Sacramento Kings: 5 Players To Target In Free Agency
The Sacramento Kings are looking toward a brighter tomorrow for the first time in about a decade. Youth and positivity have merged in Sactown into a little thing left out of the franchise for awhile. Hope.
The Kings are free from the DeMarcus Cousins distractions and moving on, led by the dynamic young back court of rookie De’Aaron Fox and sophomore Bahamian, Buddy Heild, and supported by a young fresh supporting cast.
After Rudy Gay declined his player option, and Aaron Afflalo was waived, Kosto Koufos (8.3 million next season) stands as the highest paid player on the young Kings roster as the team heads into free agency (Keeping in mind the potential Bogdan Bogdonovic deal is only rumors at this point). With only one other player, Garrett Temple, making 4 million dollars or more on the entire roster, the Kings find themselves with over 60 million dollars to spend before they hit the cap.
The Kings come into free agency with a sense of direction and money to spend. While the most talented free agents are going to ignore calls trying to bring them to Sacramento, here are a few players that the Kings may be able to land while keeping their franchise going in a sensible direction
Johnathon Simmons:
The Kings have starting caliber players at every position other than the small forward spot and Simmons could plug in nicely. The draft was a blatant indication that the Kings want to change the culture by bringing in winners. Simmons has spent his entire NBA career with the pinnacle of winning — the San Antonio Spurs. Simmons also played his best when the playoffs rolled around and the lights were brightest.
At 27 years old, Simmons’ timeline is a bit ahead of the rest of the starting lineup, but his abilities and experience will fit right in. Simmons is not the best small forward available, but the Kings youth movement may not match up with some of the elite’s goals. Simmons will be earning his first real NBA pay day and the Kings will have the cap space to convince him to join.
Kelly Olynyk:
The Kings have a young exciting combination of bigs in Skal Labissiere and Willie Cauley-Stein, but an addition like Olynick gives them another dynamic. The current group of Kings’ big men have nowhere near the ability to space the floor like Olynick does. Throw that in along with some playoff experience plus the fact that he is only 26 years old, and he would make a nice fit among the young Kings roster.
Patty Mills:
Sorry San Antonio, the Kings are coming for multiple free agents of yours. Mills could be interesting for the Kings for a lot of the same reasons as Simmons is. While not quite a starting caliber point guard, Mills could be a terrific backup and mentor to Fox. A great 3-point shot is the one thing that Fox lacks, but it also happens to be the specialty of Mills. Culture, position need, talent diversification, Mills just makes a lot of sense here.
James Young:
Although he has been in the league for 3 years already, the aptly named Young is only 21 years old. He played sparingly in the last 3 years with the Celtics, but he is certainly an NBA level player. Young’s ability to play the shooting guard or the small forward position could make him a useful addition in the Sacramento rebuild.
K.J McDaniels:
While K.J has just completely vanished in almost every depth chart he’s been a part of, there is still a talented NBA player in there somewhere. McDaniels can run jump and shoot which makes him a great addition to a team with Fox running fast breaks, but his most appealing quality is that he defends. K.J probably wont take more than a cheap flyer to get him on the team, and he is the perfect low risk players that the Kings can pull. He is still just 24 years old.
