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Kings May Be Next Spot For Rubio

August 16th, 2016 at 4:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Ricky Rubio will start the season with the Timberwolves, but may be in Sacramento before it ends, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News in Minneapolis. Speaking on an ESPN podcast, Wolfson said the Kings are a team to watch if Minnesota decides to part ways with the Spanish point guard. Trade speculation involving Rubio intensified when the Wolves drafted Kris Dunn of Providence with the No. 5 pick, after adding Tyus Jones through the draft last year. Rubio has three seasons and more than $42MM left on his contract. There has been talk that the Wolves and Kings might agree on a swap involving Rubio and swingman Rudy Gay.

  • Nuggets coach Michael Malone doesn’t admit to harboring bitterness over his firing by Sacramento, but USA Today’s A.J. Neuharth-Keusch writes that he has cut the Kings’ dominant color out of his wardrobe. “I have not [worn purple since the firing],” Malone said during an appearance on an ESPN podcast. “And what I really love about that is I haven’t, it’s my wife’s favorite color, she hasn’t, and my daughters haven’t. It’s almost become taboo, forbidden in our household.”
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Kings Notes: Gay, McLemore, Cousins, Casspi

August 13th, 2016 at 10:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat could be interested in a Rudy Gay trade if the Kings are willing to wait until after December 15th, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. That’s the date when the free agents that Miami added to its roster this offseason are eligible to be moved. Gay’s salary would require the Heat to send back about $13.3MM, which means point guard Goran Dragic would probably have to be included, and Miami doesn’t seem inclined to part with him. By waiting until mid-December, Winderman notes, the Heat will have a better feeling for how much Chris Bosh will be able to contribute and whether Justise Winslow will have to spend more time at power forward, which would create a greater need to have Gay on the roster.

There’s more tonight out of Sacramento:

  • The Kings almost certainly won’t negotiate a rookie contract extension with shooting guard Ben McLemore, contends Bobby Marks of The Vertical. McLemore, who was drafted in 2013, is the only Sacramento player eligible for the extension before this year’s October 31st deadline, but Marks says the Kings have been trying to trade him for more than a year. McLemore averaged 7.8 points in 68 games last season and will have a $1oMM cap hold next offseason.
  • DeMarcus Cousins will become eligible for a contract extension on September 30th, Marks notes in the same piece. The Kings’ all-star center still has two seasons and more than $35MM left on his current deal, but he can agree to an extension at the end of September because it will be three full years from his when the contract was signed. If he takes an extension, Cousins would be limited to 7.5% raises from his $18,063,850 salary in 2017/18, so it’s more likely that he waits for free agency.
  • Omri Casspi sees improved camaraderie as a key to ending Sacramento’s 10-year run of missing the playoffs, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Casspi is touring Israel this week with Gay and a group of former NBA players and celebrities. “We’ve added some good guys, some good quality players and quality individuals to our locker room, which is important, I think,” Casspi said. “The great teams in the NBA have great locker rooms.Just in general we need to start making strides, try to make the make playoffs. With a new coaching staff, we need to make a big stride forward.”
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Darren Collison's Court Date Pushed Back

August 13th, 2016 at 3:42pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kings point guard Darren Collison‘s court date regarding allegations of domestic violence has been pushed back to August 18th, James Ham of CSNBayArea.com relays (via Twitter). Collison was arrested in May after local deputies responded to a report from a woman who said she was being assaulted inside a Northern California home. It remains to be seen if the guard will face discipline from the league for the reported incident. The previous precedent established for what Collison and Sacramento could be facing was when Jeff Taylor pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor domestic assault charge back in 2014 and received a 24-game suspension from the NBA as a result.

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Ricky Ledo Will Play In Turkey

August 12th, 2016 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Former Mavericks and Knicks shooting guard Ricky Ledo, who spent last season in the D-League, will play in Turkey next season, according to Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. The announcement that he will join the Yesilgiresun franchise was made on social media this morning by Ledo’s agent, Misko Raznatovic (Twitter link).

The 23-year-old was waived by New York in July of 2015 and was picked up by the Reno Bighorns, Sacramento’s D-League affiliate. Ledo, who averaged 21.2 points per game, was a late addition to last season’s D-League All-Star Game. After the season ended, Ledo signed with Santeros de Aguada in Puerto Rico, where he spent two months before being waived.

Ledo was taken by the Bucks with the 43rd pick in the 2013 draft, but was traded to the Sixers and later the Mavericks. He played just 16 NBA games in nearly two seasons with Dallas, making frequent trips back and forth to the D-League. After the Mavericks waived him in February of 2015, he signed two 10-day contracts with the Knicks before inking a deal for the rest of the season. Ledo averaged 7.4 points in 12 games with New York.

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Kings Rumors: Gay, Koufos, Trades

August 10th, 2016 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams
  • The Kings have been active in exploring the trade market as they attempt to move players who may not be fit into the plan going forward, per Kyler. Rudy Gay has long been available, but despite receiving several inquires on the veteran forward – most notably from the Rockets, says Kyler – Sacramento has been having a hard time finding anything of real value in a trade. There’s a belief among some sources that the Kings won’t ask for a whole lot for Gay, and could move him before training camp, according to Kyler.
  • Kyler adds that the Kings are also believed to be looking into possible deals involving center Kosta Koufos, who signed with the team a year ago. Sacramento used several draft picks on frontcourt players, and wouldn’t mind turning Koufos into another piece, such as a backup point guard.

    [SOURCE LINK]
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Former King Donte Greene Attempting Comeback

August 10th, 2016 at 1:01pm CST by Luke Adams
  • Former Kings big man Donte Greene, a 2008 first-rounder who last played in 2012, is still hoping to get one more shot at an NBA roster, writes Brian Rzeppa of D-League Digest. Greene describes himself as “hungry as ever” as he attempts to get back on the radar of NBA teams. “I’m just older, more mature and smarter,” Greene said. “I was young in Sacramento and I was kind of in college mode with partying and it hurt me, it hurt my reputation in the NBA and I haven’t had the chance to show that I’m older now and more focused and know what it takes to succeed not only in basketball but in life.”
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Rudy Gay Likes Miami

August 7th, 2016 at 10:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat are among the preferred destinations for Kings small forward Rudy Gay, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Gay, who can opt out of his current deal next summer, denies asking Sacramento to trade him, but he made comments last month that show a clear unhappiness with the direction the team is taking. While it’s understandable why he might prefer Miami, the Heat are low on tradable assets after a flurry of moves this summer. The free agents the team added this summer are not eligible to be traded until December 15th.

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Tolliver Hopes To Mentor Cousins

August 6th, 2016 at 5:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito
  • Anthony Tolliver, who inked a two-year deal with the Kings this offseason, hopes he can help mentor DeMarcus Cousins as well as produce on the court this season, Dan Lovi of NBA.com relays. “He has all the talent in the world,” Tolliver said of Cousins. “He’s phenomenal, especially on the offensive end, but I really feel like he can improve. Hopefully I help him become better.”
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Free Agent Spending By Division: Pacific

August 4th, 2016 at 2:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Over the course of the last week, we’ve been breaking down 2016 NBA free agent spending by division, examining which teams – and divisions – were the most active this summer.

These divisional breakdowns won’t present a full picture of teams’ offseason spending. Some notable free agents, including LeBron James, remain unsigned, so there’s still money out there to be spent. Our lists also don’t include money spent on this year’s first- and second-round picks or draft-and-stash signings. There are a few free agent names missing in some instances as well, since those deals aren’t yet official or terms haven’t been reported.

Still, these closer looks at divisional spending should generally reveal how teams invested their money in free agency this summer, identifying which clubs went all-out and which ones played it safe.

With the help of our Free Agent Tracker and contract info from Basketball Insiders, we’ll focus today on the Pacific division. Let’s dive in…

1. Los Angeles Lakers

  • Total money committed: $186,000,000
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $186,000,000
  • Largest expenditure: Luol Deng (four years, $72,000,000)
  • Other notable signings:
  • Notes:
    • The Lakers have yet to finalize long-ago reported deals for Tarik Black and Marcelo Huertas. Based on estimated values for those contracts, they’ll likely total about $16MM+ combined, but we haven’t included them in the team’s totals for now.

2. Los Angeles Clippers

  • Total money committed: $105,428,788
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $93,928,788
  • Largest expenditure: Jamal Crawford (three years, $42,000,000)
  • Other notable signings:
  • Notes:
    • Raymond Felton ($1,551,659), Brandon Bass ($1,551,659), and Alan Anderson ($1,315,448) will be paid $980,431 apiece by the Clippers, with the NBA on the hook for the rest of their minimum salaries.
    • Crawford’s $14.5MM third-year salary is only guaranteed for $3MM, creating the gap between the Clippers’ total money and guaranteed money committed.

3. Sacramento Kings

  • Total money committed: $77,525,625
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $60,525,625
  • Largest expenditure: Arron Afflalo (two years, $25,000,000)
  • Other notable signings:
  • Notes:
    • Afflalo and Tolliver only have small partial guarantees in the second years of their respective contracts. $1.5MM of Afflalo’s $12.5MM second-year salary is guaranteed, while $2MM of Tolliver’s $8MM second-year salary is guaranteed.

4. Golden State Warriors

  • Total money committed: $61,094,229
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $61,094,229
  • Largest expenditure: Kevin Durant (two years, $54,274,505)
  • Other notable signings:
  • Notes:
    • The reported deals for JaVale McGee and Elliot Williams aren’t yet official and exact details on those contracts aren’t known, so they haven’t been included here.
    • West ($1,551,659), Varejao ($1,551,659), and Ian Clark ($1,015,696) will be paid $980,431 apiece by the Warriors, with the NBA on the hook for the rest of their minimum salaries.

5. Phoenix Suns

  • Total money committed: $38,000,000
  • Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $34,500,000
  • Largest expenditure: Jared Dudley (three years, $30,000,000)
  • Other notable signings:
  • Notes:
    • The second year of Barbosa’s deal, worth $4MM, is only guaranteed for $500K, creating the gap between the Suns’ total money and guaranteed money committed.

Previously:
Southwest
Southeast
Northwest
Atlantic

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Rudy Gay, Vlade Divac Discuss Gay's Situation

July 29th, 2016 at 8:58am CST by Luke Adams

Rudy Gay made some comments earlier this week that made NBA observers raise an eyebrow, as he complained about the lack of stability and consistency in Sacramento and admitted that he hadn’t even been following the Kings‘ offseason moves. Gay has since followed up on those comments, so let’s dive into a Friday morning round-up of Pacific notes for the latest on Gay and a couple other players…

  • According to Sean Cunningham of ABC10, Gay said that he spoke to Kings GM Vlade Divac this week. And while Gay acknowledged that things haven’t necessarily changed since Monday, he expressed some optimism about his situation going forward, whether that’s in Sacramento or somewhere else. “At this point in my career I just want to be happy,” Gay said. “I talked to Vlade and we’re trying to make that happen.”
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