Sacramento Free Agency <crickets chirping>

NoBonus

Starter
I find it very odd that Sacramento is BARELY mentioned when it comes to free agents and trade rumors. For a team that needs to makes some moves, there has been little to no chatter. Here is all we know:

1. Jason Thompson is the #1 priority according to Geoff (smokescreen?)
2. Donte Greene is out
3. The Kings talked to Ryan Anderson from Orlando
4. The Kings have "shown interest" in Terrance Williams and Chris Kaman
5. Francisco Garcia want AK47 to sign in Sacramento

Basically, nothing... I realize the Kings will not spend the $$ to sign a Steve Nash, etc, but where are they? I thought they were high on Batum? Never heard anything about that and now he is signing elsewhere... sure, he is overpriced, but just because the price is high, doesn't mean you don't have to pay it if you want a good team.


I like that, let me quote myself:
"...just because the price is high, doesn't mean you don't have to pay it if you want a good team." - NoBonus

Where is the movement and the action and the interest in a wide range of players? You cannot tell me the Kings don't need a PG and the PGs are going fast. C'mon!
 
Gavin has said "we will spend the money" the last several years. We got Chuck Hayes last year lol. It was a weird FA year last season though. But still, even if they did want to spend the money, people don't want to come here. Ryan Anderson is from here though, as well as Chuck so that might be the best we can do.
 
I hope that I am proved wrong. Until then however, I believe that we are not included in any free agency talks because the owners/organization cannot afford it despite having a payroll at the bottom of the league.

This must be how we advertise ourselves to prospective FAs:

Come play for a team with one of the worst records in the league the past few seasons. Play your home games in the worst arena in the league in a city without a night life. We will only be able pay you well below your market value because we have little to no money.
 
I find it very odd that Sacramento is BARELY mentioned when it comes to free agents and trade rumors. For a team that needs to makes some moves, there has been little to no chatter. Here is all we know:

1. Jason Thompson is the #1 priority according to Geoff (smokescreen?)
2. Donte Greene is out
3. The Kings talked to Ryan Anderson from Orlando
4. The Kings have "shown interest" in Terrance Williams and Chris Kaman
5. Francisco Garcia want AK47 to sign in Sacramento

Basically, nothing... I realize the Kings will not spend the $$ to sign a Steve Nash, etc, but where are they? I thought they were high on Batum? Never heard anything about that and now he is signing elsewhere... sure, he is overpriced, but just because the price is high, doesn't mean you don't have to pay it if you want a good team.


I like that, let me quote myself:
"...just because the price is high, doesn't mean you don't have to pay it if you want a good team." - NoBonus

Where is the movement and the action and the interest in a wide range of players? You cannot tell me the Kings don't need a PG and the PGs are going fast. C'mon!

You save the money so that in 1-2 years you can actually afford to pay the players that DO deserve those kind of contracts.
 
Gavin has said "we will spend the money" the last several years. We got Chuck Hayes last year lol. It was a weird FA year last season though. But still, even if they did want to spend the money, people don't want to come here. Ryan Anderson is from here though, as well as Chuck so that might be the best we can do.
I think it is more about this:
"Money talks and so does the lack of money" - NoBonus
 
I hope that I am proved wrong. Until then however, I believe that we are not included in any free agency talks because the owners/organization cannot afford it despite having a payroll at the bottom of the league.

This must be how we advertise ourselves to prospective FAs:

Come play for a team with one of the worst records in the league the past few seasons. Play your home games in the worst arena in the league in a city without a night life. We will only be able pay you well below your market value because we have little to no money.

I don't think we even bother talking to prospective FAs. We're not spending any money. Period. Heck, they probably went dutch on that lunch with Ryan Anderson...
 
We do not need stars so this lack of activity is not that odd. We have our stars already. They just need to establish themselves. What we need are inexpensive role players and in typical Petrie way, he will wait for the teams to battle it out for the big players and find bargains near the end of free agency. We will need cap space when we have to pay Evans, Cuz, and maybe even TRob if he pans out. Looking farther ahead, if we still have Thornton, and I doubt we will have him, he will want more than what he is making now. We have to plan ahead and all teams should be taking the same approach unless they are LA or New York.

The long and short of it is that using all of our cap space will come back and bite us unless the money is used in short term contracts.
 
In general I agree that it certainly seems that the Kings are being VERY passive/inactive in free agency. The organization has always been tight lipped so it's possible that they are involved in a lot more talks than we're aware of, but I have a hard time believing that there's really much activity.

That said, I wouldn't sign Batum to an offer sheet for 4 years $45 million. First off because the Blazers are going to match it and it ties your hands until they do and secondly because while I like him as a fit on this team that's crazy money for a guy getting offers on potential rather than production.

The Rocket's offer sheet to Jeremy Lin is in the $5 million range for the first two years and then jumps up to $9 million+ for the last two years. Again, crazy money for a guy who had a great one month run with Knicks other stars out with injuries and struggled when they returned. And again, an offer sheet that will almost certainly be matched.

Max money for Roy Hibbert? A contract for Asik that pays him $15 million in the third year? $15 million for a guy who averaged 3 points and 5 rebounds? I don't even think Eric Gordon should be getting max money.

I thought Gerald Wallace got a market value contract and I'd love to see the Kings drop something similar (say 3 years $27-30 million) on Kirilenko but in general I can't fault the Kings for not wanting to pay the going rate for free agents, especially if it would preclude them from resigning Evans or Cousins.

Honestly, I'm more bothered by the fact that the only outside FA the Kings HAVE reportedly talked to is Ryan Anderson. I like him as a player, but not for this team. If Petrie has to operate on the cheap then I suppose that's reality. But it doesn't mean he needs to bring in pieces that don't fit.

The 49ers have done very well the last couple offseasons doing some bargain shopping. Bringing back Dashon Goldson on the cheap when he couldn't land the big contract he wanted elsehwhere. Nabbing Carlos Rogers after all the bigger name FA cornerbacks were gobbled up for big money. Taking a flyer on WRs like Braylon Edwards and Randy Moss. Sure, Edwards didn't work out but he was well worth the small gamble. Likewise with Moss who could be a game changer if it works out but again is signed to a small deal regardless.

In short, I'm less bothered by the financial restraints as by the fact that I think the last Kings offseason was an unmitigated disaster in which Udrih, Dalembert, the #7 pick in the draft, Casspi, and a future first round pick became Salmons, Hayes, Fredette and Hickson who was obviously later waived. If Petrie hadn't gotten Thomas with the last pick in the draft and resigned Thornton I would have had to think hard about whether or not any GM in the NBA had a worse offseason in the last decade.
 
Last edited:
I don't think we even bother talking to prospective FAs. We're not spending any money. Period. Heck, they probably went dutch on that lunch with Ryan Anderson...

Dutch? Hell, they probably faked an important phone call and snuck out the back leaving Ryan with the bill.
 
As for the overall point, its no secret our owners are, let's say, financially retrenching and so we have absolutely no choice but to keep our heads down in this early wild contract phase of free agency. And with the numbers being thrown around out there, thank god.

Now as to whether we will actually try to sneak in one bargain score when the market officially begins on the 10th, we'll have to see. Whatever it is, if it is, will be quiet though. We can't win a bidding war with anybody.
 
I hope we all know that every one of these free agent posts are just wishful thinking. We know our owners are looking to put the screws to the team to get them out of Sacramento but we still wish we could get a decent free agent and make a run at the 8th seed. The fact is that there's a 99% chance either nothing will happen or we'll pick up another Outlaw or Greene and just have to go into the season praying Robinson becomes a great player.
 
I always question the Maloofs...Can't they get the logic that you have to spend to get good players to build along side your stars. If all you have is stars and the rest are garbage, then you will never be a championship team lest a playoff team at that.....and in the process...if you keep on losing like we have been doing for the past 8 years now...you're going to eventually lose customers...then lose money cuz nobody wants to watch a losing team every single year. SIMPLE LOGIC.....MORE WINS=MORE FANS WATCHING=MORE REVENUE=MORE MONEY TO SPEND TO GET BETTER PLAYERS. DUH@@##?????!!!!
 
Look at Miami, even if they had 3 of the best players in basketball(Lebron,Wade,Bosh?), they still couldn't do it alone cuz they're bench was garbage or close to that. But when they got Miller,Battier etc. ...that's when they won it all.....You have to spend to gain more...Like starting up a business...you lose money first in order to make profit later.
 
The Maloofs actions bely their spoken promises. Let's face it, they've slashed personnel at MSA and on the basketball operations side and slahsed player salary. To spend lots of money would be bad PR for the Maloofs really want to accomplish...move the team.

If they were to commit a lot of money to players, it would prove they really did have the money and cash flow from operations to commit to the arena deal they just backed out of, because they keep saying they have a small pocketbook and can't be competitive in the league as long as they are stuck in PBP.

If they spend little in free agency, it supports their argument that they couldn't afford the proposed arena deal and can't make enough money at PBP to field a competitive team.

Which may be the truth, BTW, we don't really know, except for the fact that they have borrowed a fair amount of money from the league to keep going. Attendance has been pretty awful the last few season, at or near the bottom for the league. People say they won't go to games while the Kings are so bad, but low revenue just helps keep the team bad, unfortunately.

Which image do the Maloofs' want the league and the other owners to believe? Guess....it isn't hard. They keep making promises to the fans, because until they can get out of Sacramento, they want to be able to sell tickets.

Honestly, the cynic in me wonders if the Maloofs wanted to see if they could get Ryan Anderson cheap enough to bring in a local guy, who might boost ticket sales.

The other side of the coin is, almost nobody wants to play for Sacramento and most of the desirable players can get better deals elsewhere. Even a trade will be hard, because nobody's likely to give us much for overpaid and/or average to mediocre players. So what good/ very promising player(s) do you want to give up? I'm tired of reading trade proposals to get rid of Salmons, Hayes, Garcia, etc., expecting to get back a very good player.
 
We have our stars already. They just need to establish themselves. What we need are inexpensive role players.

I don't get why many fans think this team just needs a few role players.

And there are players between stars and inexpensive role players. There are also good starters and borderline all stars. This team badly needs a veteran SF that's in the top 10-17 in the league. A real owner would get that done. The team also needs a vet boardline starter at point.

The Maloofs have put Petrie on a tight budget, and he waits and slowly sifts through the bargain bin. There is a reason those players are in that bin.
 
I always question the Maloofs...Can't they get the logic that you have to spend to get good players to build along side your stars. If all you have is stars and the rest are garbage, then you will never be a championship team lest a playoff team at that.....and in the process...if you keep on losing like we have been doing for the past 8 years now...you're going to eventually lose customers...then lose money cuz nobody wants to watch a losing team every single year. SIMPLE LOGIC.....MORE WINS=MORE FANS WATCHING=MORE REVENUE=MORE MONEY TO SPEND TO GET BETTER PLAYERS. DUH@@##?????!!!!
If they understood this, they would still have $$... They don't understand business... they just understand that they are running out of daddy's $$.
 
Voice of optimism here: petrie has done a b+ job building thru the draft (if tyreke gets a shot or jimmer shows a pulse as a 3 point specialist make it an a- to an a+). this is the year that the kings finally show huge improvement behind dmc emerging as the next great nba center and all our other guys feel comfortable about their roles. it makes sense to save money now to extend our stars later while testing the waters with guys like anderson (fills a need, hometown guy, might have a reasonable price tag).

honestly theres not much the team can do this summer other than what they have- and the summer camps and workouts are a big plus. dont let maloof hatred cloud your judgment of what is a reasonable plan moving forward
 
I always question the Maloofs...Can't they get the logic that you have to spend to get good players to build along side your stars. If all you have is stars and the rest are garbage, then you will never be a championship team lest a playoff team at that.....and in the process...if you keep on losing like we have been doing for the past 8 years now...you're going to eventually lose customers...then lose money cuz nobody wants to watch a losing team every single year. SIMPLE LOGIC.....MORE WINS=MORE FANS WATCHING=MORE REVENUE=MORE MONEY TO SPEND TO GET BETTER PLAYERS. DUH@@##?????!!!!

Where about in Jersey City if I may ask?
 
Can't people get the message that the Maloofs likely don't have the money to spend? They've lost their "real" businsses. Exclusive beer distributership, Palms.

Owning a pro sports team is a hobby for extremely rich people. That doesn't mean they can constantly lose money. Either that, or they have so much money that a certain amount of losses are bearable. The Maloofs are clearly poor compared to many owners in pro sports. At this point, they really have no business owning a team.

The Maloofs are clinging to the belief that a modern, bigger arena somewhere will save them and it probably wouldn't hurt. They'd really like it if it was located in a bigger market with more corporate sponsorships available.

Apparently, richer people (Burkle) think they can make the team work in Sacramento, so that argues against the Maloof's position, although we don't know what any new owner would want to contribute to any arena deal, either.

Personally, at this point, I'm more concerned with Sacramento not having a team, than who is on the team. To fans outside the Sacramento region, I understand it doesn't matter to them. But like us here in Sacramento, you should be praying the Maloofs sell the team to someone who has the money to make the team more competitive.
 
I hope we all know that every one of these free agent posts are just wishful thinking. We know our owners are looking to put the screws to the team to get them out of Sacramento but we still wish we could get a decent free agent and make a run at the 8th seed. The fact is that there's a 99% chance either nothing will happen or we'll pick up another Outlaw or Greene and just have to go into the season praying Robinson becomes a great player.

I don't buy the logic behind the "Maloofs are looking to put the screws to the team to get the team out of sacramento" Just who are they trying to convince by doing that? The league has as much as told them that they won't approve a move by the Kings. Stern said they're welcome to play in ARCO, or whatever the hell its called now, until it falls down around them. So intentionally putting a bad team on the floor by design, just doesn't make any sense.

Now if you want to say they're incapable of doing so financially, thats an entirely different story. I despise George Maloof, but I do think Gavin, and perhaps Joe are true fans of the team, and would love to see them win. That doesn't mean I forgive them for going along with this entire charade, but I do think they'll do everything they can within whatever budget they have to improve the team. As far as the silence attached to the team, anyone thats been a fan for a while knows that most of what you hear about the Kings in advance isn't true, and when something happens, its usually a surprise to Kings fans, and to the national media. Petrie is perhaps the most tightlipped GM in the league.

Petrie, who was once a player, said that there's nothing worse for a player than to see his name bandied about in the national media in trades that usually never happen. It can make for an unhappy player, and affects the trust between the player and the GM. As a result, he keeps things close to the vest.
 
The cut rate Kings isn't just slowing any hopes of this team getting back to the playoffs, its messing up the roster. The Kings didn spend 9-10 million to overpay a good free agent in the last three years. Instead, Petrie loves to give out contracts for 6-7 million.

Because the Kings had to meet the floor last year, the gave Hayes a 5-6 million dollar deal. It's the same contract he gave Beno, Garcia, and Moore. Those guys are the worst. You get a 7-8 guy, who makes too much money. Other teams pay 3 million to buy first round picks and get the same production from young players, who make a lot less. Or they pay a better player 8-9 million and back him up with a guy making 1-3. Not the Kings, they would rather spend 12 million on two non-starters. I think you'll see Kaman added for 5-6 a season.

For three summers, they didn't bid 10-11 million on a B level free agent. Instead, they will pay the same money to two C level free agents. It's not just killing the roster, it's putting road blocks up going forward.
 
I don't buy the logic behind the "Maloofs are looking to put the screws to the team to get the team out of sacramento" Just who are they trying to convince by doing that? The league has as much as told them that they won't approve a move by the Kings. Stern said they're welcome to play in ARCO, or whatever the hell its called now, until it falls down around them. So intentionally putting a bad team on the floor by design, just doesn't make any sense.

Now if you want to say they're incapable of doing so financially, thats an entirely different story. I despise George Maloof, but I do think Gavin, and perhaps Joe are true fans of the team, and would love to see them win. That doesn't mean I forgive them for going along with this entire charade, but I do think they'll do everything they can within whatever budget they have to improve the team. As far as the silence attached to the team, anyone thats been a fan for a while knows that most of what you hear about the Kings in advance isn't true, and when something happens, its usually a surprise to Kings fans, and to the national media. Petrie is perhaps the most tightlipped GM in the league.

Petrie, who was once a player, said that there's nothing worse for a player than to see his name bandied about in the national media in trades that usually never happen. It can make for an unhappy player, and affects the trust between the player and the GM. As a result, he keeps things close to the vest.
Stern has never said they won't be allowed to move anywhere. I've kept close tabs on the arena issue and you'll have to prove to me that Stern ever said that.

He only said that the owners would not approve a move to Anaheim. I know that's where the Maloofs really want to go, but they could decide on another destination.

I do believe Stern is sending a strong message that the league wants the team to stay in Sacramento. However, I'm not positive that the other owners would turn down a move to some other viable city, if that's the direction the Maloofs go now.

His barb about saying they must be okay playing in PBP was clearly a shot at the Maloofs for the fact that they backed out of what Stern saw as a fair arena deal put together by the city. I think the biggest hurdle for the Maloofs is the fact that there's someone more than willing to buy the team and keep it in Sacramento. This is the biggest argument against the Maloof's claim that they can't be competitive in Sacramento. I think then pressure is being put on them to sell. (I hope.)
 
Last edited:
I don't get why many fans think this team just needs a few role players.

And there are players between stars and inexpensive role players. There are also good starters and borderline all stars. This team badly needs a veteran SF that's in the top 10-17 in the league. A real owner would get that done. The team also needs a vet boardline starter at point.

The Maloofs have put Petrie on a tight budget, and he waits and slowly sifts through the bargain bin. There is a reason those players are in that bin.

I don't disagree with any of what you wrote, but even if we had an owner with money, Petrie would have to be creative to get the job done. Of course if we had an owner with money, we could then amnesty Salmons and have another 8 mil under the cap to work with. As it is, we probably won't use the amnesty clause, and that seriously limits what we can do. If you don't have enough capspace, then you have to do it through trades. Of course then you need a trading partner that wants what you're trading.

On that note, I would think that Hayes is tradable. He had suitors last year offering around the same amount of money he's making now.
 
Can't people get the message that the Maloofs likely don't have the money to spend? They've lost their "real" businsses. Exclusive beer distributership, Palms.

Owning a pro sports team is a hobby for extremely rich people. That doesn't mean they can constantly lose money. Either that, or they have so much money that a certain amount of losses are bearable. The Maloofs are clearly poor compared to many owners in pro sports. At this point, they really have no business owning a team.

The Maloofs are clinging to the belief that a modern, bigger arena somewhere will save them and it probably wouldn't hurt. They'd really like it if it was located in a bigger market with more corporate sponsorships available.

Apparently, richer people (Burkle) think they can make the team work in Sacramento, so that argues against the Maloof's position, although we don't know what any new owner would want to contribute to any arena deal, either.

Personally, at this point, I'm more concerned with Sacramento not having a team, than who is on the team. To fans outside the Sacramento region, I understand it doesn't matter to them. But like us here in Sacramento, you should be praying the Maloofs sell the team to someone who has the money to make the team more competitive.

Yes. You hit two issues. First, the Maloofs are short cash, at least by NBA owner standards. Second, the Kings are the Maloofs' primary business. The team has to at least break even, so payroll is set by ticket sales.

They are also really dumb and are running off most fans, which isn't so good for ticket sales. No other NBA teams deals with all three of the things. It's going into a fight with both arms and at least one leg tied behind you.
 
I don't disagree with any of what you wrote, but even if we had an owner with money, Petrie would have to be creative to get the job done. Of course if we had an owner with money, we could then amnesty Salmons and have another 8 mil under the cap to work with. As it is, we probably won't use the amnesty clause, and that seriously limits what we can do. If you don't have enough capspace, then you have to do it through trades. Of course then you need a trading partner that wants what you're trading.

On that note, I would think that Hayes is tradable. He had suitors last year offering around the same amount of money he's making now.

If you had real owners, you never would have had Salmons. Petrie was forced to take Jimmer, because the owners wanted Jimmer in part to sell tickets. Petrie didn't want to take him as high as the Kings pick and moved back to get more value. He made the call that putting Salmons for Beno in the deal was good value. Fail fail.

Any GM in a small market has to be smart and creative. Patching up a roster with players making 5-6 million is like payday loans. Doesn't fix the problem now, hurts later. Soon the Kings will be out of cap space and the roster is still going to be a mess.
 
Yes. You hit two issues. First, the Maloofs are short cash, at least by NBA owner standards. Second, the Kings are the Maloofs' primary business. The team has to at least break even, so payroll is set by ticket sales.

They are also really dumb and are running off most fans, which isn't so good for ticket sales. No other NBA teams deals with all three of the things. It's going into a fight with both arms and at least one leg tied behind you.
We are in total agreement on that point! I think the league has to want to pressure the Maloofs out of the league. Frankly they are bad PR for the whole league with their behavior and the way they have abused fans and made owners and the league look bad.
 
Back
Top