Possible Free agents

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
A Jazz fan on realgm just proposed this deal for the offseason:



https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1681658

There is still hope, Kingsfans!
Well, other than the fact that I don't think this trade can work. Jerebko is actually unguaranteed next season, so the Jazz would have to guarantee him...and then he only makes $4.2M. So trading him for ZBo wouldn't work barring either adding more salary to the trade, or Utah getting about $8M under the cap to absorb the whole difference. That would mean cutting Sefolosha (OK), cutting Udoh (OK), and renouncing the rights to Favors (not gonna happen) - all designed to trade for ZBo.

So yes, it's possible that other teams might see value in ZBo and we should take hope in that. But I don't think this trade is very likely at all.
 
My school of thought for team building is to relatively ignore positions and just acquire all the talent you can. Therefore I have no issue if the Kings draft a player that plays the same position as Mario will. Give me the best player in the draft and the best affordable free agent regardless of position.
Also if the player is 6’6-6’8 and athletic they play multiple positions then. Example Porter and Mario both can play the 3 and 4 get both
Its all good in theory but not in practice. If you go down that road, what you get is two underutilized and underdeveloped assets.

Lets take Hezonja as an example. You are taking a chance on him because you think there is untapped talent there that if given the opportunity to play will result in a player fulfilling his potential and having a long, productive career ahead of him.

If you also happen to draft either Doncic or Porter Jr. you have invested a high lottery pick into a player and used your cap space on a player who practically play the same position. Now you can move some of them to the 4 but then you are taking away minutes from players like Skal and Giles so really all you are doing is creating a minutes crunch at multiple positions so no player is given real room to grow, make mistakes and learn from them.

This is what happened to Malachi Richardson here. We had Malachi, Buddy and Bogdan playing the same position. Plus we had Hill spending time at SG to allow Fox to get minutes at PG. End results were not pretty. You end up with a diminishing asset that you need to get rid off at a MUCH lover price than what you paid for it in the first place.

We did a similar thing with Hill and had to ditch him half way through the season because he was taking away minutes from young players at the position.
 
If we draft porter or Doncic, i would only pursue Mario Hezjona if we can get him at a cheap contract, or reasonable 2 year deal, with understanding of a bench role. Doubt he goes for that, but otherwise id rather use that salary to take on a bad contract for a pick. With a Porter or Doncic, we no longer ha e a need at the SF spot and that money can be better spent elsewhere or in other ways.

If you do draft a porter or doncic, then also signing Mario puts JJ in the Malachi spot and you essentially miss out on him developing.
 
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Its all good in theory but not in practice. If you go down that road, what you get is two underutilized and underdeveloped assets.

Lets take Hezonja as an example. You are taking a chance on him because you think there is untapped talent there that if given the opportunity to play will result in a player fulfilling his potential and having a long, productive career ahead of him.

If you also happen to draft either Doncic or Porter Jr. you have invested a high lottery pick into a player and used your cap space on a player who practically play the same position. Now you can move some of them to the 4 but then you are taking away minutes from players like Skal and Giles so really all you are doing is creating a minutes crunch at multiple positions so no player is given real room to grow, make mistakes and learn from them.

This is what happened to Malachi Richardson here. We had Malachi, Buddy and Bogdan playing the same position. Plus we had Hill spending time at SG to allow Fox to get minutes at PG. End results were not pretty. You end up with a diminishing asset that you need to get rid off at a MUCH lover price than what you paid for it in the first place.

We did a similar thing with Hill and had to ditch him half way through the season because he was taking away minutes from young players at the position.
Doncic and Mario could both play small ball PF so Doncic could get 32mpg Mario 28mpg that’s the benefit of being versatile. Buddy can only play SG and Richardson frankly wasn’t that good
 
Doncic and Mario could both play small ball PF so Doncic could get 32mpg Mario 28mpg that’s the benefit of being versatile. Buddy can only play SG and Richardson frankly wasn’t that good
And what do you do with Skal, Giles, WCS etc???

There is only so many minutes available at each position. Why would you overload when there is no need and you could spend that money on more pressing needs on the roster. Like I said, nice in theory but nightmare in practice. Look around the league and its the same on every team. What you end up with is two players starved of being given the freedom and playing time to go through the growing pains.
 
If we draft porter or Doncic, i would only pursue Mario Hezjona if we can get him at a cheap contract, or reasonable 2 year deal, with understanding of a bench role. Doubt he goes for that, but otherwise id rather use that salary to take on a bad contract for a pick. With a Porter or Doncic, we no longer ha e a need at the SF spot and that money can be better spent elsewhere or in other ways.

If you do draft a porter or doncic, then also signing Mario puts JJ in the Malachi spot and you essentially miss out on him developing.
Porter has chicken legs. Do you want to waste our draft pick on this....



:p
 
And what do you do with Skal, Giles, WCS etc???

There is only so many minutes available at each position. Why would you overload when there is no need and you could spend that money on more pressing needs on the roster. Like I said, nice in theory but nightmare in practice. Look around the league and its the same on every team. What you end up with is two players starved of being given the freedom and playing time to go through the growing pains.
Fox (30mpg)- Mason (16mpg)
Bogdan (30mpg)- Buddy (28mpg)
Doncic(30mpg)- Mario (28mpg)
WCS(30mpg)- Skal (18mpg)
Giles(28mpg)
 
Another player to watch is Nurkic only 23 but Portland is in cap hell and have Collins whose looking better by the game. We max out Nurkic forcing them to chose between the 2 players. He’d help our rebounding and is a great passer I wouldn’t be mad with maxing out Nurkic and signing Mario as well.

Fox-Mason
Bogdan-Buddy
Mario-Bridges
WCS-Skal
Nurkic-Giles

Drafting Malika Bridges and WCS probably the odd man out when he’s a FA
 
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Another player to watch is Nurkic only 23 but Portland is in cap hell and have Collins whose looking better by the game. We max out Nurkic forcing them to chose between the 2 players. He’d help our rebounding and is a great passer I wouldn’t be mad with maxing out Nurkic and signing Mario as well.

Fox-Mason
Bogdan-Buddy
Mario-Bridges
WCS-Skal
Nurkic-Giles

Drafting Malika Bridges and WCS probably the odd man out when he’s a FA
I really don't hate the idea of going after Nurkic. I have liked him ever since the draft. He would be a very good fit on this team.
Still, I think the max is too much. I think less could get it done as well. As you have said, the Blazers are capped out and have a potential replacement. Seems like this could be another interesting sign-and-trade possibility. :)
 
Another player to watch is Nurkic only 23 but Portland is in cap hell and have Collins whose looking better by the game. We max out Nurkic forcing them to chose between the 2 players. He’d help our rebounding and is a great passer I wouldn’t be mad with maxing out Nurkic and signing Mario as well.

Fox-Mason
Bogdan-Buddy
Mario-Bridges
WCS-Skal
Nurkic-Giles

Drafting Malika Bridges and WCS probably the odd man out when he’s a FA
I don’t know about Nurkic being a max guy.. He has his pluses and minuses and the fact that he’s restricted always makes it more trickier to get him on a good deal..

Unfortunately we might not have the flexibility to sign two big contracts (due in no small part to the Randolph irresponsible second year)
 
I don’t know about Nurkic being a max guy.. He has his pluses and minuses and the fact that he’s restricted always makes it more trickier to get him on a good deal..

Unfortunately we might not have the flexibility to sign two big contracts (due in no small part to the Randolph irresponsible second year)
We have to overpay for talent and a 15-9 23 year old 7 footer is one I’d do it for. I mean a 4 year max who else are we paying, in that 4 years only Bogdan, WCS, Skal, and Buddy would be up for extensions. We’d have to chose between WCS and Skal if we maxed Nurkic.

I’d give Mario his contract then sign and trade WCS for Nurkic
 
I quite like Nurkic and he is the type of C that can do a bit of everything which you want on the team. However, I have some major question on his durability and whether or not he is worth the max.

Our FA targets will be greatly determined by the type of player we draft.
 
Its all good in theory but not in practice. If you go down that road, what you get is two underutilized and underdeveloped assets.

Lets take Hezonja as an example. You are taking a chance on him because you think there is untapped talent there that if given the opportunity to play will result in a player fulfilling his potential and having a long, productive career ahead of him.

If you also happen to draft either Doncic or Porter Jr. you have invested a high lottery pick into a player and used your cap space on a player who practically play the same position. Now you can move some of them to the 4 but then you are taking away minutes from players like Skal and Giles so really all you are doing is creating a minutes crunch at multiple positions so no player is given real room to grow, make mistakes and learn from them.

This is what happened to Malachi Richardson here. We had Malachi, Buddy and Bogdan playing the same position. Plus we had Hill spending time at SG to allow Fox to get minutes at PG. End results were not pretty. You end up with a diminishing asset that you need to get rid off at a MUCH lover price than what you paid for it in the first place.

We did a similar thing with Hill and had to ditch him half way through the season because he was taking away minutes from young players at the position.
Some think Porter’s best position is the 4 so he and Hezonja might be compatible
 
Its all good in theory but not in practice. If you go down that road, what you get is two underutilized and underdeveloped assets.

Lets take Hezonja as an example. You are taking a chance on him because you think there is untapped talent there that if given the opportunity to play will result in a player fulfilling his potential and having a long, productive career ahead of him.

If you also happen to draft either Doncic or Porter Jr. you have invested a high lottery pick into a player and used your cap space on a player who practically play the same position. Now you can move some of them to the 4 but then you are taking away minutes from players like Skal and Giles so really all you are doing is creating a minutes crunch at multiple positions so no player is given real room to grow, make mistakes and learn from them.

This is what happened to Malachi Richardson here. We had Malachi, Buddy and Bogdan playing the same position. Plus we had Hill spending time at SG to allow Fox to get minutes at PG. End results were not pretty. You end up with a diminishing asset that you need to get rid off at a MUCH lover price than what you paid for it in the first place.

We did a similar thing with Hill and had to ditch him half way through the season because he was taking away minutes from young players at the position.
Simply summarized, great coaches want the best talent, they'll make it work. Why take less talent to plug 'holes'?

From a numerical standpoint let's give players random numbers to help this point stand out further. Let's say that Michael Porter Jr is a 90 / 100 and that the next best player is an 85 / 100 is it worth taking a less talented player because they may fit a better position of need this high in the draft?

To me, the need equation was more important before the rise of small ball. It seemed like every team had to have a ball distributor, an outside shooter, a low post scorer, and a solid defender. In today's NBA really the need is for a solid interior defender a solid perimeter Defender and a series of efficient long range shooters. Much more positionless basketball.

With that in mind just give me the best possible players. Willie has proven that when he wants to he can be a great interior Defender, his only problem is not really wanting to. Buddy and Bogdan have proven that they can be outside shooting threats. Fox has proven in spurts that he can be a great perimeter defender once he gets some experience. The Kings probably need another scorer and rebounder. If they believe that Harry Giles can be that, the net furthermore proves the theory of just getting the best player you possibly can.

With Giles waiting in the wings, if I am Vlade Divac and I am torn between a player who can play the traditional 3 and any other player I take the person that can play the traditional 3 because I believe there is great potential in every other traditional position on the floor.
 
Some think Porter’s best position is the 4 so he and Hezonja might be compatible
I would be one of those some. For me, he’s much closer to what Peja would be in the modern game than these outlandish Durant comparisons. Yes, I just compared him to a different MVP candidate than the MVP he usually gets compared to, but I think if he maxes out it will be in the Peja/Dirk mold, and not like Durant. He’ll be a good passer, but limited playmaking. Highly efficient shooter. Good team defender, but not a stopper (I know Peja always locked up Dirk though, haha). A very valuable player to be sure, but a guy that probably necessitates we move Skal and/or WCS immediately in order to foster his development. Maybe we have other moves in mind to accomodate it, and that’s no problem, but I don’t see a plug-and-play wing volume scorer, which is how he’s usually labelled.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
I quite like Nurkic and he is the type of C that can do a bit of everything which you want on the team. However, I have some major question on his durability and whether or not he is worth the max.

Our FA targets will be greatly determined by the type of player we draft.
Agreed on your assessment on Nurkic and the question of a max deal but he would add quite a bit of toughness to this team. Doesn't take much crap.
 
I wouldn't factor Hezonja into any draft decisions. I also wouldn't factor Skal, Giles or WCS into any either.

Luckily for us, there aren't many PG's (Young, Sexton) or SG's up in the top 10 of most mocks. Most of the positions fill a complete void that we have at SF or shore up an unknown we have at PF/C. I would trade away WCS if we came away with Ayton or Bamba and at least get something in return but I'm not doing anything with Skal at this point. He has a lot more value to the Kings as a developmental player than he does as a trade asset.

If we draft a big there will be minutes for all these guys but Joerger is going to have to break up with ZBo and end the decade long romance. I know, I know, the heart wants what the heart wants. It's going to be tough. It's going to hurt. But in the end it's going to be the best thing for Joerger to end the relationship and move on with his life post ZBo. There's plenty of fish in the sea Joerger, and when you least expect it, the right one will come along.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
I wouldn't factor Hezonja into any draft decisions. I also wouldn't factor Skal, Giles or WCS into any either.

Luckily for us, there aren't many PG's (Young, Sexton) or SG's up in the top 10 of most mocks. Most of the positions fill a complete void that we have at SF or shore up an unknown we have at PF/C. I would trade away WCS if we came away with Ayton or Bamba and at least get something in return but I'm not doing anything with Skal at this point. He has a lot more value to the Kings as a developmental player than he does as a trade asset.

If we draft a big there will be minutes for all these guys but Joerger is going to have to break up with ZBo and end the decade long romance. I know, I know, the heart wants what the heart wants. It's going to be tough. It's going to hurt. But in the end it's going to be the best thing for Joerger to end the relationship and move on with his life post ZBo. There's plenty of fish in the sea Joerger, and when you least expect it, the right one will come along.
go out and try to get Joerger his new crush, Julius Randle and draft a SF or PF. Trade Willie. Keep Skal around for developmental purposes as you stated.
 
Randle is a beast. I could see him helping a good bit, if we went that route.

I still think ditching Willie talk is premature, however the two sides of that argument will never agree so best to leave it at that.
 
Randle is a beast. I could see him helping a good bit, if we went that route.

I still think ditching Willie talk is premature, however the two sides of that argument will never agree so best to leave it at that.
I wouldn't say it's about ditching Willie. It's more like if we have Ayton/Bamba and Giles, then you either let WCS play for another year and more than likely let him walk in free agency or you trade him while you can get something for him. If Ayton/Bamba don't pan out, the franchise is more than likely already screwed anyway so they probably aren't going to win whether they have WCS or not.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
why not? He brings toughness that the Kings desperately lack and need. He isn't a threat from deep but he is a vicious rebounder, good athlete and has made positive strides in his game since entering the league. He is a willing worker, and for all we know, he may develop a outside shot. If Acy can shoot from deep, it's not too far fetched to believe Randle can work on it, if he so chooses.
 
What do you guys think about Kyle Anderson? He is an RFA this summer. I love his game, but he can't shoot like Hezonja tho.

Just like Bertans will be RFA haha but that's just an ultimate pipe dream for me as a Latvian who is Kings fan, he is really close friends with Bogdanovic since Serbian club Partizan days haha
 
What do you guys think about Kyle Anderson? He is an RFA this summer. I love his game, but he can't shoot like Hezonja tho.

Just like Bertans will be RFA haha but that's just an ultimate pipe dream for me as a Latvian who is Kings fan, he is really close friends with Bogdanovic since Serbian club Partizan days haha
Not a fan of Anderson. Slow-poke SF/PF who's a role player at best. He's still youngish, but I wouldn't be throwing more than 5mpy at him. Another Spurs systematic player.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
What do you guys think about Kyle Anderson? He is an RFA this summer. I love his game, but he can't shoot like Hezonja tho.

Just like Bertans will be RFA haha but that's just an ultimate pipe dream for me as a Latvian who is Kings fan, he is really close friends with Bogdanovic since Serbian club Partizan days haha
absolutely not. System player and even in that system, he doesn't show enough to wow you or make you want to sign him on your team.
 
Just looking at the Free Agent list for this summer I have to say, a lot of interesting names.

I don't think we need to look at young PG free agents because we have Mason and Fox, but those interesting names for me are Shabazz Napier and Fred VanVleet both are RFA.

If Temple opts out of his contract our SG depth is pretty much Hield, Shumpert (players op) and Bogdanovich only, interesting name for me is David Nwaba.

At the 3 we have right now under contract for the next season only Jackson obviously we have to get Hezonja, pretty much only one who I like is James Ennis, but that's it.

At the 4 we have under contract Z-Bo (who I hope we trade), Skal, Giles interesting names, Aaron Gordon, Jabari Parker, Julius Randle and Montrezl Harrell.

At the 5 Koufos (who I hope we keep) and WCS, Interesting names Nurkic and Capela.

To be honest, after looking at this I hope we draft two players only with our lottery pick, Doncic or Ayton... no thanks to PG (Young and Sexton) no thanks to Bagley, Porter, Jackson and etc.
 
What do you guys think about Kyle Anderson? He is an RFA this summer. I love his game, but he can't shoot like Hezonja tho.

Just like Bertans will be RFA haha but that's just an ultimate pipe dream for me as a Latvian who is Kings fan, he is really close friends with Bogdanovic since Serbian club Partizan days haha
I really like Bertans. Pure Stretch 4 and his athleticism is underrated. Isnt he a UFA ?