With training camp one month away, the Kings’ roster seems to be rounding into form.
It was a busy offseason for the Sacramento Kings.
Free agency started with a splash when Sacramento re-signed Richaun Holmes to a four-year, $55 million deal. It’s easy to look at all of the acquisitions, trades and waives that have accumulated in past few weeks and come to the conclusion that keeping Holmes was the biggest (and best) move for Sacramento since the season concluded.
The Kings then re-signed Moe Harkless to a two-year, $9 million contract and added the likes of Tristan Thompson and Alex Len (again) to the roster. Returning Kings Damian Jones, Chimezie Metu and Terence Davis were inked and are expected to make an appearance in a Kings uniform this season.
Still, with all of this movement, it’s easy to forget that just hours before the 2021 NBA Draft Buddy Hield was almost a Laker and Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldewell-Pope nearly traded the purple and gold for the purple and white before the blockbuster trade that sent them to Washington for Russell Westbrook.
With that deal dead, the Kings looked to other markets for trades. Pascal Siakam and Ben Simmons have been the biggest names in the Kings’ orbit, but Raptors President Masai Ujiri has made it clear that Siakam will not be considered in any trade packages this offseason. However, he also said that about fan favorite DeMar DeRozan and we all know how that ended up.
The Sixers situation is a bit more complicated, as many feel that Ben Simmons will not be in a Philly uniform come training camp this fall. That leaves a very small window for NBA teams to make a move with the the key assets Philadelphia is looking for in return, assets the Kings aren’t in a position to surrender.
Assuming big names are out of the window, are the Kings done making moves? Probably and that’s okay.
The main goal in free agency was accomplished in retaining Holmes, and Kings’ lottery pick Davion Mitchell showed stellar promise in leading the #SummerKings to a championship in Las Vegas, solidifying that the Kings are looking to improve their defensive identity this season (or even establish one).
The irony in this is that Sacramento secured a plethora of bigs after vowing to play small-ball. Pre-season will give us a better look at that Fox-Hali-Mitchell backcourt, and we can finally assess after these four months if the Kings are ready to take the next step.