I never understood that either. They should have a good sense of what other teams are willing to pay Kuminga, contract wise, at this point. If anything, it gets easier to move him later once the BYC issue goes away, and you can match salaries without also having to jettison Heild or Moody.
The Suns and the Pelicans both owe their firsts unprotected, I believe. They could very well end up worse than the Kings, but not because they tanked for a better pick.