The Sacramento Kings are in play for a big-name free agent this summer. But in order for the Kings to make a ground-breaking free agency move, they need to clear cap room.
The Kings have done just that, sending the salaries of Jason Thompson, Carl Landry, and Nik Stauskas to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for draft rights to overseas players, Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting. In addition, the Sixers will also receive a protected first-round pick and the rights to swap first-round picks with Sacramento for the next two drafts.
The 76ers had interest in Stauskas and were willing to take on extra salary in order to get him. Sacramento, meanwhile, has dumped nearly $16 million worth of salary by parting ways with the three aforementioned players.
Landry is owned $6.5 million this upcoming season, Thompson is owned $6.4 million, and Stauskas is owned $2.8 million.
With those three salaries off the books for Sacramento, they may now pursue Rajon Rondo, who has drawn plenty of interest from the Kings. Sacramento is also in play for Monta Ellis and Wesley Matthews.
This was a brilliant move by the Kings, who are trying to shore up their roster to keep DeMarcus Cousins satisfied. Now, they have the chance to lure a big time free agent to bolster their roster and improve their chances of making it to the playoffs.
For Matthews, the Kings will be in the mix with the Toronto Raptors and Dallas Mavericks. For Ellis, they will need to outbid the Indiana Pacers who took a meeting with the undersized shooting guard on Wednesday. However, there haven’t been any teams actively pursuing Rondo, as the Kings are considered frontrunners to sign him.
Of course the Kings will closely evaluate their options before making a decision, but it seems Rondo would be the perfect fit in this situation. Adding Ellis or Matthews means that Ben McLemore may see reduced minutes. But adding Rondo makes sense for SacTown since they desperately need a play-making guard.
Furthermore, Rondo and Rudy Gay are close friends, as Gay has been actively recruiting the 29-year-old point guard. Cousins has also reached out to Rondo in efforts to recruit him.
Giving up Stauskas, along with Landry and Thompson, wasn’t much of a problem for the Kings since the former eighth overall pick turned out to be a huge disappointment. In his rookie campaign, Stauskas, 21, averaged just 4.4 points while shooting 36.5 percent from the floor. The Kings also gave up on developing Jason Thompson, who has career averages of 9.4 points and 6.9 rebounds. Landry, in his second stint with Sacramento, played poorly as well and was injured for most of the 2013-2014 NBA season.
The Kings are headed in the right direction and will be an intriguing landing spot for any of the remaining free agents.