Pursue under-the-radar free agents
The only other thing the Kings can do this offseason in order to get De’Aaron Fox more help heading into the 2021-22 season is to try and make some noise in free agency.
With limited cap space and them having to try to bring back Richaun Holmes, the Kings really do not have many options in terms of targeting guys in free agency, but they could potentially free up some cap space if they were to trade both Buddy Hield and Harrison Barnes.
Hypothetically, moving both of these guys could free up nearly $30M in cap space for the Kings, which could allow them to pursue guys like Victor Oladipo, Norman Powell, Doug McDermott, Lauri Markkanen and/or Kelly Olynyk, all of which are under-the-radar free against this offseason.
Powell has an $11.6M player option for the 2021-22 season that he will likely decline to become an unrestricted free agent and Lauri Markkanen is a restricted free agent after failing to reach an agreement on a long-term extension prior to the start of this past season with the Chicago Bulls.
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Victor Oladipo is a former All-Star talent, but injuries have plagued him over the course of his career. He suffered yet another quad injury and is expected to miss most of the 2021-22 season, but his value and price tag could be very low, allowing the Kings to possibly take a chance on him and sign him.
Then, both Doug McDermott and Kelly Olynyk are also unrestricted free agents this offseason who many people are not talking about. Both guys can score in the paint or on the perimeter and can definitely be useful to Sacramento as two guys who can take some of the scoring load off of Fox.
The Kings would probably be lucky to get one of these five guys mentioned above and there are no promises that they could get any of them, but these are the types of guys they should be targeting over the next few years. No top free agent is going to want to play for the Kings, which is why they will have a hard time adding top-tier talent to their roster.
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This is a losing franchise that has proven time and time again that they have no stability within their organization, which is why many players will not want to come play for them. However, if they can offer intriguing contracts to under-the-radar guys, then maybe they would be able to start building some talent to possibly end their playoff drought.
It is a long-shot to think the Kings could make a run at some of these guys this offseason, but this Sacramento front-office will have to be aggressive in making moves/spending money soon enough. What they have done the last few years obviously has not worked, which is why it is time to take things in a new direction during free agency.
