2015/16 Roster Counts: Sacramento Kings
During the offseason it’s OK for teams to carry as many as 20 players, but clubs must trim their rosters down to a maximum of 15 by opening night. In the meantime, some teams will hang around that 15-man line, while others will max out their roster counts. Some clubs may actually have more than 15 contracts that are at least partially guaranteed on the books. That means they’ll end up paying players who won’t be on the regular season roster, unless they can find trade partners.
With plenty more movement still to come, here’s the latest look at the Kings’ roster size, the contract guarantee status of each player, and how each player came to be on Sacramento’s roster.
(Last Updated 1-7-16, 5:00pm)
Fully Guaranteed (15)
- Quincy Acy (F) — 6’7″/24 years old. Free agent signing.
- James Anderson (G/F) — 6’6″/26 years old. Free agent signing.
- Marco Belinelli (G) — 6’5″/29 years old. Free agent signing.
- Caron Butler (F) — 6’7″/35 years old. Free agent signing.
- Omri Casspi (F) — 6’9″/27 years old. Free agent signing.
- Willie Cauley-Stein (C) — 7’0″/21 years old. Drafted with No. 6 overall pick in 2015.
- Darren Collison (G) — 6’0″/27 years old. Free agent signing.
- DeMarcus Cousins (C) — 6’11″/24 years old. Drafted with No. 5 overall pick in 2010.
- Seth Curry (G) — 6’2″/24 years old. Free agent signing.
- Duje Dukan (F) — 6’10″/23 years old. Free agent signing.
- Rudy Gay (F) — 6’8″/28 years old. Acquired via trade from Raptors.
- Kosta Koufos (C) — 7’0″/26 years old. Free agent signing.
- Ben McLemore (G) — 6’5″/22 years old. Drafted with No. 7 overall pick in 2013.
- Eric Moreland (F) — 6’10″/23 years old. Free agent signing.
- Rajon Rondo (G) — 6’1″/29 years old. Free agent signing.
10-Day Contracts (0)
- None
TOTAL ROSTER COUNT (15)
Western Notes: Durant, Matthews, Hamilton
Executives from around the league seem to think that Kevin Durant will end up re-signing with the Thunder next year, but the Wizards, Mavericks, Lakers, Heat, Knicks and Nets are expected to be among his most dogged suitors, writes Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. Damion James, a Wizards summer-leaguer whom Castillo describes as Durant’s best friend, says it’ll come down to wins and losses.
“He’ll do whatever it takes to win. Whoever gives him the best chance to win is where he’s going to end up,” James said.
The Thunder certainly seem to have kept themselves in the discussion on that front, having just paid the max to avoid losing Enes Kanter. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- No contract handed out this summer has seemed to draw as many surprised reactions for its munificence as the one Wesley Matthews ended up with from the Mavericks, observes Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. The shooting guard was going to make $57MM over four years with the Mavs before they bumped his deal up to the maximum of $70,060,025, notes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. “A healthy Wesley Matthews at $70MM is insane,” one GM told Bulpett. “But Wesley Matthews coming off Achilles’ surgery at $70MM? What’s a stronger way to say insane?”
- Justin Hamilton is close to a deal with Valencia of Spain, according to Paco Garcia Caridad of the Spanish outlet Marca (Twitter link; translation via Trapani). Hamilton, who went to the Finals with the Heat in 2013/14, finished this past season as a member of the Timberwolves.
- Miroslav Raduljica has agreed to sign with Panathinaikos of Greece, reports Sportando’s Enea Trapani. The Kings reportedly had interest in the big man who was briefly with the Wolves this past season. The team was reportedly close to a deal with Nikola Milutinov, whom the Spurs drafted 26th overall, but now the status of negotiations with Milutinov is unclear. Regardless, the Spurs have already filed paperwork with the league saying they won’t sign Milutinov this year, thus clearing his cap hold.
Kings Rumors: Rondo, Cousins, Mbah a Moute
Rajon Rondo had wanted to play with DeMarcus Cousins for a while, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders, who hears from the point guard about just how enticing the chance to play with his fellow former Kentucky Wildcat is.
“What made me comfortable is them having the best big man in the game,” Rondo said of Cousins. “It was a pretty easy decision. I think he’s definitely an MVP candidate and I look forward to playing with him and helping him grow as a player.”
Of course, plenty of rumors suggest Cousins isn’t long for Sacramento, but Rondo told Kennedy that he thinks much of the reported acrimony between Cousins and coach George Karl has been overblown. Rondo had plenty of kind words for the Mavericks despite his turmoil in Dallas, but he makes it clear he’s excited about Sacramento. There’s more on Rondo amid the latest from the California capital:
- Rondo’s one-year contract with the Kings is worth $9.5MM, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- Michael Malone said he felt “awful” for Tyrone Corbin, who guided a struggling Kings team after Sacramento fired Malone as coach in December last year, but the new Nuggets coach also told Grantland’s Zach Lowe that the Kings’ losing ways under Corbin “validated the job that my staff and I did.”
- Malone also dished to Lowe on his relationship with Cousins. “That relationship was constant work. Constant. But we came to a deep respect,” Malone said in part.
- The Kings had signed Luc Mbah a Moute for $1.55MM, an above-minimum salary, before voiding his contract Thursday because he failed his physical, Pincus tweets.
- Kings coach George Karl said he and management wanted to re-sign Derrick Williams but simply couldn’t afford him, as the coach tells Marc Berman of the New York Post. A source close to Karl who spoke to Berman nonetheless impugned Williams’ basketball IQ and said Karl tore into the forward on one occasion for his lack of rebounding. Williams left for a two-year, $8.8MM deal with the Knicks. “It was more of fitting the finances and making the finances work,’’ Karl said. “There are other pieces we wanted and we couldn’t have enough money for him.’’
Rockets, Pistons, Lakers Interested In Ty Lawson
The Rockets, Pistons and Lakers are among the teams that have expressed interest in Ty Lawson lately, league sources told Chris Mannix of SI.com, who suggests that their interest persists in spite of Lawson’s arrest on suspicion of DUI this week. The possibility that the Nuggets trade Lawson this offseason remains strong, Mannix adds. The point guard’s talent continues to hold intrigue to teams around the league, as Mannix explains.
The news is nonetheless surprising, and conflicts with a report from earlier this week indicating that teams were showing little interest, at best, in Lawson even before the arrest, which was his second DUI-related arrest in six months. Denver was asking for a first-round pick and a young player in talks, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports wrote in that dispatch, while Yahoo Sports colleague Adrian Wojnarowski heard that teams had been waiting, prior to the arrest, for the Nuggets to lower their price for Lawson.
A league source tells Mannix that Kings coach George Karl would welcome Lawson in Sacramento, echoing just what a person familiar with Karl’s thinking told Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck in February. Still, Lawson’s off-court issues were a significant reason why the Kings weren’t willing to give the Nuggets the No. 6 pick when they spoke with Denver about Lawson before the draft.
Lawson’s troubles extend beyond his legal woes. He was late reporting back to the Nuggets after the All-Star break, and GM Tim Connelly publicly implored him to “grow up.” The Nuggets used their first-rounder, at No. 7, on point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, a move that prompted an incredulous reaction from Lawson when he was watching on television.
The Nuggets are set to pay Lawson more than $12.404MM this season and more than $13.213MM in 2016/17, though Mannix suggests he’s more of a bargain than those figures may indicate, given the escalating salary cap. Still, he’d be an awkward fit in Detroit, where the Pistons just made a lucrative commitment to Reggie Jackson and traded this week for backup point guard Steve Blake. Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press surmises that if Detroit had interest, that’s probably no longer the case (Twitter link). The Lakers drafted point guard D’Angelo Russell No. 2 overall last month, so there’s little logic behind a Lawson pursuit on their account, either. The Rockets just re-signed Patrick Beverley, though his deal is worth just $23MM over four years.
Kings Void Luc Mbah a Moute Contract
The Kings have voided their signing of Luc Mbah a Moute after the forward failed his physical, the team announced. Bill Herenda of CSN California reported the news minutes earlier (Twitter link). It was reportedly a one-year deal for the Darren Matsubara client who returns to free agency. It’s unclear what specific ailment, if any, was identified during his exam.
Sacramento officially announced the deal Tuesday, but physicals commonly take place after players put pen to paper. It’s not unprecedented for contracts to fall apart because of an issue discovered during the exam, and it happened with the Mavs and Rashard Lewis last year. Lewis has yet to sign another NBA deal, but it remains to be seen how serious Mbah a Moute’s trouble is.
The team doesn’t owe Mbah a Moute his salary, but the voided contract nonetheless has a ripple effect. Sacramento also officially announced its signing of Omri Casspi on Tuesday, and according to former Nets GM Bobby Marks, the Kings intended to use the $2.814MM room exception for him. Instead, he falls into the cap space that Mbah a Moute occupied, since the room exception isn’t available to teams that haven’t yet used all of their cap space (Twitter links). The Kings have reportedly committed to sign Caron Butler to a deal that will extinguish their remaining cap room, but they haven’t formally signed him yet, Marks notes (Twitter link).
Kings Sign James Anderson
JULY 16TH. 2:01pm: The deal is official, the team announced (on Twitter).
JULY 2ND, 12:08pm: The Kings and James Anderson have agreed on a multiyear deal, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Anderson, a former 20th overall pick, spent last season with Zalgiris of Lithuania after he was the starting shooting guard for the Sixers in 2013/14.
Anderson averaged 13.7 points in 25.2 minutes per game overseas this past season, numbers apparently strong enough to keep him on the NBA radar. His original deal with Zalgiris included an NBA out clause, but he chose not to exercise it in exchange for a raise.
It’s unclear what the Andy Miller client will make with the Kings, but following their agreement to trade three players to Philadelphia in a cap-clearing deal, Sacramento has plenty of latitude to exceed the minimum.
Kings Sign Willie Cauley-Stein
The Kings have signed No. 6 overall pick Willie Cauley-Stein to his rookie scale contract, the team announced (on Twitter). Agent Rich Kleiman told the news to Sam Amick of USA Today earlier today, before the team acknowledged it (Twitter link). The center from Kentucky will see a salary of more than $3.398MM this season and make in excess of $15.35MM over the life of the four-year pact, assuming he signed for the standard 120% of the rookie scale.
Cauley-Stein is an elite defender, though his 7’1″, 242-pound body could use more bulk, and he doesn’t rebound as well as he should, as Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors points out in his prospect profile. Still, he was no real stretch at the sixth pick, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranked him No. 6 among this year’s prospects and Chad Ford of ESPN.com had him eighth. Our Eddie Scarito had him a touch lower, at No. 11, in the final Hoops Rumors Mock Draft this year.
The 21-year-old big man, who turns 22 in August, stayed at Kentucky for three years, a rarity for such a heralded NBA prospect. He’s averaged 11.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and an impressive 2.8 blocks in 20.0 minutes per game so far in summer league play. Cauley-Stein took part in summer league play without a signed contract to let the Kings make the most of their cap space. Now that he’s signed, his cap hold goes up by about $600K, signaling that Sacramento is likely done with significant free agent additions this summer.
Pacific Notes: Lakers, Karl, Cousins, Dawson
The Lakers have seemed to lag behind in the adoption of advanced metrics, so they’re creating a new front office position designed to serve as a liaison between the coaching staff and number crunchers in management, as Bill Oram of the Orange County Register details. Assistant coach Clay Moser is expected to transition into that role, Oram reports, noting that the Lakers underwhelmed LaMarcus Aldridge with the basketball side of their presentation while he was reportedly “floored in a good way” by the Rockets’ analytics and on-court projections. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- George Karl was known to have reached out to DeMarcus Cousins on several occasions over the past few months, but before their brief encounter at summer league this week, Karl hadn’t spoken with him for quite some time, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. Still, Kings vice president of basketball and franchise operations Vlade Divac wants everyone on the same page by training camp, and the plan is for Karl and Cousins to have a more extensive face-to-face meeting before that, as Amick details.
- Kings management won’t let Karl hire son Coby Karl as an assistant coach, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times hears (Twitter link).
- The Clippers are in line to save money on No. 56 pick Branden Dawson even though they gave up $630K to trade for his rights, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks observes (Twitter links). He’ll make the rookie minimum salary of $525,093 this season, but if the Clips had instead signed an undrafted free agent for the minimum, it would have counted as $947,276 for luxury tax purposes, as Marks points out, adding that the Clippers are in line to pay about $1MM less in tax penalties as a result.
Western Notes: Cousins, Levien, Montero
Kings coach George Karl admits talking hypothetical DeMarcus Cousins trades “behind closed doors,” but Karl tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that he rejects the notion that he was actively trying to trade the center. “As a coach, in meetings every year and maybe four or five times a year, you talk about what-ifs,” Karl said. “And 99% of what-ifs never happen. But isn’t it our job to talk about what-ifs? Does this make us better? Does this get us in a better place? That’s our job. There was never a discussion in that area even close to happening, in my opinion. … Never in the whole time of this experience did I ever think that I wasn’t going to coach Cuz.”
Here’s what else is happening around the Western Conference:
- Jason Levien has become an unofficial adviser to Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com tweets. Levien was formerly the CEO of the Grizzlies, as well as a former Sacramento assistant GM, Howard-Cooper notes.
- The Wolves were able to create a traded player exception worth $5MM as a result of dealing Chase Budinger to the Pacers, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes (Twitter link).
- Danny Green said that LaMarcus Aldridge contacted him during the free agent process to pick his brain about the Spurs, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express News tweets. Green also noted that the possibility of playing alongside Aldridge factored heavily into his decision to re-sign with the Spurs, McDonald adds.
- The Trail Blazers‘ deal with Luis Montero is a three year arrangement with the first season partially guaranteed, according to former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter links).
- The Thunder have removed forward Steve Novak from the trading block, Chris Mannix of SI.com relays. OKC was reportedly seeking financial relief and was willing to flip Novak in exchange for a future draft pick.
- Wilson Chandler‘s contract renegotiation and extension with the Nuggets will pay him $10.4MM in 2015/16, $11.2MM for 2016/17, $12.0MM in 2017/18, and $12.8MM during the final season, Pincus notes (Twitter links).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Pacific Notes: Suns, Young, Karl
The Suns have an outmoded local TV deal that squeezes their revenue, and they struggle to draw when they don’t make the playoffs, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports, suggesting that’s behind owner Robert Sarver’s aggressive push to get the team back to the postseason. Phoenix came up short in its strong pursuit of LaMarcus Aldridge, but Sarver insists to Lowe that the Tyson Chandler deal wasn’t made solely in an effort to woo Aldridge. The cap-clearing Marcus Morris trade was a signal of the team’s interest in Aldridge, but Phoenix also made it out of a desire to open playing time for other wing players, T.J. Warren in particular, Lowe writes.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Lakers swingman Nick Young has been the subject of trade rumors this offseason, but the team currently has no plans to deal the scorer, Bill Oram of The Orange County Register tweets. According to Oram, the Lakers had shopped Young in an effort to clear some quick cap room, but no enticing offers materialized.
- Despite the rocky start to their relationship, Kings coach George Karl believes he and center DeMarcus Cousins can coexist in Sacramento, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports relays. “I just said hello to him this afternoon,” Karl told Spears. “I don’t think it’s something we have to rush through. You got two guys that are very frustrated with losing, two guys that are somewhat stubborn and two guys that love to compete. Sometimes, that doesn’t work the first time you hang around. But you have to take your time to make it work. I’m very confident to make it work.“
- During his offseason dealings, Kings vice president of basketball and franchise operations Vlade Divac tried to sell players on the changing culture of the Sacramento organization, Spears adds. When asked what his sales pitch was to free agents, Divac said, “We are changing the culture and we want to make a team that’s going to have the same energy that we had during my time because Sacramento needs that. They believe in it and I believe it. We really put good talent over there and now it’s up to Coach to put it together.“
- Rajon Rondo believes that he can rebuild his free agent value this season with the Kings, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. “I’ve been faced with challenges my whole life,” said Rondo. “A lot of people didn’t expect me to come this far in the NBA. I have no doubts about what my talents can do and what I can bring to the team and I’m looking forward to putting my work in and getting the job done.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.