Sacramento Kings: 5 potential targets in 2019 NBA free agency
By Ben Feinberg
After a promising season, here are five players for the Sacramento Kings to target in 2019 NBA free agency.
The Sacramento Kings are in a good position heading into the 2019 NBA offseason. The team’s two young potential stars, De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley III, are both under contract until at least 2021.
The Kings might have enough cap space to sign a player to a max contract this free agency. To create the cap space for a max contract, the Kings will have to allow Alex Burks and Kosta Koufos to leave in unrestricted free agency, and to not offer Willie Cauley-Stein a qualifying offer.
Considering Burks and Koufos both played limited games and minutes — 13 games and 9.8 minutes per game for Burks and 42 games and 12 minutes per game for Koufos — it is unlikely the Kings will offer either of them new contracts.
Cauley-Stein is a harder decision for the front office. If they extend a qualifying offer of $6.3 million to Cauley-Stein, he will become a restricted free agent. Furthermore, the qualifying offer would include a $14 million cap hold until he either signs the qualifying offer, declines the qualifying offer, or signs a contract with another team, at which point the Kings could either match the contract or allow him to leave. The team is currently discussing options with him.
If Harrison Barnes does not opt in to his $25.1 million player option, then the Kings will have enough room for a max contract option, even with Cauley-Stein’s $14 million cap hold. However, it is very likely Barnes opts in, given it is likely the highest amount he would receive by a wide margin.
In addition, the team also has a $3.2 million team option on Yogi Ferrell. If the Kings choose to exercise this option, it is unlikely to be the difference between having enough space for a max contract player and not having enough room, but it’s something to consider.
Bearing all this in mind, it’s time to examine who the Kings should target in free agency in order to hopefully make the playoffs next season. We’ll be including both players who would require a max contract and players who the Kings could get at a lesser price.