Sacramento Kings Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Splitter, St. Andrews, Crawford Join Blazers’ Coaching Staff

June 11th, 2025 at 3:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Trail Blazers have officially named Tiago Splitter, Patrick St. Andrews and Quinton Crawford as assistants on Chauncey Billups’ staff, the team announced today in a press release.

Splitter joins the Trail Blazers after leading the Paris Basketball Club to a French Basketball Cup championship and into the EuroLeague playoffs as the team’s head coach. Previously, Splitter served as an assistant coach for the Rockets during the 2023/24 season and spent the five seasons prior with the Nets.

St. Andrews has been an assistant coach with the Grizzlies for the last two seasons. Prior to arriving in Memphis, St. Andrews spent five seasons on the Bucks’ staff.

Crawford comes to Portland after leading the NBA G League Stockton Kings to a championship in his first season as their head coach. He was an assistant with the Suns in 2023/24 after spending one season with the Mavericks and three seasons with the Lakers.

News that Splitter and St. Andrews were joining the staff broke over the weekend, while Crawford’s agreement with the team was first reported in May.

Additionally, Leron Black has been hired as a player development coach. Black has served as an assistant coach and director of video for the Rip City Remix, Portland’s G League affiliate.

Mark Tyndale will not be retained on Billups’ staff, according to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian.

Knicks Haven’t Requested Permission To Negotiate With Kidd

June 10th, 2025 at 7:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

All signs are pointing toward Jason Kidd remaining the head coach of the Mavericks.

According to Christian Clark and Sam Amick of The Athletic, the Mavericks continue to privately insist to what they described as “key stakeholders” that Kidd won’t be going anywhere. Speculation has run rampant since it was reported on Monday by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst that there was “mutual intrigue” between Kidd and the Knicks, who recently fired Tom Thibodeau.

Citing a team source, The Athletic duo reports the Knicks had yet to request permission to speak with Kidd as of Tuesday afternoon. Similarly, Mike Curtis of the Dallas Morning News heard the same thing from a “person with knowledge of the situation.”

Curtis added that two people within the Mavericks organization told him they’re skeptical the Knicks will even make the request. Curtis notes that the Knicks would need to compensate the Mavs in order to hire Kidd, who signed a contract extension last offseason. That would likely require draft capital that the Knicks — who traded numerous picks to acquire Mikal Bridges — lack, as well as possible cash considerations.

If the Knicks do ask permission to talk to Kidd, it’s expected the Mavericks will decline, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.

The Athletic indicates that there’s a widely held belief is that Kidd is hoping to parlay the Knicks’ interest into another lucrative contract extension with the Mavs. His current deal covers the next two seasons. If that extension isn’t offered, it’s possible that Kidd might want to head to New York.

However, Jay Triano agreed to terms on an assistant coaching job with the Mavericks on Tuesday after assurances from Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison that Kidd would remain the head coach. The Stein Line reported over the weekend that the Mavs and Triano, the former head coach of the Suns and Raptors, were finalizing an agreement. Triano spent the last three seasons as a Kings assistant.

Western Notes: Kidd, Blazers, Kings, Nelson, Nuggets

June 10th, 2025 at 5:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Letting Jason Kidd go to the Knicks would be a terrible outcome for the Mavericks, according to Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News. There’s reportedly mutual interest between Kidd and the Knicks.

Under Kidd, Dallas has won five playoff series in four seasons. Cowlishaw also notes that Kyrie Irving likes Kidd and believes in him. In Cowlishaw’s viewpoint, the only way general manager Nico Harrison‘s vision for the current group will work is dependent on Anthony Davis staying healthy and Irving getting healthy and remaining happy. If Cooper Flagg then plays up to his draft status, the Mavs have a chance to secure a title in 2026/27 before the window of opportunity runs out for their aging stars.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Arthur Kaluma (Texas), Gabe Madsen (Utah), Chibuzo Agbo (USC), Alex Toohey (Sydney Kings), Jahmai Mashack (Tennessee) and Dylan Cardwell (Auburn) worked out for the Trail Blazers on Tuesday, Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report tweets. Toohey is the biggest name in the group, as the Australian forward is ranked No. 36 on ESPN’s Best Available list.
Jeremy Roach (Baylor), Caleb Love (Arizona), Jaxson Robinson (Kentucky), John Tonje (Wisconsin), Great Osobor (Washington), CJ Huntley (Appalachian State) will work out for the Kings on Wednesday, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee tweets. That group is headed by Tonje (19.6 PPG with the Badgers last season), a high-scoring guard who is ranked No. 42 by ESPN.
Grant Nelson (Alabama) is expected to reschedule a workout with the Jazz, Brian Lewis of the New York Post tweets. Nelson, who worked out for the Nets on Tuesday, is currently rated 65th by ESPN.
Though the Nuggets took the Thunder to a Game 7 in these playoffs, they can’t afford to run it back with the same group, Sean Keeler of the Denver Post opines. The bench is in serious need of upgrades, Keeler argues, as the Nuggets basically went six deep this season and that forced the starters to empty their tanks.

Kings Reportedly Have Interest In Darius Garland

June 10th, 2025 at 9:21am CST by Luke Adams

The Kings, who are in the market for a point guard after trading De’Aaron Fox to San Antonio in February, have interest in Darius Garland and consider the Cavaliers guard a possible trade target, league sources tell Grant Afseth of RG.org.

Following the deadline deal that sent Fox to the Spurs, the Kings leaned more heavily on shooting guards and forwards like Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Malik Monk for ball-handling responsibilities, with reserve point guards like Devin Carter and Markelle Fultz playing limited roles.

Bolstering the point guard spot will be a priority for Sacramento this offseason, as new head of basketball operations Scott Perry acknowledged earlier this spring. Tyus Jones is among the free agents believed to be on the Kings’ radar, but the trade market would give the front office more avenues to acquire an impact player at the position.

Multiple reports since the Cavs’ season ended have indicated that Cleveland appears to be more willing than in the past to entertain the idea of trading Garland this offseason. However, the 25-year-old underwent toe surgery on Monday and is expected to miss some time at the start of next season.

For the Cavs, finding a Garland trade that improves their roster – or at least doesn’t hurt it – while creating a more favorable cap situation going forward was always going to be difficult. His recovery from surgery will make that task even more challenging, since potential trade partners are unlikely to value him quite as highly until he’s back to 100%.

League sources tell RG.org that the Kings and Hawks have also had a conversation about what a Trae Young trade might look like, but those talks didn’t advance. Afseth describes the discussions as “due diligence” from Atlanta’s side and suggests that Perry wasn’t especially enthusiastic about the construct of the deal.

While Young has some fans in Sacramento’s front office, Afseth writes, the team is thought to prefer Garland over the Hawks star, at least prior to Garland’s surgery.

Western Notes: Gafford, Lakers, Kings, Jazz

June 9th, 2025 at 8:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks big man Daniel Gafford would be a good trade target for the Lakers but they’d probably have to overpay to get him, Jovan Buha of The Athletic stated on his Buha’s Block podcast (YouTube link; hat tip to BasketNews.com).

Buha speculated that it would require a package of Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht and a first-round pick to get Dallas’ attention. Gafford will make $14.4MM in the final year of his contract next season, making him a prime trade candidate on a team with frontcourt depth.

We have more from the Western Conference:

Camryn Carter (LSU), Tyrese Proctor (Duke). TJ Bamba (Oregon), Jahmai Mashack (Tennessee), Alex Toohey (Sydney) and Mohamed Diawara (Cholet) worked out for the Kings on Monday, James Ham of The Kings Beat tweets. Toohey, a forward, is rated No. 36 overall by ESPN and Proctor is No. 43 on their Best Available list.
The Jazz are promoting Marquis Newman to director of pro scouting and Katie Benzan to general manager of the NBA G League’s Salt Lake City Stars, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. Newman has spent 11 years with the Jazz. Benzan, who was hired by Utah in 2022, will become the second current female GM in the G League.
There’s hope for the Jazz if they take their cue from the Pacers and Thunder, Gordon Monson of the Salt Lake Tribune opines. They should study how these teams were built and developed and their style of play, Monson writes, to establish a blueprint for another small-market franchise like the Jazz.

Southeast Notes: Magic, Jaquez, Battier, Hornets

June 9th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

The Magic may be in the market for a play-making guard this summer, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line suggests in a Substack column (subscription required). Fischer reports that Orlando had “real interest” in De’Aaron Fox before Sacramento agreed to trade him to San Antonio in February, although there were never substantial conversations about Fox between the Magic and Kings. Fischer also states that Orlando looked at Malik Monk before he re-signed with Sacramento last summer.

A report emerged over the weekend that the Cavaliers are listening to offers for Darius Garland. However, sources tell Fischer that Cleveland and Orlando haven’t seriously discussed Garland, and the Cavs would be reluctant to help an Eastern Conference rival. Fischer mentions Celtics guard Jrue Holiday as a possibility, along with Fred VanVleet, although he hears that the Rockets intend to keep him on their roster for next season.

Fischer also raises the possibility that the Magic could make smaller trades and decline whatever options are necessary to qualify for the $14.1MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception. That could be used to pursue Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, whom Orlando has been identified as a potential suitor for.

In addition, Fischer lists the Magic as a team that could try to move up in the draft for a late lottery selection. Orlando holds picks No. 16 and 25 and already has 15 players on standard contracts for next season, although that could change by declining team options on Moritz Wagner ($11MM) and Gary Harris ($7.5MM).

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Second-year Heat forward Jaime Jaquez got a taste of the NBA Finals on Sunday while working as a media member for the league’s digital and social media outlets under the Player Correspondent Program, per Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. “I’m thinking I want to be here, but not as a correspondent,” Jaquez said during a media event. “That’s what I’m thinking, as a player.”
Former Heat player and executive Shane Battier addressed the end of his playing career and a number of other topics in an appearance on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, relays Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Battier, 46, left the team in 2021 to pursue other interests. “My last year (as a player), when I was told without being told that our best chance of winning doesn’t include you Shane,” Battier recalled. “When (coach Erik Spoelstra) started to sit me in the fourth quarter, nothing was worse to me than sitting me in crunch time because that was my identity.”
Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer examines recent No. 4 picks to get an idea of what the Hornets can expect with that selection in this year’s draft.

Pacers Notes: Haliburton, Hanlen, Siakam, Trade Deadline

June 7th, 2025 at 5:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

If the Kings had been more patient, maybe Tyrese Haliburton would be nailing clutch shots while leading them on an inspiring run to the NBA Finals. Instead, he was sent to the Pacers in a blockbuster six-player deal at the 2022 trade deadline. As Sam Amick of The Athletic notes, the trade originally appeared to be a good move for both teams, but Haliburton’s emergence into stardom has made it more one-sided.

Sources tell Amick that Sacramento knew it couldn’t keep both Haliburton and fellow point guard De’Aaron Fox, but Fox’s trade value was at a low point in 2022. The front office explored deals involving Fox, who had recently signed a five-year, $160MM contract, but couldn’t find a worthwhile return.

Amick’s sources say the Kings had discussions with Indiana about both guards, but believed they could make a much better deal by parting with Haliburton. Rick Carlisle was in his first season as the Pacers’ head coach and was looking for a point guard he could trust to run his up-tempo offense.

“Our team was kind of at a crossroads,” general manager Chad Buchanan recalled. “We didn’t really have a guy, like a young player, that you could really build around. … So we tried to target some young guards, play-making guards around the league that we thought maybe fit the bill. They’re very hard to acquire, obviously. We felt like Tyrese, with the way Rick wanted to play, and how we want to build a team in the modern NBA — playing faster, playing a little more random. Tyrese was one of the ideal targets to try to build that type of system around. That’s what coach Carlisle values, and has developed his philosophy (around) over the years and where we’re at today. It was just a great fit from that standpoint.”

There’s more on the Pacers:

A meeting with trainer Drew Hanlen shortly before the trade to Indiana changed Haliburton’s approach to the game, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Hanlen challenged him to look for his own shot and stop deferring to teammates so much. “The big quote that we always say is, ‘Sometimes being too unselfish is actually being selfish,'” Hanlen said. “When he’s unselfish, it actually negatively impacts his teammates’ success and negatively impacts his team’s success. The more aggressive he is, the more his team wins.” Shelburne adds that Hanlen had been watching tape of Haliburton prior to their meeting because he was also working with Joel Embiid, and the Sixers were involved in discussions with the Kings on a deal that would have involved Haliburton and Ben Simmons.
Pacers players are brimming with confidence after their improbable comeback in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, writes Jordan Davis of The Oklahoman. Indiana pulled out the victory despite committing 19 turnovers in the first half and trailing by double digits for much of the game. “We didn’t even play well,” Pascal Siakam said in an exchange with Haliburton as they walked to the locker room after the final buzzer (Twitter video link from ESPN).
The Pacers chose to stand pat at the trade deadline because they believed in the roster they had assembled, per Fred Katz of The Athletic. Even though there are looming financial issues for 2025/26 and three Eastern Conference teams appeared to be clearly ahead of them, Indiana’s front office didn’t search the market for a deal to cut salary or drastically change the roster.

Part Ways With Veteran Scouts, Bring Back Assistant Coach

June 7th, 2025 at 12:32pm CST by Rory Maher

The Kings have parted ways with veteran scouts Scott Layden and Greg Stratton, sources tell Sean Cunningham of NBC Sacramento (Twitter link). Layden, formerly the top basketball executive of Utah, New York and Minnesota, had been with the Kings since 2022, while Stratton was hired in 2018. The Kings are also bringing back Garrius Adams as a player development assistant under head coach Doug Christie, Cunningham reports (via Twitter). Adams, who worked in Sacramento from 2021-23, has been on Willie Green‘s staff in New Orleans the past two seasons.

Kings’ Jake LaRavia Discusses Free Agency, Memphis, More

June 5th, 2025 at 12:10pm CST by Rory Maher

Kings forward Jake LaRavia will be an unrestricted free agent this summer after having his fourth-year team option for 2025/26 — worth $5,163,127 — declined by Memphis last fall. The Grizzlies subsequently traded him to the Kings in February, and Sacramento will not be able to offer him a starting salary that exceeds the declined option.

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who recently interviewed LaRavia over the phone, several teams are expected to register interest in the 23-year-old when he hits the open market at the end of this month.

Here are a few highlights from Scotto’s conversation with LaRavia.

On what he’s looking for in free agency:

“The biggest thing, like scratch the money part, I want what everyone else wants, which is being on a team that’s really competing for a championship or a young up-and-coming team that’s ready to win. I love to compete. It’s one of the biggest reasons I enjoy playing basketball. You’re competing against the highest level of talent when you’re playing in a league.

“So being on a team that is competing for a championship and that needs a guy like me, a wing that plays both sides of the ball. I’m a defender who can shoot the three and can make plays. I do a little bit of everything. I’d love to see my role expand as I get more and more years in the league.”

On if he’s open to signing with a new team:

“Yeah, options are definitely open. It’s not like I have my mind set on one place. I’ve seen plenty of cases where it’s hard to turn down money at the end of the day. It’s a business.”

LaRavia says he quickly built a strong relationship with Doug Christie, who was Sacramento’s interim coach at the time but has since been named the team’s permanent head coach. Will Christie’s promotion impact LaRavia’s free agency?

“Yeah, for sure. I loved him being the interim head coach. I even told him in the interview that if you’re not hired, odds are I’m probably not going to re-sign Sacramento, but if you are, there would be more of a chance for me to go back to Sacramento. When I found out the news, I congratulated him. I’d love to play for Doug Christie.”

LaRavia’s reaction to Grizzlies executive vice president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman saying he made a mistake by declining LaRavia’s option and that the former first-round pick could’ve helped Memphis down the stretch:

“(Agent) Aaron (Reilly) sent that to me when it happened, and my fiancé sent that to me. I was appreciative that he said that. You don’t really see an executive make that kind of remark, so it shows the respect that he had for me and the relationship that we had. It means a lot for a GM to say something like that.”

LaRavia also discussed what he’s focused on improving this summer, his efficient third season, his time with Memphis, the Kings and their roster, what he brings to the table for a team, and more. The full interview with Scotto can be found right here.

Scotto’s Latest: Porzingis, Celtics, Reid, NAW, Magic, Kings

June 4th, 2025 at 8:12am CST by Luke Adams

Executives around the NBA generally view Kristaps Porzingis as the Celtics‘ top trade candidate this offseason as the team looks to reduce its salary, says Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Porzingis has played a limited role during Boston’s last two playoff runs due to health issues and will be on an expiring $30.7MM contract in 2025/26.

However, the general consensus is that the Celtics won’t be looking to trade just one highly paid player.

“Boston needs to get off two big salaries at least, or they’ll have massive tax implications,” one NBA executive told HoopsHype. “(Jayson) Tatum‘s injury lets them use next year as a gap year to audition other players or young guys.”

While Derrick White has drawn consistent interest from teams across the league, per Scotto, the Celtics have always rebuffed those inquiries in the past and would presumably be more inclined to shop Jrue Holiday if they move off one of their veteran guards.

Reserve wing Sam Hauser is also considered a trade candidate by rival NBA executives, according to Scotto, who notes that 2024 first-rounder Baylor Scheierman is viewed by talent evaluators as a player who could take on Hauser’s role sooner or later.

Here’s more from Scotto:

Re-signing Naz Reid is considered a top priority for the Timberwolves, but executives around the NBA believe Minnesota is unlikely to retain Reid, Julius Randle, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who are all eligible for free agency this offseason.
The Magic, who were recently identified as a possible suitor for Alexander-Walker, made a play for the Timberwolves guard at February’s trade deadline, according to Scotto, who says many executives are projecting the 26-year-old to receive the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception or something close to it.
Rival executives are monitoring the Kings‘ veteran trio of Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and DeMar DeRozan, and believe the team will explore trading one or more of those players either this offseason or by the 2026 trade deadline, Scotto writes. It might take a trade request for Sacramento to seriously consider dealing Sabonis, and LaVine’s maximum-salary contract figures to be difficult to move. That leaves DeRozan and perhaps center Jonas Valanciunas, who will be on a pseudo-expiring $10.4MM contract, as the Kings’ top potential trade candidates.
In case you missed it, we also passed along reporting from Scotto on a potential point guard target for the Kings, along with a handful of Clippers-related rumors.