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Sacramento Kings: Grading The Offseason

By Gerald Bourguet

Jan 13, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Rajon Rondo (9) knocks the ball out of the hands of Sacramento Kings guard Darren Collison (7) during the third quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Sacramento Kings 108-104. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 13, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Rajon Rondo (9) knocks the ball out of the hands of Sacramento Kings guard Darren Collison (7) during the third quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Sacramento Kings 108-104. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sacramento Kings
April 3, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Nik Stauskas (10) dribbles the basketball during the first quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans at Sleep Train Arena. The Pelicans defeated the Kings 101-95. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

The Salary Dump Trade

Drafting Willie Cauley Stein was a defendable move that could pay off in a big way if he lives up to his elite defensive potential. But this mega salary dump looked like a stinker before the Kings proceeded to miss out on Monta Ellis, Wesley Matthews and every other free agent that wisely turned and ran when Sacramento started throwing money at them.

In one of the biggest salary dumps the NBA has ever seen, the Kings sent Jason Thompson, Carl Landry and Nik Stauskas — the No. 8 pick in last year’s draft, if you recall — to the Philadelphia 76ers. But they also included a top 10-protected pick that will kick in two years after the Kings fulfill their obligation to the Chicago Bulls, which is a top-10 protected pick in 2016 or 2017. After 2019, Sacramento’s pick becomes unprotected for the Sixers.

Oh, and the Kings also gave the Sixers the right to swap picks in two future drafts. All this, and all Sacramento has to show for it are the draft rights to 2015 second round picks Arturas Gudaitis and Luka Mitrovic. Just…yikes.

Like Thomas Robinson and Jimmer Fredette before him, Stauskas joins a list of recent Kings draft picks who were unceremoniously shipped away when the front office gave up on them after a tiny sample size. Now the Sixers get a 21-year-old shooter who never got the time to develop while playing behind Ben McLemore.

The move saved about $14 million in cap space for Sacramento and shed about $25 million in guaranteed money since Thompson and Landry both have two years remaining on their contracts. The Kings naturally had to give up some assets to entice the Sixers into taking on those deals, but they gave up WAY too much.

The fact that they were unable to do anything impressive with the resulting extra cap room makes this deal even worse in retrospect.

Grade: F

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