Kings Need Guards, Who's Out There?
- Tyler Probst
- Jun 28, 2016
- 4 min read
NBA Free Agency begins on Friday and the Sacramento Kings have glaring needs at Point Guard and Shooting Guard. Are there Free Agents out there that the Kings can realistically sign that could make a legitimate contribution to the team next season?
The narrative has been that nobody wants to play for Sacramento. General Manager Vlade Divac was able to bring in Marco Belinelli (3yrs 19M) & Kosta Koufos (4yrs 32M) for just above market value and Seth Curry after a incredible Summer League. The Kings were also one of the few teams who wanted to give Rajon Rondo a chance after his dreadful half season in Dallas.
After grabbing bigs Georgios Papagiannis with the 13th pick and Skal Labissiere with the 28th pick, the Kings are set with their big men according to Vlade although, Ryan Anderson is still a definite possibility and the Kings seem to still be interested. When asked what the direction of having so many big men will be, Vlade said that there is plenty of time left in the summer, which could signal possible trades.
This leaves backup center Kosta Koufos as the likely odd man out and could join the list of other Kings that could be dealt this summer including Rudy Gay, Ben McLemore, and Darren Collison. At this point DeMarcus Cousins, Willie Cauley-Stein, Caron Butler, and Omri Casspi are the only ones guaranteed back next season.
Last season the Kings shooting guards struggled mightily on offense and defense after a hopeful offseason. Marco Belinelli shot only 39% from the field and 31% from 3 while Ben McLemore saw less minutes and his confidence diminished. Seth Curry got minutes here and there but not as much as the Kings would've liked to see. With Belinelli off to Charlotte and Malachi Richardson coming in, Sacramento desperately needs to add a veteran shooter at SG or a reliable defender.
The Kings are reportedly looking at Courtney Lee as one of their top FA candidates. Lee is looking for around $14M a year while the Kings have around $35 million to spend this offseason after the Belinelli trade.
Let’s take a look at some Free Agent Shooting Guards. Kent Bazemore (11.6 /5.1 /2.3 on 44/36/81) is certainly a realistic option for Sacramento at an affordable price and would be one of the best defenders on the team immediately. Allen Crabbe (10.3 /2.7 /1.2 on 46/39/87) came onto the scene in Portland and was a large part of their success off the bench. He is definitely someone the Kings should be looking at and should not be expensive at all. These 2 guys I’d say should be on the top of the Kings list. If the Kings are looking to go younger (which is unlikely) they could try to pry Jordan Clarkson away from the Lakers but, not the best option out there.
The Kings will likely go older and get a veteran Shooting Guard such as Arron Afflalo, who is 30 now and had a somewhat disappointing season in New York. His defense is not as good as it once was but, his offense would be an improvement over what the Kings had, which isn't hard to do but, he would be a decent fit with Joerger and won't cost as much as Bazemore and Crabbe. Another interesting FA is Pelicans guard Eric Gordon, who is 27 now and can provide improved shooting but, he continues to prove that he just cannot stay healthy so put him in the unlikely pile.
An under the radar guy that I personally love is Evan Fournier (15.4 /2.8 /2.7 on 46/40/84). This man can play and I think he is is a player that will be undervalued on the FA market. The Kings should attempt to swoop in and steal him before someone else does.
Some players the Sacramento Kings need to absolutely stay away from are Kevin Martin, Jamal Crawford, Marcus Thornton, and Dion Waiters. These players have one big thing in common. NO DEFENSE. I love Kevin Martin as much as the next guy but he is not the same scorer from his Kings days and would not fix the defensive issues from last season. Jamal Crawford is 36 years old and shot 40% off the bench which in all honestly is better than what the Kings got in Belinelli but, still a bad fit and a guy that will probably go to a contender. Marcus Thornton still has his moments from time to time but there are better options. Dion Waiters is another inefficient player who shot 40% off the bench. Probably the best option out of the four. Kings should stick with Ben McLemore if these are the type of players they go after.
Point Guard is a huge question mark for the Sacramento Kings with Rajon Rondo being a Free Agent and Darren Collison going through legal trouble. GM Vlade Divac said he is open to bringing back Rondo but, it looks as if the Kings are looking to upgrade.
The 2016 Point Guard Free Agent is considerably weak so, we can expect the Kings to upgrade the PG position via trade in all likelihood or bring back Rondo for the right price. The Kings will not get into a bidding war for Rondo and are not looking to overspend to get him. Most of the FA PG’s are backups including Jeremy Lin, Brandon Jennings, Ty Lawson, Mario Chalmers, Matthew Dellavedova, and DJ Augustin. If the Kings do indeed decide to deal Darren Collison, I think Lin would be the best replacement at backup PG unless 59th pick Isaiah Cousins surprises everyone in Summer League. The dream would be for HC Dave Joerger to convince Mike Conley to play here but of course that is highly unrealistic. Gear up for the PG search, Kings fans.
There will be some non guards the Kings look to sign as well. Of course the name that immediately comes to mind is PF Ryan Anderson. Kings may have to make a trade to make room for the Sacramento native if they plan to add a PG and SG. A cheaper name they could add for depth and defense is another Sacramento native, the always interesting Matt Barnes, who had a nice stint in Memphis under Joerger. Some other names I wouldn't be surprised if the Kings took a look at are Jared Dudley and Evan Turner.
The Kings certainly have options. Vlade Divac is going to be a busy man this summer re-shaping this roster.
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