Potential Free Agent/Trade/Sign Tracker, '25-'26 Season

I'm very confident Carter's floor is somewhere around the Cason Wallace, Andrew Nembhard, Alex Caruso, etc. I watched that finals and just saw like 7 Devin Carter skill-set clones on the floor playing key minutes in the finals. He's not there yet and obviously has a lot to prove, but his tools are exactly what you need to win in the NBA now around star players.

Edit: Ok, maybe not "floor", but in most median outcomes of his career, I think he can be that level of role player.

That’s a high floor and I hope you’re right. I can see the similarities with DC and those guys defensively, but one thing he has to prove is that he can be efficient enough from 3 that defenses respect his shot. That’s still TBD and a big factor of where his career goes.
 
Not gonna but Carter up there with Washington. Keon’s impact on the team is big but I wish he was PJ’s size. The thing is the only way for the Kings to get one is by drafting and agents sure don’t want their clients here. What’s sad is the the clippers debacle has exposed the league. It’s basically large markets as the globetrotters and small markets as the Washington generals

If he was Washington’s size we wouldn’t have drafted him
 
That’s a high floor and I hope you’re right. I can see the similarities with DC and those guys defensively, but one thing he has to prove is that he can be efficient enough from 3 that defenses respect his shot. That’s still TBD and a big factor of where his career goes.
Ok saying those guys are the floor for DC, lmfao. Come on man.
I'm very confident Carter's floor is somewhere around the Cason Wallace, Andrew Nembhard, Alex Caruso, etc. I watched that finals and just saw like 7 Devin Carter skill-set clones on the floor playing key minutes in the finals. He's not there yet and obviously has a lot to prove, but his tools are exactly what you need to win in the NBA now around star players.

Edit: Ok, maybe not "floor", but in most median outcomes of his career, I think he can be that level of role player.
Ok saying those guys are the floor for DC, lmfao. Come on man. We would be extremely lucky.
 
Maybe it’s been brought up, but thoughts on Precious Achiuwa. A Royal Pain just made a pretty good case for the young FA defender.
 
Maybe it’s been brought up, but thoughts on Precious Achiuwa. A Royal Pain just made a pretty good case for the young FA defender.

Pass. He's the wrong kind of bet for us. Solid bench big for a good team, but there's no upside there. We don't need the 9th/10th man, 12.mpg types on this team. I want those minutes going to bigger upside swings that maybe could develop into something more
 
At this point, I’m open to Monk for Kuzma + a pick swap.

- helps balance the roster and clear out some of our guard glut
- opens more minutes for Carter & Clifford to develop
- we shed an extra year of Monk’s salary since Kuzma expires a year sooner.
- Kuzma’s contract expires the same year as LaVine, DeRozan, & Schroder setting us up for a lot of cap space in the 2027 off-season.
- get a future asset (pick swap)
- have someone halfway playable at PF now that Murray will miss some time
- do right by Malik by putting him on a team where he gets to play next to a Giannis/Turner frontcourt and has a path to start for them
 
At this point, I’m open to Monk for Kuzma + a pick swap.

- helps balance the roster and clear out some of our guard glut
- opens more minutes for Carter & Clifford to develop
- we shed an extra year of Monk’s salary since Kuzma expires a year sooner.
- Kuzma’s contract expires the same year as LaVine, DeRozan, & Schroder setting us up for a lot of cap space in the 2027 off-season.
- get a future asset (pick swap)
- have someone halfway playable at PF now that Murray will miss some time
- do right by Malik by putting him on a team where he gets to play next to a Giannis/Turner frontcourt and has a path to start for them
According to the ESPN Trade Machine, this trade works one for one.

If the Kings are not going to run the Sabonis-Monk two-man game, or plan to trade Monk at the first opportunity anyway, this would be a good move. The team has been interested in Kuzma for years, and he is still only 30.

They are totally misusing Malik right now. The past three seasons, Fox would go out and Monk would come in to work with Sabonis. So far this year, Sabonis goes out, and Malik comes it to play alongside Schröder. Whose bright idea was that? He does not even have a big to pass to. Now both Schröder and Monk look out of sync.

In the first two pre-season games, Monk has a team worst -14, and Sabonis is right behind at -12. The only guy that is markedly improved is Zach LaVine at +8.5, tops on the Kings.
 

Rockets need a guard we need a playable body over 6’6

Makes a ton of sense. They chose Jabari, they're going to want to keep KD till he retires, whenever that might be. But likely at least 2 years. Amen is extension eligible next off-season. Sengun maxed.

I'd throw Carter+FRP 2027 for him without question. Probably even unprotected. He's a flawless fit next to Keegan on the wing and he's the very rare defensive lynchpin 4 that can make up for some of Domas's short-comings on D. He's better than Kuminga, so at the very least, that offer should be on the table for him. HOU gets 3 years to figure out if Reed or Carter can take that PG job before paying either one and extra draft capital to retool in a potentially post KD-era around Sengun/Amen/Jabari.

Pretty damn quickly could you turn this team in a modern defensive powerhouse with huge size, length, shooting around Domas as the offensive conductor

Nique
Keon
Keegan
Tari
Domas

Nique would have to be "that guy" that he's shown flashes of all preseason, but damn that would be a fun team.
 
Makes a ton of sense. They chose Jabari, they're going to want to keep KD till he retires, whenever that might be. But likely at least 2 years. Amen is extension eligible next off-season. Sengun maxed.

I'd throw Carter+FRP 2027 for him without question. Probably even unprotected. He's a flawless fit next to Keegan on the wing and he's the very rare defensive lynchpin 4 that can make up for some of Domas's short-comings on D. He's better than Kuminga, so at the very least, that offer should be on the table for him. HOU gets 3 years to figure out if Reed or Carter can take that PG job before paying either one and extra draft capital to retool in a potentially post KD-era around Sengun/Amen/Jabari.

Pretty damn quickly could you turn this team in a modern defensive powerhouse with huge size, length, shooting around Domas as the offensive conductor

Nique
Keon
Keegan
Tari
Domas

Nique would have to be "that guy" that he's shown flashes of all preseason, but damn that would be a fun team.

Unprotected first is wild they’re not resigning him a first should be enough especially if they’re getting Carter who will excel there
 
Unprotected first is wild they’re not resigning him a first should be enough especially if they’re getting Carter who will excel there

Again "should" and reality are two different things here. It was the same deal for Kuminga; what we offered was more than "fair", but GS told us to go stuff it and held firm on their price. And here we are, right or wrong without Kuminga on the roster.

Sometimes you just have to make the determination if this is "the guy". Even if it's an overpay at the time, if Eason makes an all-defensive team, do we care that we gave an unprotected FRP vs a protected? Do we value building around Domas/Keegan, or not?

I think Eason is that guy. It's the perfect marriage of fit with our 2 core pieces and a dude with an incredible defensive upside this team hasn't seen since Artest.
 
Again "should" and reality are two different things here. It was the same deal for Kuminga; what we offered was more than "fair", but GS told us to go stuff it and held firm on their price. And here we are, right or wrong without Kuminga on the roster.

Sometimes you just have to make the determination if this is "the guy". Even if it's an overpay at the time, if Eason makes an all-defensive team, do we care that we gave an unprotected FRP vs a protected? Do we value building around Domas/Keegan, or not?

I think Eason is that guy. It's the perfect marriage of fit with our 2 core pieces and a dude with an incredible defensive upside this team hasn't seen since Artest.

True but we were dealing with an idiot team that thinks Kuminga could get traded for Giannis. A first from us will be in demand I think that would be enough I’d do top three protected
 
True but we were dealing with an idiot team that thinks Kuminga could get traded for Giannis. A first from us will be in demand I think that would be enough I’d do top three protected

The bigger question is, can GS manage to clear the 6 roster slots it would take to fit all of the Antetokounmpo and Curry brothers in their locker room at once? If not, there's little point in looking at hypothetical trade scenarios. :)
 
Makes a ton of sense. They chose Jabari, they're going to want to keep KD till he retires, whenever that might be. But likely at least 2 years. Amen is extension eligible next off-season. Sengun maxed.

I'd throw Carter+FRP 2027 for him without question. Probably even unprotected. He's a flawless fit next to Keegan on the wing and he's the very rare defensive lynchpin 4 that can make up for some of Domas's short-comings on D. He's better than Kuminga, so at the very least, that offer should be on the table for him. HOU gets 3 years to figure out if Reed or Carter can take that PG job before paying either one and extra draft capital to retool in a potentially post KD-era around Sengun/Amen/Jabari.

Pretty damn quickly could you turn this team in a modern defensive powerhouse with huge size, length, shooting around Domas as the offensive conductor

Nique
Keon
Keegan
Tari
Domas

Nique would have to be "that guy" that he's shown flashes of all preseason, but damn that would be a fun team.
Man I love Eason, but I struggle with giving up our future 1sts knowing we don’t really have a potential star, blue chip prospect at this point. We’ll need those picks to draft that type of player.

Perhaps a deal like this would suffice?

Devin Carter
2027 SAS 1st (Protected 17-30)
2031 MIN 1st (Unprotected)

For

Tari Eason

Gives them Carter who has 3 more years on his rookie deal and one unprotected 1st (and the possibility of another first if the Spurs miss the playoffs in the 2026-27 season).

On our side, we get a tremendous fit between Murray and Sabonis and keep all of our own future 1sts to give us a shot at drafting & developing a star.
 
Given the severity of Ivey’s injury issues I can sorta understand that one but Duren and Cade have been the entire basis of their team for the last couple of seasons so I’m really not sure what they’re trying to do there unless they’ve got their eyes on a big name big to pair with Cade going forward.
Was thinking about my own post (man, am I a genius or what?) and…
IMG_1467.jpeg

Why the Kings do it:
A rebuilding move in which they get a good young big (albeit one who is on the verge of a big extension/new deal), a good wing/forward prospect in Ron Holland, and a big expiring deal in Tobias Harris (who the Pistons probably don’t want to take but this is just who I had to include to get the salaries to work), and Funcan Robinson who I just had to include to get the money to work (Beef Stew also works but I’d assume the Pistons would still want some sort of back up big depth). They also get the Pistons pick this year (in a strong draft) and in 2028 and the right to swap in 2027 on the off chance the Pistons suck worse than the Kings. Moving Malik also helps clear a bit more of a runway for Nique and Dev.

Next year, would look like:
Duren/Maxime/Cardwell
Keegan/IJ
Hypothetical high lotto pick stud rookie/Holland
Lavine/Keon
Nique/Dennis/DC




Why the pistons do it:
Domas gives the Pistons their second star to put next to Cade, who he would instant form an elite two man game with. Malik gives them a secondary release valve for Cade in crunch time since they lost Dennis and never really replaced him. I’m sure they’d hate to lose Tobias Harris but he was also on the last year of his deal and on the backend of his career.

They’d have a top eight of
Cade
Domas
Ausar
Malik
Levert
Ivey
Beef Stew
Sasser

That would probably be able to convince an ownership they could make a run in the east for the next couple of years since they’re apparently not very into Duren for some reason.
 
Was thinking about my own post (man, am I a genius or what?) and…
View attachment 14406

Why the Kings do it:
A rebuilding move in which they get a good young big (albeit one who is on the verge of a big extension/new deal), a good wing/forward prospect in Ron Holland, and a big expiring deal in Tobias Harris (who the Pistons probably don’t want to take but this is just who I had to include to get the salaries to work), and Funcan Robinson who I just had to include to get the money to work (Beef Stew also works but I’d assume the Pistons would still want some sort of back up big depth). They also get the Pistons pick this year (in a strong draft) and in 2028 and the right to swap in 2027 on the off chance the Pistons suck worse than the Kings. Moving Malik also helps clear a bit more of a runway for Nique and Dev.

Next year, would look like:
Duren/Maxime/Cardwell
Keegan/IJ
Hypothetical high lotto pick stud rookie/Holland
Lavine/Keon
Nique/Dennis/DC




Why the pistons do it:
Domas gives the Pistons their second star to put next to Cade, who he would instant form an elite two man game with. Malik gives them a secondary release valve for Cade in crunch time since they lost Dennis and never really replaced him. I’m sure they’d hate to lose Tobias Harris but he was also on the last year of his deal and on the backend of his career.

They’d have a top eight of
Cade
Domas
Ausar
Malik
Levert
Ivey
Beef Stew
Sasser

That would probably be able to convince an ownership they could make a run in the east for the next couple of years since they’re apparently not very into Duren for some reason.

I’d rather get Ivey over holland we need a lead guard and he flashed last year also we could add GSW to this and send them one of the first and Harris for Kuminga while taking out monk and adding Hield for Detroit

Would need to do this trade before Utah offered them Lauri
 
I’d rather get Ivey over holland we need a lead guard and he flashed last year also we could add GSW to this and send them one of the first and Harris for Kuminga while taking out monk and adding Hield for Detroit

Would need to do this trade before Utah offered them Lauri
Ivey’s a speed-first guard coming off a fairly severe lower body injury plus I feel like trading Monk for him just does nothing to clear up any sort of logjam the Kings have at the guard spot.

I’ve also been really high on Holland since the draft process so I might be letting that cloud my judgement.
 
Ivey’s a speed-first guard coming off a fairly severe lower body injury plus I feel like trading Monk for him just does nothing to clear up any sort of logjam the Kings have at the guard spot.

I’ve also been really high on Holland since the draft process so I might be letting that cloud my judgement.


He’s still young regarding that injury I like holland as well but Ivey showed last year he could be a very good number two option I’d value that over what holland brings. I’d say we don’t have a long jam Schroeder, Westbrook, and Lavine shouldn’t be here in two years.
 
Was thinking about my own post (man, am I a genius or what?) and…
View attachment 14406

Why the Kings do it:
A rebuilding move in which they get a good young big (albeit one who is on the verge of a big extension/new deal), a good wing/forward prospect in Ron Holland, and a big expiring deal in Tobias Harris (who the Pistons probably don’t want to take but this is just who I had to include to get the salaries to work), and Funcan Robinson who I just had to include to get the money to work (Beef Stew also works but I’d assume the Pistons would still want some sort of back up big depth). They also get the Pistons pick this year (in a strong draft) and in 2028 and the right to swap in 2027 on the off chance the Pistons suck worse than the Kings. Moving Malik also helps clear a bit more of a runway for Nique and Dev.

Next year, would look like:
Duren/Maxime/Cardwell
Keegan/IJ
Hypothetical high lotto pick stud rookie/Holland
Lavine/Keon
Nique/Dennis/DC




Why the pistons do it:
Domas gives the Pistons their second star to put next to Cade, who he would instant form an elite two man game with. Malik gives them a secondary release valve for Cade in crunch time since they lost Dennis and never really replaced him. I’m sure they’d hate to lose Tobias Harris but he was also on the last year of his deal and on the backend of his career.

They’d have a top eight of
Cade
Domas
Ausar
Malik
Levert
Ivey
Beef Stew
Sasser

That would probably be able to convince an ownership they could make a run in the east for the next couple of years since they’re apparently not very into Duren for some reason.
Kings would have to waive 2 players first.
 
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