The Kings, as currently constructed, might be able to make a few moves to be in contention for the 8th seed next season. But I don't see this team being capable of much more.
Barnes & Bogdanovic are 28 and Hield will be next month as well. There's not a lot of room for growth and Buddy and Barnes are making $46 million next season and signed for 4 and 3 more seasons respectively. And Bogi (who I really like) will want a sizeable new deal as well.
Bagley (if he can stay healthy) has yet to show that he is more than a decent big and the rest of the roster is role players.
Plus I think there are two harsh truths here.
(1) De'Aaron Fox is not likely to be the best player on a contending team
(2) Short of a Webber type gamble in a trade, the Kings will only get another star (or stars, should we be so lucky) via the draft.
So with 2021 (and 2022 for that matter) being projected as a much stronger draft at the top, why not blow up the roster and tank fully?
Trade 1
SAC sends Bogdanovic (S&T) and Barnes
SAC receives Ilyasova, Lopez, Bledsoe, DiVincenzo, 2021 1st (lottery protected), 2021 2nd (via IND)
MIL sends Ilyasova, Lopez, Bledsoe, DiVincenzo, 2021 1st (lottery protected), 2021 2nd (via IND)
MIL receives Bogdanovic (S&T) and Barnes
This deal depends on Bogi agreeing to a sign-and-trade and to a lesser extent, Lopez opting in. But assuming those things happen, the Bucks have signaled a willingness to take on Barnes' salary if it nets them Bogdanovic. Bledsoe's deal has three years left but year three has only $3.9M of the 19.4M guaranteed.
Trade 2
PHI sends Horford, Thybulle, lottery protected 2022 1st
PHI receives Buddy Hield, Nemanja Bjelica
SAC sends Buddy Hield, Nemanja Bjelica
SAC receives Batum, Thybulle, 76ers 2022 1st
CHA sends Batum
CHA receives Horford
That deal is dependent on the Hornets drafting Ball or Edwards rather than Wiseman or Okongwu and liking Horford as their center but I think it's reasonable.
In the draft, swing for the fences. If I were looking for a plug and play guy I'd grab Saddiq Bey or Devin Vassell who are both high floor 3&D guys with more growth potential than many are giving them credit for.
But if we want to bet on upside (and assuming Hayes, Haliburton, Okoro etc are off the board) then you're looking at guys like Patrick Williams (who may be long gone by #12 based on current rumors), Tyrell Terry, Jalen Smith, Kira Lewis Jr, and maybe RJ Hampton who showed quickness/athleticism but not much else in the NBL.
But there's a bigger risk/reward prospect.
My choices:
#12 Aleksej Pokusevski
#35 Paul Reed
#43 Jordan Nwora
#52 Abdoulaye N'Doye (who I think comes over next season)
Other 2nd round gems might be Elijah Hughes, Devon Dotson, Cassius Stanley, and traditional bigs like Isaiah Stewart, Vernon Carey, or Udoka Azubuike who aren't as valued in today's NBA but will likely outplay their draft slot.
I would add Tyler Bey and Jahmi'us Ramsey but I think they'll go in the 1st. Heck, so might a number of guys I listed. This will be a wild draft. So let's stick with my listed picks.
Here's next year's roster:
C Bagley, Holmes, Lopez
PF Ilyasova, Pokusevski, Reed
SF Batum, Nwora, FA (or Parker if he opts in)
SG Thybulle, DiVincenzo, James,
PG Fox, Bledsoe, Joseph
Bring Pokusevski along slowly but give the young guys as many useful minutes as possible and see what we have in Bagley. At best maybe he's another building block. At the least you hope he stays healthy and shows enough to be another trade piece. Maybe Poku is Dragan Bender part 2. Or maybe he's eventually a rim protector who handles, shoots, and passes like a wing. Why not gamble with the 12th pick in a weak draft?
With some lottery luck (and good drafting) the Kings get another star in next year's draft (I particularly like Cade Cunningham and Jalen Johnson right now but we'll see) and clear cap space to take on other bad contracts for assets.
Between Batum, Ilyasova, Lopez, Joseph (only guaranteed for $2.4M of the $12.6M), and Holmes, that's over $54 million that comes off the books. I'd like the Kings to re-sign Richaun, but they'd still have a much cleaner cap sheet going forward even with a huge extension for Fox.
The Kings have never really embraced a full rebuild and the constant on the fly tinkering to do just enough to make the playoffs hasn't even worked well enough to reach that simple goal over the last 14 seasons.
At this point, at least a tank and rebuild looks like an actual plan.
Barnes & Bogdanovic are 28 and Hield will be next month as well. There's not a lot of room for growth and Buddy and Barnes are making $46 million next season and signed for 4 and 3 more seasons respectively. And Bogi (who I really like) will want a sizeable new deal as well.
Bagley (if he can stay healthy) has yet to show that he is more than a decent big and the rest of the roster is role players.
Plus I think there are two harsh truths here.
(1) De'Aaron Fox is not likely to be the best player on a contending team
(2) Short of a Webber type gamble in a trade, the Kings will only get another star (or stars, should we be so lucky) via the draft.
So with 2021 (and 2022 for that matter) being projected as a much stronger draft at the top, why not blow up the roster and tank fully?
Trade 1
SAC sends Bogdanovic (S&T) and Barnes
SAC receives Ilyasova, Lopez, Bledsoe, DiVincenzo, 2021 1st (lottery protected), 2021 2nd (via IND)
MIL sends Ilyasova, Lopez, Bledsoe, DiVincenzo, 2021 1st (lottery protected), 2021 2nd (via IND)
MIL receives Bogdanovic (S&T) and Barnes
This deal depends on Bogi agreeing to a sign-and-trade and to a lesser extent, Lopez opting in. But assuming those things happen, the Bucks have signaled a willingness to take on Barnes' salary if it nets them Bogdanovic. Bledsoe's deal has three years left but year three has only $3.9M of the 19.4M guaranteed.
Trade 2
PHI sends Horford, Thybulle, lottery protected 2022 1st
PHI receives Buddy Hield, Nemanja Bjelica
SAC sends Buddy Hield, Nemanja Bjelica
SAC receives Batum, Thybulle, 76ers 2022 1st
CHA sends Batum
CHA receives Horford
That deal is dependent on the Hornets drafting Ball or Edwards rather than Wiseman or Okongwu and liking Horford as their center but I think it's reasonable.
In the draft, swing for the fences. If I were looking for a plug and play guy I'd grab Saddiq Bey or Devin Vassell who are both high floor 3&D guys with more growth potential than many are giving them credit for.
But if we want to bet on upside (and assuming Hayes, Haliburton, Okoro etc are off the board) then you're looking at guys like Patrick Williams (who may be long gone by #12 based on current rumors), Tyrell Terry, Jalen Smith, Kira Lewis Jr, and maybe RJ Hampton who showed quickness/athleticism but not much else in the NBL.
But there's a bigger risk/reward prospect.
My choices:
#12 Aleksej Pokusevski
#35 Paul Reed
#43 Jordan Nwora
#52 Abdoulaye N'Doye (who I think comes over next season)
Other 2nd round gems might be Elijah Hughes, Devon Dotson, Cassius Stanley, and traditional bigs like Isaiah Stewart, Vernon Carey, or Udoka Azubuike who aren't as valued in today's NBA but will likely outplay their draft slot.
I would add Tyler Bey and Jahmi'us Ramsey but I think they'll go in the 1st. Heck, so might a number of guys I listed. This will be a wild draft. So let's stick with my listed picks.
Here's next year's roster:
C Bagley, Holmes, Lopez
PF Ilyasova, Pokusevski, Reed
SF Batum, Nwora, FA (or Parker if he opts in)
SG Thybulle, DiVincenzo, James,
PG Fox, Bledsoe, Joseph
Bring Pokusevski along slowly but give the young guys as many useful minutes as possible and see what we have in Bagley. At best maybe he's another building block. At the least you hope he stays healthy and shows enough to be another trade piece. Maybe Poku is Dragan Bender part 2. Or maybe he's eventually a rim protector who handles, shoots, and passes like a wing. Why not gamble with the 12th pick in a weak draft?
With some lottery luck (and good drafting) the Kings get another star in next year's draft (I particularly like Cade Cunningham and Jalen Johnson right now but we'll see) and clear cap space to take on other bad contracts for assets.
Between Batum, Ilyasova, Lopez, Joseph (only guaranteed for $2.4M of the $12.6M), and Holmes, that's over $54 million that comes off the books. I'd like the Kings to re-sign Richaun, but they'd still have a much cleaner cap sheet going forward even with a huge extension for Fox.
The Kings have never really embraced a full rebuild and the constant on the fly tinkering to do just enough to make the playoffs hasn't even worked well enough to reach that simple goal over the last 14 seasons.
At this point, at least a tank and rebuild looks like an actual plan.
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