Realistic Free Agent Targets for the Kings This Offseason

Free agency, the NBA Draft, and trades are the three main ways teams can improve their rosters. In reality, very few teams can bet on free agency to revamp their rosters. The Sacramento Kings are not one of those teams. Even if they wanted to, though, the Kings cannot be players in free agency.

As their cap sheet stands today, Sacramento has one of the most expensive rosters in the league. They project to be a second-apron team, which comes with numerous restrictions. Teams have fought hard to duck the second apron. For example, last summer, Boston, one season removed from winning a championship, traded several core players to do so.

Apron teams are confined to using their Biannual Exception or veteran minimum contracts. There are a few players who could be fits in Sacramento at these price points.

Getting a point guard

The Kings have needed a point guard since they traded De’Aaron Fox. The Dennis Schroder investment failed. Russell Westbrook performed admirably under the circumstances last season (more on this below) and is now a free agent who turns 38 in November. Killian Hayes could return if the team exercises his TO. Even then, though, his deal is non-guaranteed.

Not a particularly inspiring depth chart, so Sacramento will once again look to find a point guard this summer. Sunday’s draft lottery will obviously play a huge role here. There are intriguing options in the 5-12 range, including Kingston Flemings, Darius Acuff, and Mikel Brown. While one of these prospects is a good start, Sacramento will need additional point guard depth.

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Bones Hyland and Brandon Williams had good enough seasons in Minnesota and Dallas that they may have markets above the minimum. Collin Gillespie almost certainly played himself out of minimum talks, so he may be a biannual exception candidate (albeit an ambitious one).

All would come in as solid options to handle minutes as a rookie point guard develops, and they are young enough that they could stick around for a few seasons if things go well.

Adding size on the wing

Sacramento has always been thin on big wings. They already have more than usual with Keegan Murray and De’Andre Hunter (yes, two is not many. Positional size has been a foreign concept to this team for some time, but I digress). As they try to build Scott Perry and Doug Christie’s version of Kings basketball centered around defense and toughness, depth at a useful position is not a bad thing.

Former first-round draft pick Olivier-Maxence Prosper immediately comes to mind as a big wing that did not have the platform to succeed in Dallas, signed with Memphis last season, and is now a free agent heading into his fourth season. Of the options mentioned here, he would be my top choice.

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Jaylen Clark and Josh Minott feel like decent upside, low-risk signings as well. Clark, in particular, feels like a particularly strong Christie fit. He was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and set to be a late first-to-early second round pick before tearing his Achilles. He has since recovered, but is on the periphery of Minnesota’s rotation.

Minott is another wing that has simply not gotten the run he probably deserves. Still just 23, the 6-foot-8 wing averaged 7.4/3.2/0.9 on 50/41.8/78.7 in 17 MPG with Boston and Brooklyn last season.

Why should these players want to come to Sacramento?

Simply put, opportunity. Lots of players chalk having a down year up to not getting enough minutes to find a groove. This would probably not be the case in Sacramento.

The proof of concept is not hard to find. Neither Russell Westbrook nor Precious Achiuwa was signed with an NBA team last October. They both went on to start over 50 games for the Kings, and played the fourth and fifth-most minutes on the team.

This has led some to believe that Achiuwa may have a market above the minimum this summer—by no means an easy feat; once you sign to a vet min, it is pretty rare to then sign to something over the minimum later in your career.

Of course, this platform came with a litany of injuries to key players. It is highly unlikely that Achiuwa gets the sort of run he did if Keegan Murray and De’Andre Hunter were healthy. Nonetheless, there are not many pieces to look at and mark them down for 30 minutes per game in Sharpie right now. The same cannot be said for most teams right now.

So, players like the targets mentioned above should see Sacramento as a place where they have a real path to playing 25 MPG and showing they can perform as regular rotation pieces.

With that in mind, players looking for a platform to get extended minutes and prove they are capable of expanded roles should certainly view Sacramento as a rehabilitation destination this summer.

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