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Fox
Huge salary space
The Sacramento Kings have not been successful in recent years in terms of salary space utilization. In 2015, they traded for a first-round pick that could have drafted Jason Tatum to get salary space and sign Monta Ellis, but Ellis ultimately chose to join the Indiana Pacers. The most expensive free agent the Kings signed to in the summer of 2017 was George Hill in the summer of 2017, but he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers eight months later. They made an expensive offer for Zach LaVine in 2018, but the Chicago Bulls quickly matched the contract.
Monk
Of course, the Kings are very different from the past. They just ended a 48-34 season, and despite being eliminated in the first round, the series against the Warriors was definitely one of the best in recent years. Success in the free agent market is one of the big reasons for the Kings' successful season — midfield player Malik Monk scored more points against the Warriors than any Kings player except Daron Fox. If it weren't for Stephen Curry's history-making 50-point performance at G7, the Sacramento Kings might have won that series.
Barnes
Perhaps for the first time in team history, the Kings became an attractive target. They're close to the Bay Area, the roster is young and competitive, and more importantly, they're doing well, and with a few fine-tuning, the team can quickly turn 48 wins into 58, and the Kings are aware of that opportunity. So they took a rare opportunity on draft night, and the team used the No. 24 first-round pick to send center Holmes to the Dallas Mavericks contract. The Sacramento Kings had about $15 million in salaries on their books disappearing in an instant, which greatly improved the Sacramento Kings' operations during the offseason. If the team uses birding rights to keep Harrison Barnes and Trey Lyles, this is basically just a continuation of last year's lineup; But if the Kings give up players other than Fox, Monk, Sabonis Jr., Keegan Murray, Kevin Huert and Davian Mitchell, they have about $36 million in salary space. Currently, only the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs have more salary space at their disposal than the Kings.
Lyles
Who does the king want?
With the exception of James Harden, any free agent on the market could theoretically join the Kings. In addition, the Kings have a $7.6 million middle-class salary exception that they can use to retain Lyles, one of the team's main benches last season. They could also use some of the salary space to avoid his entry into free agency by re-signing Sabonis Jr. with a new contract that is currently significantly underpaid.
The Kings have to create space for a purpose, they want a certain player or a certain group of players, and now they create flexible space that allows them to get almost anyone, which raises the question of $36 million: Who does the Kings want?
Drummond Green may appear among the rumors. The Kings just created the most efficient offense in NBA history, but only ranked 24th on defense. Green can play a huge role in solving this problem, although the Kings do not use the strategy of changing defenses as frequently as the Warriors, but Green can be an elite-level defender in this era against any player, and can protect the basket and organize the defense well.
Mike Brown was a former assistant coach for the Warriors
Mike Brown knows how to leverage their experience working with the Golden State Warriors on the defensive end. Former Kings shareholder Vivik Ranadiff certainly wants to hammer the nail into the Warriors' coffin as a dynasty after the Kings' playoff defeat. Given the luxury tax, even entering the new season with Green's player option salary (which Green has refused to enforce) would be well over $400 million. In the bidding battle, the Warriors must pay more than $500 million to keep their roster for the new season.
However, after Green's clash with Sabonis Jr. in the playoffs, it is unlikely that he will join the Kings. The Warriors in turn facilitated the extension of Green and Thompson by trading Jordan Poole. Chris S. Paul is on a non-guaranteed contract for the 2024-2025 season, so the Warriors' tax burden will be significantly reduced after next season. Green may well be happy to have the Kings as a bargaining chip, but there's still a possibility he'll choose to return until he actually leaves the only team he knows.
The same is true for Middleton. Despite his imminent free agent, he was reportedly involved in the hiring of Adrian Griffin as Milwaukee's new head coach. The Bucks have no replacement for Middleton, and if he chooses to leave, the team will often choose to pay a premium to live with their former champion. Also, Middleton isn't an ideal choice for the Kings. Now his defense has slipped and most of his value comes from his ability to create chances late in the game. However, Fox is up to the role, and at this stage of his career, he is more reliable than Middleton. The Kings don't have much reason to throw money at Middleton, their offensive form is good, and maintaining their current level is already ideal.
Kyle Kuzma
Kyle Kuzma
The Kings are one of the few big players who don't actually have much possession available to free agents. They need a player who can provide offense off the ball in the half-court offense, have the ability to attack twice, and provide instant scoring ability in the second team. That player is likely to be Kyle Kuzma.
Sacramento once tried to trade Kuzma. The Lakers dropped a trade with Buddy Hield in 2021 to pursue Russell Westbrook. The Kings should be happy about this. Hield's trade helped them sign Sabonis a few months later, which made Kuzma fit better in Sacramento than he should have been.
Although Kuzma was a pure scorer when he entered the NBA, he transitioned into an all-around role player in his final years with the Lakers. The teammate who accelerated this change was Mark Gasol, who was probably the NBA's best passing center before Nikola Jokic. Kuzma quickly learned that Gasol would find his chances to score whenever he moved off the ball, but along the way, Gasol's selflessness also influenced Kuzma, helping him become a far better functional passer than he was early in his career. The tacit bond between them was so evident that Kuzma publicly supported Gasol with more playing time when Frank Vogel brought Gasol out of the rotation.
Kyle Kuzma
Kuzma brought those skills to Washington, where he traded bigger roles for valuable teammates. There he developed into a ball leading player, averaging more than 21 points per game last season on an average Wizards team. Although Sacramento's offense is designed to be equal, even if Fox can monopolize possession late in the game, Kuzma's proven ability in Washington and his growth in Los Angeles make him such an attractive option for the Kings. Sabonis is the closest player Kuzma has found in the modern NBA to Gasol, and unless he goes to Denver, it's hard to find a better replacement. Who can say that the combination of Sabonis and Kuzma can't develop into a low-cost version of Jokic and Alan Gordon on the offensive end?
Kuzma can't solve Sacramento's defensive problems, but he can contribute to defense. He has grown into a relatively strong multi-position defender, and while he is best at playing against the No. 4, he can even defend shooting guards in Los Angeles. His shooting ability is a level higher than Gordon's: relatively inefficient, but enough to keep defenders on their toes. The defense doesn't leave him a space and he's perfectly capable of punishing the enemy with dribbling.
Sacramento will be watching what's going on in other forward markets, but Kuzma is the best compromise on talent, availability and price. If the Kings want to keep Barnes, they probably won't have to go to great lengths to bypass taxes. Jeremy Grant is better defensively and personally scoring (although the gap between the two is smaller than most people think), but he is inferior to Kuzma in some details, and he wants to get the ball, and the Kings may not be in a hurry to give him. Considering Portland seems to be planning to keep its original roster next season, there's a good chance the Blazers will pay Grant to please Damian Lillard.
Kyle Kuzma
Kuzma's price may be high, but he won't get $36 million next season. More likely, he will be priced between $20 million and $25 million, and the Kings have more money available. It may not be enough to extend Sabonis' contract at a fair value, but at least enough to keep Lyles and seek a replacement centre-forward. Mason Plumlee could be a great choice as a center forward who bears a stylistic resemblance to Sabonis. That's one of the reasons why Denver has kept him with Jokic's backup. It is valuable to have a replacement for a tactical scheme that does not require drastic changes.
The Kings are likely exploring the possibility of going with Green. This is understandable given his impact on any defensive end, although he has a lot of overlap with Sabonis on the offensive end, and combining Fox with two big men who don't make three-pointers would give the opposing defense considerable convenience. The Kings could also use their space to pursue a guard and plan to trade their current backcourt players and draft picks for a forward. The idea of a trade for Huerter and draft picks for OG Anunoby has been popular for months, though the only guard worth pursuing is Fred VanVleet, and it's likely the Raptors won't let them both go.
All of this makes Kuzma the most likely target at the moment, and even if he's only in the wake of a consolation bonus after the failed deal with Green, he's still an easier option to adapt overall, and he's more immediate to improve than Barnes. Given their recent history in free agency, he's likely to be the Kings' best offseason signing in decades.