PJ Washington would be my number one too, but he’s a restricted free agent I believe.
No, Damien and KC basically spent the entire show on Tuesday talking about Kyle Kuzma. They realized this a few hours in and decided they didnt want to disrespect HB then talked about him a good bit on Wednesday.I love Harrison Barnes 💜
— Damien Barling (@damienbarling) June 28, 2023
— Damien Barling (@damienbarling) June 28, 2023
My read? Got ahead of themselves on the Kuzma story and they think it’s actually going to be Barnes returning instead.
Alright I'm making good on my "wild/interesting" trade ideas pledge earlier in the thread since many options seem to be removed from the table.
To start, I still think it's interesting that the Holmes deal is not official which made me think that this is the piece that might be part of something larger. I'm curious if McNair is holding off on making it official in an effort to widen his cap space even more. Let me explain...
- With Fox, Sabonis, Huerter, Holmes, Monk, Murray, Mitchell, Dozier, Edwards, & Lyles (cap hold) on the books, the Kings have $19.2 mil in cap space.
- With Fox, Sabonis, Huerter, Monk, Murray, Mitchell, Dozier, Edwards, & Lyles (cap hold) on the books, the Kings have $30.1 mil in cap space.
However, Holmes makes $12.046 mil which means we could reroute him in a trade for up to $16.057 mil. This effectively means we could sign someone for $19.2 mil and trade for someone around $16.1 mil giving us $35.3 mil in "cap space." I'm wondering if McNair is exploring this option 1st to see if there is a trade out there which allows him to extend that cap space a bit more. If not, they may just finalize the deal as is and work with the $30+ mil in cap space.
So I started to think of some scenarios that involved expanding the Holmes trade and then using the rest of the cap space to sign someone, this is one of the scenarios I landed on...
Let's assume the trade is not finalized when FA begins, we'd technically have $19.2 mil in cap space. However, I'm wondering if a S&T for Cam Johnson makes sense. I was thinking it could be:
BKN Gets: Davion Mitchell
SAC Gets: Cameron Johnson
With Mitchell's salary going out, we'd be able to offer Johnson a max 1st year salary of $24.267 mil which would be $104.594 mil over 4 years. That might be a price point that BKN wouldn't love matching and receiving Mitchell gives them enough incentive to let him go.
This would now effectively bring our cap space to $0 with the following players technically under contract:
PG - Fox / Monk
SG - Huerter / Dozier
SF - Johnson / Edwards
PF - Murray / Lyles
C - Sabonis / Holmes
We then could expand the trade with Dallas to be something like this:
DAL Gets: Richaun Holmes & #24
DAL Gives: Fake DAL 2nd
Why for DAL? Dallas gets a great PnR C to pair with Irving/Luka but more importantly another cheap, young asset to hopefully develop into an impactful player.
SAC Gets: OG Anunoby & Fake DAL 2nd
SAC Gives: Richaun Holmes, PJ Dozier, Kessler Edwards, #24, 2026-28 SAC 1st (Unprotected), & 2028-30 SAC 1st (Unprotected)
Why for SAC? Anunoby gives the Kings an elite & versatile defender who is an excellent fit at PF next to Sabonis.
TOR Gets: OG Anunoby
TOR Gives: PJ Dozier, Kessler Edwards, 2026-28 SAC 1st (Unprotected), & 2028-30 SAC 1st (Unprotected)
Why for TOR? Toronto avoids losing Anunoby for nothing in FA next year (especially if VanVleet is on his way out) and pick up 2 distant unprotected 1sts which could yield a great player. They also take on no long term salary and get immediate cap relief.
This trade allows the Kings to actually go over the cap since Anunoby makes more than Holmes, Dozier, & Edwards (hence why the Holmes trade may not be finalized). The Kings would then use Lyles' cap hold to resign him, use the room exception on Sasha, sign our two 2nd round picks, and fill out the rest of the roster with minimum contracts. We'd be left with the following roster going into this season:
PG - Fox / Monk / FA Min
SG - Johnson / Jones / FA Min
SF - Murray / Huerter / FA Min
PF - Anunoby / Sasha / Slawson
C - Sabonis / Lyles / FA Min
This scenario obviously means we're not giving Sabonis a raise and then extending him long term, but I'm not very concerned with him resigning next year. We have a great culture, we have a great coach, he likes living here/in Napa, he seems to really like his teammates, we're coming off a 3rd seed season and hopefully trending upwards, he was just named to an All NBA team here, and we can offer him the most money next offseason.
Coming back to the roster I assembled above, the only question mark for me is Johnson at SG since he's mainly been used at SF (and small ball PF). However, his physical profile was essentially the same as Klay Thompson's...
View attachment 12002
So it actually looks like Johnson has the same length as Thompson but is a bit quicker and can jump higher. Couple that with Johnson being a solid & smart defender, and I think it could work.
Johnson, Murray, & Anunoby would be great size, shooting, rebounding, and defense on the wings. Our shooting in general would just be insane. Huerter, Johnson, Murray, & Sasha could all be in a 3PT contest one day (some already have) and Monk, Anunoby, & Lyles are no slouches in that department either. It would be quite the weapon to be able to throw out 3 of Huerter, Johnson, Murray, & Sasha next Fox & Sabonis.
Just thinking through the minute rotation, I think it could be something like...
PG - Fox (34) / Monk (14)
SG - Johnson (20) / Monk (12) / Huerter (16)
SF - Murray (30) / Huerter (10) / Johnson (8)
PF - Anunoby (30) / Sasha (14) / Lyles (4)
C - Sabonis (34) / Lyles (14)
Fox = 34 min
Sabonis = 34 min
Murray = 30 min
Anunoby = 30 min
Johnson = 28 min
Monk = 26 min
Huerter = 26 min
Lyles = 18 min
Sasha = 14 min
To start, I still think it's interesting that the Holmes deal is not official which made me think that this is the piece that might be part of something larger.
I think we would all be in if that happened. As far as why the deal isn’t final, allegedly the Mavs and suns were talking about a trade for Ayton and to match salaries they would need to include Holmes. Hoping that’s not the reason though
Bill Simmons, who it should always be noted is a complete moron who knows nothing except random moments from the 1985 Boston Celtics, has us getting Kuzma and Bruce Brown in free agency, which would be a winning offseason for me.This was my cheat sheet for last Sunday’s “Guess the team/money” free agency pod that me and Russillo did. We discussed all of these on the pod. pic.twitter.com/bmehnU3zwI
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) June 29, 2023
I like this list and this order too, not big on Oubre, add in Prince somewhere in the middle. I think if he's a Monte and Brown guy we'd have a real good shot at landing him.My top10 FA ranking right now for us:
1 - PJ Washington 20M/4
2 - Josh Hart 20M/3
3 - Bruce Brown 17M/3
4 - Harrison Barnes 15M/2+1 T.O.
5 - Grant Williams 15M/3
6 - Kyle Kuzma 23M/3
7 - Kelly Oubre Jr. 15M/3
8 - Rui Hachimura 13M/3
9 - Dillon Brooks 13M/2+1 T.O.
10 - Keita Bates-Diop 7M/2+1 T.O.
Draymond, Grant, Cam Johnson and Middleton are too much expensive.
The Clippers are trying to find a trade for Norman Powell as they attempt to avoid the second apron, per @TheSteinLine.
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) June 29, 2023
Powell (30) is under contract at $19M annually for the next three seasons. He averaged 17.0 PPG on 48/40/81 shooting splits last season.
Bill Simmons, who it should always be noted is a complete moron who knows nothing except random moments from the 1985 Boston Celtics, has us getting Kuzma and Bruce Brown in free agency, which would be a winning offseason for me.This was my cheat sheet for last Sunday’s “Guess the team/money” free agency pod that me and Russillo did. We discussed all of these on the pod. pic.twitter.com/bmehnU3zwI
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) June 29, 2023
A league executive said this about an Immanuel Quickley extension:
— KnicksMuse (@KnicksMuse) June 29, 2023
“He is going to want nine figures… and that’s for four years. I can’t say the Knicks will go that high but they might have to. He is not a guy you want to send to restricted free agency.”
(via @SeanDeveney) pic.twitter.com/ojlJdPqBTC
The Knicks paying Quickly 9 figures to be Brunson’s back-up for the next half decade would be insane.A league executive said this about an Immanuel Quickley extension:
— KnicksMuse (@KnicksMuse) June 29, 2023
“He is going to want nine figures… and that’s for four years. I can’t say the Knicks will go that high but they might have to. He is not a guy you want to send to restricted free agency.”
(via @SeanDeveney) pic.twitter.com/ojlJdPqBTC
Ohh nooooo, looks like you can't pay Josh Hart
I'm starting to think this is the best outcome.The question is why clear Holmes though? If it's really just to ink Domas a year early... oof. That's disappointing for sure. Yeah, he's a UFA, but I just don't see a scenario where he'd walk away from us.
Now if it's to resign HB, move him to a bench role and get a Grant Williams/PJW/Josh Hart for the starting 5? Ok, now we're talking. That's a serious upgrade and should be doable with the cap.
9 Figures? Isn't that almost a billion?!
i mean, if that’s all it’ll take just throw him an escalating 13 million dollar per year dealThe Lakers are increasingly confident they can sign free agent Bruce Brown Jr. for the non-taxpayer midlevel exception starting at a projected $12.4 million, sources tell @jovanbuha.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 29, 2023
More intel on NBA free agency: https://t.co/BOoS9dRhJC pic.twitter.com/GyQArm1s0q
i mean, if that’s all it’ll take just throw him an escalating 13 million dollar per year dealThe Lakers are increasingly confident they can sign free agent Bruce Brown Jr. for the non-taxpayer midlevel exception starting at a projected $12.4 million, sources tell @jovanbuha.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 29, 2023
More intel on NBA free agency: https://t.co/BOoS9dRhJC pic.twitter.com/GyQArm1s0q
The new CBA requires each team to spend 90% of the salary cap ($122.4M) by the first day of the regular season.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) June 29, 2023
Here are 5 teams that need to spend in free agency:
🏀Houston: $50.5M
🏀San Antonio: $26M
🏀Sacramento: $24.5M
🏀Indiana: $18.5M
🏀Detroit: $14.5M
Hahaha, 9 figures? Quickley is a nice lil player and defends well but I feel he is not worth more than the NTMLE, maybe $15M per year maximum. Cause he is not good enough of a primary play-maker at PG... and too small and not good enough of a 3-point shooter at SG. So he is best used in the 2nd unit. This kind of 6'3" combo-guard works best when you have a Doncic or Jokic as a large primary play-maker, and he still needs to improve his 3-point shot (or take and make more of them)... not when Jalen Brunson (6'0") is your PG.A league executive said this about an Immanuel Quickley extension:
— KnicksMuse (@KnicksMuse) June 29, 2023
“He is going to want nine figures… and that’s for four years. I can’t say the Knicks will go that high but they might have to. He is not a guy you want to send to restricted free agency.”
(via @SeanDeveney) pic.twitter.com/ojlJdPqBTC
Ohh nooooo, looks like you can't pay Josh Hart
Lakers getting Brown for the MLE while we pay Kuzma $28 mil/season would indeed be the worst timeline
The question is why clear Holmes though? If it's really just to ink Domas a year early... oof. That's disappointing for sure. Yeah, he's a UFA, but I just don't see a scenario where he'd walk away from us.
Now if it's to resign HB, move him to a bench role and get a Grant Williams/PJW/Josh Hart for the starting 5? Ok, now we're talking. That's a serious upgrade and should be doable with the cap.
The Kings reportedly will take a big swing when free agency begins tomorrow https://t.co/6wc5HeTCb5
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) June 29, 2023
Hmmm maybe all the Kuzma chatter was just smoke... lets hope so.The Kings reportedly will take a big swing when free agency begins tomorrow https://t.co/6wc5HeTCb5
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) June 29, 2023
.@wojespn with the latest on Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton:
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) June 29, 2023
- A lot of concern from Milwaukee on the Rockets potentially offering Lopez a huge contract. Houston is the “biggest threat” to sign Lopez away.
- Middleton expected to work on new long-term deal with the Bucks. pic.twitter.com/mQcMd2PKS0
If only we had some 6'6"-6'9" wings who could fill inI think the biggest out with Middleton is the years. I imagine the Bucks want to line up his extension when Giannis is able to be a FA. If we come in hot with like a 4/130 type deal.. Then we're talking about a serious cash difference if the Bucks don't want to commit to Middleton for more than 2 years.