Sacramento Kings Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Vancouver, Montréal To Host October Preseason Games

August 3rd, 2023 at 12:41pm CST by Rory Maher

The Canadian cities of Vancouver and Montréal will each host one preseason game in October as part of the NBA’s ninth Canada Series, the league announced in a press release.

According to the NBA, the Raptors and Kings will face off on October 8 in Vancouver, while Montréal will host the Thunder and Pistons on October 12.

Three Canadians will take part in the games — Trey Lyles (Kings), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder) and Luguentz Dort (Thunder). Dort will be playing in his hometown.

“After growing up and learning to play the game of basketball in Montréal, it will be a special experience to play a preseason game in my hometown,” Dort said. “Canada and Montréal are home to some of the best basketball fans in the world, and I’m looking forward to taking the floor at Bell Centre.”

The Canada Series has featured 15 NBA teams in 16 preseason games across six cities since it launched in 2012. The 2023/24 regular season tips off on October 24.

Former Warriors Exec Bob Myers Likely To Get Job Offers

July 29th, 2023 at 9:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bob Myers indicated that he wanted some time away from the game when he stepped down as president of basketball operations and general manager of the Warriors, but fans should expect to hear his name mentioned in connection to any openings that arise in the next few months, writes Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

The most obvious team for Myers, according to Fischer, is the Clippers because of his longtime association with team consultant Jerry West and the working relationship they developed during their time together with Golden State. Myers spent more than a decade with the Warriors and helped to win four championships, so Fischer believes he’ll be among the first names that any team will call if it decides to shake up its front office.

Fischer identifies a few other former general managers who may be in line for a second chance, including ex-Utah GM Dennis Lindsey, who is currently working in the Mavericks‘ front office, Kings assistant GM Wes Wilcox, who has rebuilt his reputation after his experience in Atlanta, and former Orlando GM Rob Hennigan, who is VP of basketball operations with the Thunder.

Fischer passes along more information about rising stars in NBA front offices:

Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon was among the candidates to become the Wizards’ president of basketball operations and he’ll likely be considered for similar jobs in the future, Fischer writes. Raptors GM Bobby Webster, Cavaliers GM Mike Gansey and new Clippers GM Trent Redden all appear headed for team president roles someday, Fischer adds.
Jeff Peterson, the Nets‘ assistant GM, is considered one of the league’s best young executives, according to Fischer. Peterson interviewed for the Pistons’ GM slot in 2020, and Fischer hears that he’s viewed as one of the favorites to take over the Hornets if they decide to replace Mitch Kupchak, who’s in the final year of his contract. Pelicans assistant GM Bryson Graham could be first in line to replace Langdon if he leaves, but league sources tell Fischer that he might get an opportunity with another team before that happens.
Tayshaun Prince is a valuable member of the Grizzlies‘ front office and has received overtures about running other teams, according to Fischer. Among other former NBA players, Jameer Nelson has built a strong reputation in the Sixers‘ front office for his work with their G League affiliate, and Acie Law appears headed for a promotion with the Thunder after Will Dawkins was hired by the Wizards.
Fischer identifies CAA’s Austin Brown as an agent who might move into a front office role, noting that he was a candidate to run the Bulls in 2020. Fischer also singles out agents Jason Glushon and Todd Ramasar, along with Kirk Berger, a legal counsel with the players’ union.

How New CBA Has Impacted Summer Roster Moves

July 29th, 2023 at 9:23am CST by Luke Adams

The restrictions placed on teams above the second tax apron in the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement didn’t dissuade the Suns from further increasing their payroll in both the short and long term by acquiring Bradley Beal and his four-year, maximum-salary contract. However, the effects of the new CBA were felt by several of the league’s other top spenders, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks, Kevin Pelton, and Tim Bontemps outline in an Insider-only story.

Bontemps points out that the Clippers‘ decision to waive Eric Gordon before his 2023/24 cap hit became guaranteed saved the club $100MM+ in salary and tax penalties. Gordon ended up signing with the rival Suns, which wasn’t an ideal outcome for L.A.

The Celtics, meanwhile, were in position to keep Grant Williams at a fairly reasonable rate, but opted to sign-and-trade him to Dallas rather than bring him back on a four-year deal worth around $14MM per year.

The Warriors reduced their future financial commitments by trading Jordan Poole and his lucrative new four-year extension in a deal for Chris Paul, who is on a pseudo-expiring contract (his 2024/25 salary is non-guaranteed).

As Bontemps writes, forcing high-payroll teams to make difficult decisions on role players was exactly what the NBA intended when it introduced a more punitive second tax apron in the new CBA. Even the Suns, Bontemps notes, were impacted a little by those new rules, given that they opted to fill out their roster with minimum-salary players rather than using their Early Bird rights to re-sign some of their own free agents, like Torrey Craig and Jock Landale.

Here are a few more ways the new Collective Bargaining Agreement has influenced roster moves around the league this summer, per ESPN’s trio:

The new CBA requires teams to spend at least to the minimum salary floor (90% of the cap) before the regular season begins — if they don’t, they’ll forfeit a portion of their share of the end-of-season luxury tax payments (50% in 2023/24; the entire amount in future seasons). As a result, all eight teams that operated under the cap in July have already reached the minimum floor, as Bontemps and Marks observe. Free agents across the board didn’t necessarily reap the benefits of that change, since several teams used their cap room in other ways (trades, renegotiations, etc.), but Bruce Brown was one beneficiary, Pelton writes. The Pacers were able to get Brown on a short-term contract (two years with a second-year team option) by making him their highest-paid player ($22MM) for 2023/24.
The new second-round pick exception looks like a win for both teams and players. According to Marks, this year’s second-round picks have received a total of $47.1MM in guaranteed money so far, up from $36.4MM in 2022. And because the second-round exception requires a team option in either the third or fourth year, there’s no longer a risk for teams of losing a second-rounder to unrestricted free agency (the way the Mavericks lost Jalen Brunson).
The Kings and Thunder took advantage of the fact that the room exception for under-the-cap teams was upgraded to allow for a third year (instead of just two) and a much higher starting salary (it got a 30% bump, separate from its year-to-year increase). In past seasons, Sacramento and Oklahoma City wouldn’t have been able to sign Sasha Vezenkov and Vasilije Micic to three-year contracts worth between $6-8MM per year without using cap room (or the mid-level exception for over-the-cap teams) to do so. This year, they were able to use that cap space in other ways.
The Cavaliers and Rockets took advantage of more lenient salary-matching rules for non-taxpaying teams to give Max Strus and Dillon Brooks bigger starting salaries than they previously would have been eligible for based on the outgoing salaries involved in those sign-and-trade deals.
Hawks guard Dejounte Murray and Kings center Domantas Sabonis were the first two players who took advantage of the fact that veterans signing extensions can now receive a first-year raise up to 40% instead of 20%. It’s possible neither player would have agreed to an extension this offseason without that rule tweak. Knicks forward Josh Hart could be the next player to benefit from that change, according to Marks.

Contract Details: Noel, Dowtin, White, Jordan, Matthews, More

July 26th, 2023 at 2:55pm CST by Luke Adams

The one-year, minimum-salary contract that Nerlens Noel signed with the Kings is currently only partially guaranteed for $300K, Hoops Rumors has learned. Noel would see his partial guarantee increase to $600K if he hasn’t been waived by the first game of the regular season this fall. In order to receive his full salary, he’d need to remain under contract through at least January 7.

Here are more details on a few recently signed NBA contracts:

Jeff Dowtin‘s one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Raptors is fully non-guaranteed for the time being. However, the guard would receive a partial guarantee worth $900K if he’s not waived on or before October 21, reports Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).
The Thunder signed Jack White to a two-year, minimum-salary contract that includes a $600K partial guarantee in year one and a team option for 2024/25, Hoops Rumors has learned.
The one-year, minimum-salary deals signed by DeAndre Jordan (Nuggets) and Wesley Matthews (Hawks) are fully guaranteed, Hoops Rumors has learned.
The two-way contracts signed by Omari Moore (Bucks) and Leaky Black (Hornets) cover two years rather than just one, Hoops Rumors has learned.
Sixers center Montrezl Harrell and Nuggets guard Reggie Jackson waived their right to veto trades during their 2023/24 season, Hoops Rumors has learned. As we detailed earlier today, players who re-sign with their previous teams on one-year deals (or two-year deals with a second-year option) get trade veto rights by default, but can choose to give up those rights.

Stein’s Latest: Sixers, McConnell, Hayes, Ntilikina

July 24th, 2023 at 3:58pm CST by Rory Maher

A year ago, Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey described his relationship with James Harden as a “mutual lovefest” before the star guard hit free agency, eventually taking a pay cut to help Philadelphia build out its roster, Marc Stein writes at Substack.

However, a year later, the relationship between Morey and Harden is said to be “essentially fractured,” with the 33-year-old unhappy about how his free agency played out this time around. He has since issued a trade request and is intent on joining the Clippers. Morey publicly confirmed last week that the rift was over Harden’s contract and the Sixers’ unwillingness to meet his ask.

Should the Sixers regret trading for Harden? Despite rumors to the contrary, sources tell Stein that the Kings never offered Tyrese Haliburton in any trade with the Sixers for Ben Simmons ahead of the February 2022 deadline. Haliburton, of course, ended up getting moved to Indiana in a multiplayer deal that sent back All-NBA big man Domantas Sabonis, while Simmons was sent to Brooklyn as part of the package for Harden.

Here’s more from Stein:

The Suns are still interested in Pacers guard T.J. McConnell, league sources tell Stein, but there doesn’t appear to be a viable pathway to a deal at this time. As Stein notes, Phoenix recently traded Cameron Payne to San Antonio, and he was the only obvious salary-matching piece for a possible deal with Indiana. The Suns may revisit a McConnell trade down the road once their free agents become trade-eligible in mid-December, but Stein hears the veteran guard hopes to remain with the Pacers.
According to Stein, the Pistons initiated trade conversations with the Mavericks in an effort to unload former No. 7 overall pick Killian Hayes, but those talks “gained little traction.” Detroit has several guards on the roster, including multiple offseason additions. Although Dallas remains intrigued by Pistons forward Bojan Bogdanovic, the team’s top trade priority is believed to be a center upgrade, Stein adds.
Prior to signing Kemba Walker, EuroLeague club AS Monaco considered signing free agent guard Frank Ntilikina, Stein reports. The No. 8 pick of the 2017 draft, Ntilikina spent his first four seasons with the Knicks and spent the past two seasons with the Mavericks. He appeared in 47 games in 2022/23 for an average of 12.9 MPG.

Kings Sign Nerlens Noel To One-Year Deal

July 21st, 2023 at 2:35pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 21: Noel’s new contract is official, tweets Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.

JULY 18: The Kings and free agent center Nerlens Noel have agreed to a one-year contract, agent George Langberg tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Wojnarowski refers to it as a $3.1MM deal, which suggests it’s a minimum-salary agreement. The veteran’s minimum for a player with 10 years of NBA experience in 2023/24 is $3,196,448.

Noel, who has appeared in 467 career regular season games since being drafted sixth overall in 2013, didn’t play much in 2022/23. After being traded from New York to Detroit during the 2022 offseason, the 29-year-old appeared in 14 games for the Pistons, who bought him out at the end of February. He signed a 10-day contract with Brooklyn and played in three games for the Nets, but didn’t get a second 10-day and finished the season as a free agent.

Known as an athletic frontcourt defender who has the ability to generate turnovers and protect the rim, Noel enjoyed his best season in recent years in New York in 2020/21, when he averaged 5.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks in 24.2 minutes per night across 64 contests.

It’s unclear whether or not Noel’s new contract with Sacramento will be fully guaranteed, but he should be in position to claim an opening-night roster spot. Prior to their agreement with Noel, the Kings were carrying just 13 players on standard guaranteed contracts.

Although Alex Len re-signed with the Kings this offseason, Richaun Holmes and Chimezie Metu aren’t returning and Neemias Queta is still a free agent, so there could be rotation minutes available at center behind Domantas Sabonis.

Jason Anderson Examines Kings' Depth Chart

July 21st, 2023 at 8:51am CST by Luke Adams

Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee examines what the Kings‘ depth chart might look like in 2023/24, observing that the team’s starting lineup will probably remain unchanged from last season. Anderson also considers candidates for Sacramento’s final two-way slot, suggesting that Summer League standout Jordan Ford is one option if big man Neemias Queta doesn’t return on a two-way deal.

Thunder’s Williams, Holmgren Among Players Joining USA Select Team

July 20th, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Rory Maher

Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren of the Thunder and Jalen Green of the Rockets are among the young players joining the USA Select Team ahead of the upcoming FIBA World Cup, league sources tell Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

Those three players will be eligible to travel with Team USA to the Philippines and could potentially be added to the 12-man national team roster in the event of an injury, per The Athletic.

Williams, Holmgren and Green will be joined by Pistons guard Cade Cunningham and Kings forward Keegan Murray for Team USA’s training camp in a couple of weeks, where they will practice and scrimmage against the main roster, according to Charania and Vardon. As many as 12 players could end up being named to the Select Team.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported (via Twitter) that Cunningham would attend the training camp. The 2021 No. 1 overall pick was actually offered a spot on the senior team’s roster, according to Wojnarowski, but decided to forgo the opportunity in order to focus on the 2023/24 season. Cunningham was limited to 12 games last season due to a shin injury which required surgery.

Williams, the runner-up for the ’22/23 Rookie of the Year award, is coming off a stellar first season with OKC, averaging 14.1 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3.3 APG and 1.4 SPG on .521/.356/.812 shooting in 75 games (30.3 MPG). Holmgren, the No. 2 overall pick last year, missed the entire season due to foot surgery, but he’s healthy again and recently played during Las Vegas Summer League.

Green, the No. 2 overall pick in 2021, averaged 22.1 PPG, 3.7 RPG and 3.7 APG on .416/.338/.786 shooting in 76 games (34.2 MPG) for Houston last season. Murray was the fourth pick of last year’s draft. The former Iowa product averaged 12.2 PPG and 4.6 RPG while shooting 41.1% from three-point range during his All-Rookie First Team campaign.

The Americans will start training camp for the World Cup on August 3 in Las Vegas, with their first game scheduled later that month in the Philippines.

Kings’ McNair: Decision To Retain Roster Provides ‘Runway’ To Future Success

July 19th, 2023 at 1:44pm CST by Tristan Tucker

While many around the league suspected the Kings were gearing up for a major free agency acquisition entering July, Sacramento ended up largely using its cap space to retain its core. On the night of the 2023 NBA draft, the Kings traded Richaun Holmes and the No. 24 overall pick to the Mavericks to create cap space, which they used to re-sign Harrison Barnes to a three-year, $54MM contract and then later renegotiate and extend Domantas Sabonis on a five-year, $217MM deal.

Sacramento general manager Monte McNair sat down with The Athletic’s Anthony Slater and Sam Amick to discuss the Kings’ decision to retain their core and why he’s higher on their offseason moves than outsiders might be.

“(I’m) not saying that we won’t look at upgrades (or that) we didn’t,” McNair said. “Because we certainly explored all those options. But knowing that one of our options was going to be to bring the bulk of our team back (was appealing).”

After making the decision to trade Tyrese Haliburton to the Pacers for Sabonis at the 2022 trade deadline, the Kings spent the subsequent summer trying to build a playoff contender that would end the club’s then-16-year playoff drought. Sacramento drafted Keegan Murray, a 22-year-old rookie who stepped into the rotation right away, and acquired Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter to surround De’Aaron Fox and Sabonis.

What followed was a 48-win season that resulted in the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, ending the Kings’ playoff drought. This summer was quieter for McNair — the Kings drafted Colby Jones and Jalen Slawson, signed Sasha Vezenkov and Nerlens Noel, and traded for Chris Duarte.

Although Sacramento didn’t make a major splash, McNair believes the addition of Vezenkov is a significant one. The Kings acquired the 2023 EuroLeague MVP along with cash from Cleveland last summer for the No. 49 overall pick in the 2022 draft. While Sacramento wasn’t sure at the time if Vezenkov would ever end up in the NBA, McNair believes the team’s stellar play helped convince him to come stateside. Vezenkov signed a three-year, $20MM deal this offseason.

McNair said that he understands the muted reaction from outsiders, but that the Kings were extremely high on Vezenkov for a while and that he’s going to turn some heads.

“A lot of people hear ‘international’ and they don’t know them, and then they come over and all of a sudden it’s (Nikola) Mirotic or it’s the Bogdanovics (Bogdan and Bojan) or (Nemanja) Bjelica,” McNair said. “Or you can obviously go back to the Pejas and Turkoglus (former Kings Peja Stojakovic and Hedo Turkoglu). And once they’re over here, then people get excited about them. But I think people will be surprised, just because they don’t know him very well and what he can do.”

The Kings aren’t just banking on Vezenkov, Duarte, and the other additions to help the team improve, according to McNair. Sacramento is extraordinarily high on Murray, who showed promising upside in his first season after averaging 12.2 points in 80 games last season along with starting in all seven of the club’s playoff games. Murray also set the record for threes made by a rookie with 206.

Murray played in the California Classic this summer and turned heads rather quickly with a 41-point outing in a game against the Heat. McNair believes Murray’s ongoing development is a key to unlocking another level for the Kings.

“We know we need Keegan to take another step,” McNair said. “And one of the ways he can do that is to be more of a second or third option as opposed to a fourth or fifth option. And it’s hard to do that when you have two all-NBA guys, right? Then you have Kevin Huerter and Harrison Barnes. So you know, it may take some time for him to do that within the natural flow.”

While the Kings’ offseason moves signal a desire to remain in the upper echelon of Western Conference teams, McNair explained that these transactions were as much about preserving future flexibility as they were about staying competitive in the short term. The Holmes trade didn’t just allow for the Kings to bring back Barnes and extend Sabonis — it also freed up $12.8MM in 2024. Every major piece of Sacramento’s rotation is under team control beyond next season except for Monk and Alex Len. That extra $12.8MM of breathing room could put the team in position to bring those pieces back or replace them.

Additionally, the Kings only owe one first-round pick, a lottery protected 2024 first-rounder to Atlanta. Outside of that, the club has a full treasure chest of draft assets and tradable contracts to help facilitate a future move, according to McNair.

McNair understands that the Kings had extraordinary luck with health last season and that other Western teams improved this offseason, but he’s sold on what his team can achieve moving forward.

“One mistake you can make in this league is thinking your path will be linear,” McNair said. “We know it’s not going to be a straight line where we just continue to take one step at a time. Hopefully we’re taking major steps forward. But if there’s other road blocks or adversity in the way, you have to have the ability to pivot off of that, whether it’s a better fit or talent. So for us, we feel not just set up this year, but we have plenty of room to the tax line for trades (if needed).”

Slater and Amick touch base on more topics with McNair, so I recommend checking out the article in full if you’re an Athletic subscriber.

12 Two-Way Restricted Free Agents Remain Unsigned

July 18th, 2023 at 10:24am CST by Luke Adams

The action on the NBA’s free agent market has slowed since the start of July, but there are still many FAs seeking new deals, including a notable group of under-the-radar players whose situations will need to be resolved in the coming days, weeks, and months.

A total of 12 two-way restricted free agents are still available, as our up-to-date list shows. Those players are as follows:

Trent Forrest (Hawks)
Theo Maledon (Hornets)
Terry Taylor (Bulls)
Lester Quinones (Warriors)
Kendall Brown (Pacers)
Jamal Cain (Heat)
Matt Ryan (Timberwolves)
Trevor Keels (Knicks)
Duane Washington (Knicks)
Dominick Barlow (Spurs)
Jeff Dowtin (Raptors)
Ron Harper Jr. (Raptors)

That group doesn’t include a 13th player, Neemias Queta, who is also a restricted free agent after finishing last season on a two-way deal. Although he remains eligible to sign another two-way contract, Queta was ineligible for a two-way qualifying offer after having played on a two-way with the Kings for consecutive seasons — his QO is a one-year, minimum-salary contract with a small ($75K) partial guarantee.

For the rest of these players, their qualifying offer is simply another one-year, two-way deal, which limits their leverage to negotiate a more lucrative standard contract.

Some two-way RFAs have managed to earn standard deals this offseason. A.J. Green of the Bucks was one. Julian Champagnie of the Spurs was another. Ty Jerome (Warriors) and Jack White (Nuggets) received standard contract offers from the Cavaliers and Thunder, respectively, that their former teams were unwilling to match, so Golden State and Denver simply withdrew their respective qualifying offers, making Jerome and White unrestricted free agents.

Offer sheets for two-way restricted free agents essentially never happen though. And in general, unless a team has earmarked a 15-man roster spot for a two-way free agent, it’s an uphill battle for these players to earn offseason promotions.

As a result, the majority of the dozen restricted free agents listed above will likely end up accepting their qualifying offers and hoping that their play in 2023/24 forces their clubs to find 15-man roster spots for them later in the season.

Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on this group to see if any of them can do better than another two-way — and to see how long some of them might be willing to wait in the hope of earning that opportunity.