I'd bet pretty solid money he's going to be on the Kings radar this off-season (finally, after like 7 years of KF.com wanting him). Proved he was healthy, he's perfectly assimilated into a quality role player role, advanced metrics look good, familiar with Mike Brown system to help bring guys along. Perhaps he can finally break the "Kings acquire a good veteran role player who immediately sucks once putting on a Kings uni" curse.
And watching Kleber this playoffs more closely, I'm growing more and more interested with a Holmes for Kleber swap. I think you could plug him right away at the 4 and our defensive upside is dramatically better. He's an excellent rim protector (Advanced metrics and just watching him close out at the 5 shows this checks out), is impactful across the board on advanced metrics and is a good spacer, despite the 32.5% this season. He's at 42% in the playoffs and shot 35-37-41 in his previous 3 seasons on good volume. Fair to say I think it was just a random down year shooting rather than indicative of his spacing talent. And if doesn't work, he's a UFA so you'd just be able to get off the Holmes money for a free look at Kleber.
What's even more fun is you'd have a truly versatile/modern NBA front-line if you drafted Murray as well. You almost wouldn't need a back-up C:
Fox || Mitchell
DDV || T.Davis
Barnes || Porter
Kleber || Murray
Sabonis || Jones
There's all kinds of juicy versatility in there and the Kings would go from 1 3/4 flex wing to 4. You could even start Murray over Kleber, rotate Kleber in at the 5 for Sabonis and play around with all kinds of Porter/Kleber, Murray/Kleber, Porter/Murray and of course all 3 fit beautifully with Sabonis at the 4.
My guess is the Mavs would love to get some value for Kleber too, especially with a guy they were linked to in Holmes that should fit beautifully with Luka. They just paid DFS, they're going to have pay Brunson at least $20mil a year.
And watching Kleber this playoffs more closely, I'm growing more and more interested with a Holmes for Kleber swap. I think you could plug him right away at the 4 and our defensive upside is dramatically better. He's an excellent rim protector (Advanced metrics and just watching him close out at the 5 shows this checks out), is impactful across the board on advanced metrics and is a good spacer, despite the 32.5% this season. He's at 42% in the playoffs and shot 35-37-41 in his previous 3 seasons on good volume. Fair to say I think it was just a random down year shooting rather than indicative of his spacing talent. And if doesn't work, he's a UFA so you'd just be able to get off the Holmes money for a free look at Kleber.
What's even more fun is you'd have a truly versatile/modern NBA front-line if you drafted Murray as well. You almost wouldn't need a back-up C:
Fox || Mitchell
DDV || T.Davis
Barnes || Porter
Kleber || Murray
Sabonis || Jones
There's all kinds of juicy versatility in there and the Kings would go from 1 3/4 flex wing to 4. You could even start Murray over Kleber, rotate Kleber in at the 5 for Sabonis and play around with all kinds of Porter/Kleber, Murray/Kleber, Porter/Murray and of course all 3 fit beautifully with Sabonis at the 4.
My guess is the Mavs would love to get some value for Kleber too, especially with a guy they were linked to in Holmes that should fit beautifully with Luka. They just paid DFS, they're going to have pay Brunson at least $20mil a year.