2022 Free Agent Targets

I wonder how many starting center positions are open? Toronto maybe. We keep throwing Charlotte out there but they drafted a center who could probably contribute right away. Who else?
There’s atleast a half dozen teams who could use a starting C or quality depth. I’d still leave Charlotte as a team needing a starter, Williams has a ton of potential but you’re not trusting him to play big minutes right away. If Ayton leaves, Pheonix, the Clippers, Raptors, Nets, Blazers possibly, I’m forgetting a couple others off the top of my head but there are options with varying degrees of interest.
 
Even without many starting spots available league wide, I can’t imagine the kings would be very high on a free agent center’s wish list given the six or seven other bigs on the roster.
 
I screamed this all last off-season with Vanderbilt... throw the full MLE at him. He's a young player that's ready to breakout as an above average starter and shouldn't be available as a UFA. Even better than Vandy, the Clips are basically waving Hartenstein out the door with them likely using at least a chunk of their tax-payer MLE. I'm just a big dumb dumb with a basic understanding of how some of these metrics work and it's so easy to spot some of these guys when they're ready to explode with an increase in minutes.

I said this in my first post during this thread; I think him and Sabonis can work and especially if Brown wants to run the Princeton? Hartenstein and his 17.5% AST rate along with his elite rim protection say hello. So even if Hartenstein isn't a consistent spacer (yet... he started chucking at the end of the year for a really good rate.), he still commands defenses to play up on him or you give him free passing lanes. And the Clips were very happy to run all sorts of sets through him as a playmaker. It wasn't "cheese" type assists, it was actual great passing/creation plays from him.


I like GPII, I like the Martin twins, I like Porter and Boucher, but Hartenstein is the real prize that's attainable for us this off-season. 23 year olds with his offensive tools (finishing, passing, offensive feel) rebounding, bball IQ and rim protection should never be attainable on the market.
You know we always get hyped up about all these guys just to have the Kings close the check book after signing Kevin Knox and Jake Layman.
 
Even without many starting spots available league wide, I can’t imagine the kings would be very high on a free agent center’s wish list given the six or seven other bigs on the roster.
We'll see. There's not a ton of available cash in the FA market (I believe like 6 teams have above an MLE), so anyone offering full MLE is going to be paying near full price for a lot of these FA's. I'd imagine a guy like Hartenstein, who has been on min. deals his whole career with no security, would love to jump at a team paying him 7mil+/season.
 
We'll see. There's not a ton of available cash in the FA market (I believe like 6 teams have above an MLE), so anyone offering full MLE is going to be paying near full price for a lot of these FA's. I'd imagine a guy like Hartenstein, who has been on min. deals his whole career with no security, would love to jump at a team paying him 7mil+/season.
I think this has to be the hope. Without a ton of available money out there on the open market, don't screw around. From the jump, target an underpaid, on-the-verge-of-blossoming player with your full MLE, and see if he bites at a bit of guaranteed security/money. I'm really hoping Monte and his front office see a guy like Hartenstein in the same way.
 
We'll see. There's not a ton of available cash in the FA market (I believe like 6 teams have above an MLE), so anyone offering full MLE is going to be paying near full price for a lot of these FA's. I'd imagine a guy like Hartenstein, who has been on min. deals his whole career with no security, would love to jump at a team paying him 7mil+/season.
Is that with a Holmes deal? The Kings can't be paying 18-20 million a year on backup centers. This would be Vlade part 2. If they could dump Holmes off the books it would be solid.
 
Is that with a Holmes deal? The Kings can't be paying 18-20 million a year on backup centers. This would be Vlade part 2. If they could dump Holmes off the books it would be solid.
It's hardly Vlade part 2 if the Kings are investing in a young, long-term contributor and not a piece of aging veteran dead weight. Isaiah Hartenstein is exactly the kind of player you take a gamble on in free agency, one who's only 24 years old, still just barely entering his prime, with plus metrics on both sides of the floor and an assist rate that puts him in the upper-echelon of big men with playmaking skills. I agree that it's pretty important to find Richaun a new home in the event of a Hartenstein signing, but the Kings need to keep adding talent, and Hartenstein is a guy who seems very much like he's on the cusp of becoming an impact player in the NBA.
 
There's a report out there that the Kings will pick up Trey Lyles 2.6MM option today


Which sounds good to me, thats pennies in todays NBA for a player who put up almost 17 and 9 with 2 assists (per 36 mins played) on solid percentages.
 
I'm not sure I want Oladipo taking up a roster spot not he team. Looking at the amount of games he's played each season, it's not very good.

2018-2019: 36 games
2019-2020: 19 games
2020-2021: 33 games
2021-2022: 8 games

yikes!
If you can get him on a vet minimum $2.8M in his case or even the bi-annual($4M) for 1 year and a 1 year player option, id do it in a heartbeat. I put him 2nd in depth chart behind DDV for injury prevention purposes and roster balance but id love to have him here. It would address many of the bench scoring issues for when Fox is off the floor (although Davion was picking that up nicely when he subbed for fox in the end of the last season). The we still have TD as an insurance policy behind Olidipo in case he goes lame on us. Low risk high reward given his history with Domas and he is a strong culture and high BB IQ guy. The Monte type. We need to get out of the notion of picking dumb guys with high potential who are never smart enough to learn how to properly use their talents and then become distractions (buddy).

I think the we then see if we can swing a trade for Richaun for Luke Kennard as listed above and get a martin twin, we can run deep with reasonable shooting and good defenders. Resign Jones and if possible Hartenstein.

Fox/Mitchell/DDV
DDV/Olidipo/Martin/TD
Barnes/Kennard/Martin/Holiday
Murray/Lyles/Barnes/Metu
Domas/Hartenstein?/Jones.
 
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You forgot to add a Martin brother to that depth chart and it still looks solid haha. I believe all those moves are possible to financially speaking. That kind of roster, even with possible missed playoffs this upcoming season, really points the arrow up in my mind with young, talented, improving players across all positions and some cap relief with expiring contracts for next year.
 
I’m curious who is the more valuable player for the Kings, Metu or Lyles.
I’m not seeing how there’s enough minutes to go around with all the bigs we currently have including the addition of Murray and interest in Hartenstien.
 
It's hardly Vlade part 2 if the Kings are investing in a young, long-term contributor and not a piece of aging veteran dead weight. Isaiah Hartenstein is exactly the kind of player you take a gamble on in free agency, one who's only 24 years old, still just barely entering his prime, with plus metrics on both sides of the floor and an assist rate that puts him in the upper-echelon of big men with playmaking skills. I agree that it's pretty important to find Richaun a new home in the event of a Hartenstein signing, but the Kings need to keep adding talent, and Hartenstein is a guy who seems very much like he's on the cusp of becoming an impact player in the NBA.
It is if they are stacking at C. That's exactly what Vlade did with Dedmon and Holmes. If Holmes isn't on the books then it's fine.
 
I’m curious who is the more valuable player for the Kings, Metu or Lyles.
I’m not seeing how there’s enough minutes to go around with all the bigs we currently have including the addition of Murray and interest in Hartenstien.
That's a good question. Will Metu's relationship with Brown play a factor because last season I think it was pretty obvious that Lyles was an upgrade over Metu but Metu has better defensive chops if used right. This could come down to an all offense, no defense coach in Gentry and what works for him vs. a more defensive oriented coach in Brown.
 
You forgot to add a Martin brother to that depth chart and it still looks solid haha. I believe all those moves are possible to financially speaking. That kind of roster, even with possible missed playoffs this upcoming season, really points the arrow up in my mind with young, talented, improving players across all positions and some cap relief with expiring contracts for next year.
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The Cavs will not tender a Q/O to 22 y/o Moses Brown


Here he is dropping 16/13 vs Mitchell Robinson who will certainly command a much bigger salary in this years FA class

For all those mad the Kings didnt swing for the fences for a developmental piece in the 2nd round.. Brown would really fit that mold IMO..

for his career in the NBA he averages 15 rebounds per 36 minutes (in 1300 minutes played)... He moves pretty well for a 7'2 guy too has decent touch around the rim shot 64% from the field for Cleveland last szn.

You might be wondering why would Cleveland let him go? it seems they are pulling a Thanasis Antetokunmpo type situation with Evan Mobley by drafting his brother Isaiah and giving him that two-way spot.

Moses is an NBA quality player, he would put up monstrous (Whiteside type) stats in lesser leagues.. He's kind of in that fringe of being too good for the G-League and deserving to be a 3rd stringer on an NBA roster IMO.. only played 1 game in the g-league last season and in 20-21 he averaged 14 boards (including 6 orebs) in 26 minutes there...
 
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The Cavs will not tender a Q/O to 22 y/o Moses Brown


Here he is dropping 16/13 vs Mitchell Robinson who will certainly command a much bigger salary in this years FA class

For all those mad the Kings didnt swing for the fences for a developmental piece in the 2nd round.. Brown would really fit that mold IMO..

for his career in the NBA he averages 15 rebounds per 36 minutes (in 1300 minutes played)... He moves pretty well for a 7'2 guy too has decent touch around the rim shot 64% from the field for Cleveland last szn.

You might be wondering why would Cleveland let him go? it seems they are pulling a Thanasis Antetokunmpo type situation with Evan Mobley by drafting his brother Isaiah and giving him that two-way spot.

Moses is an NBA quality player, he would put up monstrous (Whiteside type) stats in lesser leagues.. He's kind of in that fringe of being too good for the G-League and deserving to be a 3rd stringer on an NBA roster IMO.. only played 1 game in the g-league last season and in 20-21 he averaged 14 boards (including 6 orebs) in 26 minutes there...
He beasted for my fantasy team when he was on the Thunder, but big guys that can't shoot and can't switch on defense aren't really that coveted these days. Cavs were his 3rd team in 2 years...and what's the point with Holmes, Jones, Len, and Queta on the books already?
 
Man, really, all this for Jalen Brunson, lol.
Hopefully not as there's opportunities to make more moves. Trading Kemba, Burks and Noel gives us three separate trade exceptions that we can use. This may also force the Mavs hands to do a S&T that'll benefit both parties and would gives us more cap space and recoup some future 2nd rounders.

I rather this route then targeting that bum Brogdon who way too many fans favor. But we are the Knicks so stay tune.
 
He beasted for my fantasy team when he was on the Thunder, but big guys that can't shoot and can't switch on defense aren't really that coveted these days. Cavs were his 3rd team in 2 years...and what's the point with Holmes, Jones, Len, and Queta on the books already?
Damian Jones isnt on the books he's an unrestricted free agent. Queta's been designated as a two-way player. Also Alex Len wasn't much of a shooter last season, he's 29, and only got 1 year left on his deal.

Moses Brown is just 22, and low-risk high-reward IMO. there's only 4 players on the SL roster younger than him, but he isnt a guy who should really even be on a SL team. He's a player who would beast in the paint at all the lesser leagues around the planet.. He's pretty agile too, runs well, I think he's got potential, will certainly keep getting stronger and he's got solid touch around the rim thats why he was a 5-star prospect.