56.36%)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (30.5 wins): Over (55.42%)
- Chicago Bulls (29.5 wins): Over (61.8%)
- Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein could be in line for a new contract next summer, and The Athletic’s Jason Jones details how he can earn his big payday this season.
- After initially reaching a free agent agreement with Philadelphia, Nemanja Bjelica changed course and inked a three-year deal with the Kings. Now, he’s showing off his ability to open up the floor for his new team, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee details.
The Kings worked out free agent small forward Jarell Eddie over the weekend and may sign him, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets.
Eddie has appeared in 34 NBA games with four organizations. Eddie played two games for the Celtics last season after signing a 10-day contract. He didn’t receive another 10-day deal from them. He then played a game for the Bulls on a 10-day contract.
He saw action in 26 games with the Wizards in 2015/16 and five more with the Suns the following season.
Eddie, who played his college ball at Virginia Tech, went undrafted in 2014 and spent time in camps with the Hawks, Celtics, and Warriors before eventually hooking on with the Wizards.
OCTOBER 8: The Kings officially cut Artis on Sunday, confirming the move in a press release.
OCTOBER 7: The Kings will waive shooting guard Jamel Artis, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Artis signed a two-year, non-guaranteed deal with Sacramento in July. He would have earned $1,349,383 this season and $1,588,231 in 2019/20 if he had stayed on the roster.
Artis has gotten opportunities with several organizations since graduating from Pitt in 2017, but his only time in the NBA came in 15 games as a two-way player with the Magic last season. He posted a 5.1/2.3/2.5 line in 18.6 minutes per night.
The move leaves the Kings with 18 players in camp, with 15 of them having guaranteed contracts.
The Kings have waived Gabe Vincent after signing him to an Exhibit 10 contract earlier in the week, according to the NBA’s Transactions Page.
Vincent, a 6’3″ guard out of UC Santa Barbara, went unselected in the 2018 Draft. In his four collegiate seasons, he held per-game averages of 12.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 29.1 minutes. He holds the school record for most three-pointers made in his career.
Vincent will likely play for Sacramento’s G League team, the Stockton Kings. The Kings also signed and quickly waived Taren Sullivan and Brandon Austin this past week, with the team once again holding one open roster spot.