SAR maybe becomes assistant coach for "Bigs"?

[CruzDude]

Sam Amick in the Bee once again brings up the situation of SAR which seems to be questionable at best. SAR admitted back in July that "what ever will be, will be" regarding his knee after he has played so many years (11+ in the NBA). Progress appears to be slow for SAR and I'm sure it's hard for him to judge just exactly where he is and much less know what he can do in another month or so in training camp.

But as Sam also points out, "... the big man coaching job has gone unfilled and could see SAR filling that role eventually". Now that could be a good transition for SAR as he seems to have the desire to play but likely could find his knee is not able to hold up to the modern rigors of the quicker and bigger young guys. The NBA has gotten bigger and faster and quicker, all tough attributes to overcome for a career NBA guy with a questionable knee in his 30's who has played for 11+ years.

So, if SAR and the Kings collectively agree and SAR wants to be a "bigs" coach, then I guess he has to retire then go on the coaching staff payroll. He was a very good player with the Kings but he did reach a plateau 2-3 years ago. So if this comes about, my guess is that KT becomes a high priced piece of bench fodder and spends most of the year on the "inactive" list. But available if injuries dictate.

 

[NoBonus]

Sam Amick in the Bee once again brings up the situation of SAR which seems to be questionable at best. SAR admitted back in July that "what ever will be, will be" regarding his knee after he has played so many years (11+ in the NBA). Progress appears to be slow for SAR and I'm sure it's hard for him to judge just exactly where he is and much less know what he can do in another month or so in training camp.

But as Sam also points out, "... the big man coaching job has gone unfilled and could see SAR filling that role eventually". Now that could be a good transition for SAR as he seems to have the desire to play but likely could find his knee is not able to hold up to the modern rigors of the quicker and bigger young guys. The NBA has gotten bigger and faster and quicker, all tough attributes to overcome for a career NBA guy with a questionable knee in his 30's who has played for 11+ years.

So, if SAR and the Kings collectively agree and SAR wants to be a "bigs" coach, then I guess he has to retire then go on the coaching staff payroll. He was a very good player with the Kings but he did reach a plateau 2-3 years ago. So if this comes about, my guess is that KT becomes a high priced piece of bench fodder and spends most of the year on the "inactive" list. But available if injuries dictate.

If SAR retires as a player, what sort of salary relief will the Kings see/when can they use it/would they then have an extra roster spot to fill?

 

[Big Cuz 15]

If SAR retires as a player, what sort of salary relief will the Kings see/when can they use it/would they then have an extra roster spot to fill?

i think it gives them some type of exception and the insurance would be covering most of his salary. the kings would have one roster spot to fill if they wanted to

 

[NoBonus]

i think it gives them some type of exception and the insurance would be covering most of his salary. the kings would have one roster spot to fill if they wanted to

I understand Shawn Kemp is available...

 

[Gary]

I am SAR's age (or about his age) and one thing I have noticed since turning 30... I heal MUCH MUCH slower, and little things that used to be nothing are now something..

Case in point, I have ridden mountain bikes competitively for about 15 years. Mostly just race downhill now. Anyhow, about 4 weeks ago I have a nice wreck when I went up on my back tire and couldn't control it. My pedal (clipless which are kinda small and hurt like hell when jabbed into your leg) rammed me in the leg near the calf. I have this nice bruise which pretty much covered my whole calf and there is a hard lump inside the size of a golf ball. This is 4 weeks after.. It still hurts to walk on it.

When I started racing downhill I would wreck all the time!!! Nothing like this would ever take this long to heal..

Enjoy your youth youngans!!! It sucks getting old.. I hope for the best with SAR but I kinda know what he is going through.

 

[bajaden]

i think it gives them some type of exception and the insurance would be covering most of his salary. the kings would have one roster spot to fill if they wanted to

We covered this in another thread, but your right, his salary would be covered by an insurance policy if he can't play for medical reasons. The Kings could apply for a medical retirement to the league and if given, we would gain salary cap relief, but not necessarily space. There is a one year waiting period from the time of the injury, which in the King's situation, I think would have already been met. The injury would have to be confirmed by the league doctors.

The only glich is that if the team is still over the cap after the salary has been removed from the books, it can't use that salary to sign another player. In other words, all other salary cap rules would still apply. The only thing the King's would gain is salary relief.

 

[CruzDude]

Right. With SAR and KT now they are not over the projected cap. So if SAR comes off the books by retiring and they are under they have that amount to spend. But seriously doubt they will until they see the "kids" thru training camp. Besides who knows what gems GP can find for training camp? There is always one who seems to slip in then.

Anyway, if SAR retires and becomes the assistant to coach the "bigs", his salary is as staff, not part of the CBA. So, KT the Albatross around the neck of the Kings becomes a bit more palatable.

 

[NME]

Right. With SAR and KT now they are not over the projected cap. So if SAR comes off the books by retiring and they are under they have that amount to spend.

No, we are WAY over the salary cap, in fact right up to the luxury tax line. Even if SAR's contract got zeroed out, we are still way over and have nothing to spend. The only tangible benefit of shedding some salary would be that we could sign a camp invitee or two to the league minimum to fill out the 15 man roster, which we can't even do currently without incurring the tax (hence dumping Ewing and Singletary).

 

[fnordius]

No, we are WAY over the salary cap, in fact right up to the luxury tax line.

Sad but true, there are only 6 teams under cap and we're not among them, we're $12M/yr over. We're a few million away from luxury tax range, though, so I don't think that's stopping us from signing any cheap bench players, I think that's just a matter of not having room on the roster.

 

[NME]

We're a few million away from luxury tax range, though, so I don't think that's stopping us from signing any cheap bench players, I think that's just a matter of not having room on the roster.

I don't think so, it was stated from multiple sources that we had to shed their deals to avoid the trade putting us over the tax. I wouldn't put too much stock in the exact total shown on any given salary site, since each one seems to have different current year values for each player.

 

[fnordius]

I wouldn't put too much stock in the exact total shown on any given salary site, since each one seems to have different current year values for each player.

Okay, but if you look at the teams who paid tax in the last couple of years, they were the top 8 payrolls last year, and the top 5 the year before. No site I can find puts the Kings in the top 10 in terms of payroll.

But we do have 15 players right now, which is all we're allowed, so... kind of a moot point, isn't it? We couldn't have kept Singletary without waiving someone else. And I'm thinking that the Maloofs want to save some money regardless of tax, I can't remember any time GP/Maloofs have taken cash in a trade aside before Artest. That, along with all the empty seats, seems meaningful to me.

 

[NME]

Okay, but if you look at the teams who paid tax in the last couple of years, they were the top 8 payrolls last year, and the top 5 the year before. No site I can find puts the Kings in the top 10 in terms of payroll.

Who actually paid the tax, but there were probably several more not far under who took measures to make sure they didn't exceed it, like us now. Even a dollar over doesn't just mean you pay two dollars, it means you're disqualified from your piece of the rebate paid by those over the limit.

You're right, 15, I was thinking it was 14 even with SAR and KT.

 

[bajaden]

I think the KIng's would love to have a little more breathing room between them and the luxury cap. In the event of a season ending injury, it would be nice to be able to sign someone at the minumum and still be under the luxury cap. Other than that, it really has little value.

 

[CruzDude]

If SAR retires AND some miraculous buyout of KT occurs, then Kings should be down closer to the cap level. KT is just a bump on the bench log so wonder if a buyout is possible? But I think SAR would make a decent "bigs" coach and with 3 of the 4 bigs being the "kids" the Kings have to do something to help them along. Also glad to have the correction above as I confused the salary cap with the luxury tax level.

 

[VF21]

Good article today by Sam Amick in the Bee, as linked in our New Links forum.

Looks like SAR is seriously considering the possibility of a medical retirement...

 

[RaY Z]

It'll be a shame if he retires...

He's always been a good guy on and off the court, and at 31, although not young, its not that old of an age too.

Too bad his knees aren't 31.

 

[Entity]

I would guess he would WANT to go be some sort of an assistant in Atlanta.

 

[creAtivetfh]

that would be ideal