A Very Busy Day 2 of NBA Free Agency for the Sacramento Kings | Locked On Kings

A Very Busy Day 2 of NBA Free Agency for the Sacramento Kings | Locked On Kings

The Sacramento Kings had a very active day two of free agency. Some moves we saw coming, like Dennis Shruder’s deal being fully reported. Others we didn’t see coming, like Yonas Valenunis getting traded to Denver. I’ll break them all down, share my thoughts, and what it means for Scott Perry’s grand plan, whatever that plan is. All right here on Locked on Kings. You are Locked on Kings, your daily Sacramento Kings podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is that time. Time for another episode of Locked on Kings. Hello and welcome into Locked On Kings, your podcast hub for Sacramento Kings coverage all off season long. My name is Matt George. I have the privilege of being your host here. I’m a Sacramento sports anchor and reporter for ABC 10 News. And while day one of free agency was maybe a little bit more fun because of the rumors and the smoke and was there going to be a sign and trade, the unknown. Although actually a lot of Kings fans probably didn’t think that a potential sign and trade of Malik Monk to the Detroit Pistons was very fun at all based off the responses that I saw both on social media and on my podcast. But day one was certainly more dramatic. Day two, the Kings got involved. Three different moves for us to talk about here on this podcast. None of them overly exciting, but all worth talking about. And we’ll start with the move that I think we all saw coming. It’s been reported for over a week. I’ve talked about it a lot here on Locked on Kings over the last six or seven days. Dennis Shruder to the Sacramento Kings. It’s not technically done because all of these are just agreed upon offer sheets and whatever. None of this is finalized yet. It’s how free agency works. But we finally know the specifics of the deal of Dennis Shruder signing or or joining the Sacramento Kings on a three-year $45 million deal. So quick math, that’s $15 million a year. We don’t know if all three years are even or if the contract is frontloaded, backloaded. don’t know this information at this point in time, but three years 45 million spent essentially $15 million per year, which is more than the MLE or mid-level exception that the Kings had that they could use to essentially bring in a a contract. So, I think it’s more than what Kings fans were expecting or hoping. And I think the Kings fans, it seems like Kings fans are less spooked by the dollar amount and more spooked by the third year. But if this makes you feel any better, the third year of the deal is partially guaranteed. And I think there’s a very specific reason why the Kings made it a threeyear deal. I’ll explain that in just a second. But let’s talk about Dennis Shruder really quick. And I’m I’m not going to rehash what I’ve talked about over the last week about Dennis uh hold being a stop gap point guard and holding the position down for a year or two that we don’t have the highest of expectations for. I think I think we all understand that at this point. I like I actually think Kings fans are going to like Dennis Shruder. I don’t think he’s going to be like gamechanging, worldbreaking here in Sacramento by any means, but I I do think Kings fans are going to enjoy him, right? Whether you’ve seen him play over his vast career here in the NBA, and I say vast because the Sacramento Kings are his 10th NBA team. He played for three different teams last season, Brooklyn, Golden State, and then ended up in Detroit. So Dennis Rutder has bounced around but also his play for Germany in in in like the Feeble World Cup, right? Dennis Rutder has been a very very very good piece for those German national teams and a lot of people think he’s played his best basketball on that international stage. He’s scrappy. He’s athletic. He likes to push the tempo. He likes to play fast. Not afraid to play physical. I think Dennis Shruder is again not someone that is going to be like a game changer and world breaker and you might not be lining up to buy yourself a Dennis Shruder Kings jersey, but I I think he’s a solid point guard that Kings fans are going to appreciate the way that he plays, assuming he plays that way, of course, here in Sacramento on this team. 13 points per game on 40% shooting from the field, 34% from three-point range, 83% from the foul line, averaged four 5.4 four assists per game. That was all his averages in total last season. Again, played for three different teams. Started in 49 games last season. And the expectation as of now is that Dennis Rutder is going to be the starting point guard in Sacramento. Heck, he’s the only real point guard that the Kings have in Sacramento at this point, at least to some extent. They’ve addressed the point guard problem. They’ve like they had to address it no matter what. I know some Kings fans are annoyed because it felt like they f focused so fully on that position that they neglected other areas of importance like trying to get Jake Laavia back. Although, as I laid out in yesterday’s podcast, the Lakers did what the Kings could not and offered more money. or the Keon Ellis situation, right, where the Kings picked up Keon Ellis’s option and the potential negative long-term ramifications that could have could have pissed Kon Ellis off to where they don’t get a deal done and he leaves the Kings and underrestricted free agency next summer. Like, I know some Kings fans would have rather Perry prioritize some of those moves over bringing in Dennis Shruder to hold down that point guard spot, but here we are. Shruder was the guy. He’s been the guy for a while. The Kings went out, Scott Perry went out and got his guy. But I said earlier the significance of making it a threeyear deal because per the rules of the CBA, if you make it a three-year deal, the Kings now technically have five days, closer to four at this point because this deal was announced this morning. Five days to make this deal a sign and trade. So, the sign and trade potential and possibility that I laid out ver like in a in significant detail on last night’s yesterday’s Locked on Kings podcast. If you missed that podcast, I think like I’m not trying to toot my own horn here. I think I knew the Sacramento Kings were trying to sign and trade um for Dennis Shruder and include Malik Monk in a deal to Detroit. I knew that before anybody else. I got wind of that yesterday morning. I shared what I could, went in detail about it on the podcast. Lo and behold, after the podcast drops, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports was able to to put it out there and others kind of picked it up and ran with it. But that sign and trade that the Kings were searching for and and and trying to make happen is not dead necessarily because again, they still have a period of time where they can work out a sign and trade. I will say though, it’s pretty much on life support because the Detroit Pistons went with another sign and trade option. The Detroit Pistons executed a sign and trade with the Miami Heat to bring Duncan Robinson to Detroit. Now, that doesn’t mean that they can’t still make another move and make another sign and trade, but it sounds like they had two options in front of them. They went the with the Miami option, which once again speaks to the lack of a market or the bad market or lack of interest in the league right now for Malik Monk at any reasonable value. Sure, there would be teams out there that would give you scraps for Malik Monk, but the Kings aren’t interested in doing that. Of course, they want to they want to take they’re not just going to get rid of Malik for the sake of getting rid of him. I know Scott Perry clearly wants to move on from Malik. He just does not view Malik Monk as part of the plan here in Sacramento, as a good fit here in Sacramento. And I know a lot of us in Sacramento are big fans of Malik Monk and we don’t necessarily understand that and can’t wrap our brain around that. But you’re empowering him as the general manager. That’s how he feels with his identity going forward. So that’s the way it is. We don’t necessarily have to like it. But Scott Perry seems to have a plan and Malik Monk is very clearly not part of that plan. I’m not making this up. And a lot of people here in Sacramento have been talking about this. Malik Monk’s value around the league is not good right now. The Kings, whether it’s because of their circumstance and teams trying to take advantage of their circumstance or because of any past issues off the court that Malik might have had or the type of player that he is or the fact that he went from six-man to starter and being a starter didn’t really work out in the limited time that he had it last season. Whatever the circumstance, teams around the league consistently are not interested in getting or giving value for Malik and taking on his $18 million per year contract. That is the reality of the situation. To which many of you are probably saying right now, “Okay, Matt, then keep him.” I understand that. I’ve said the exact same thing verbatim on this show before and on other shows like DLO and KC on ESPN 1320. Then just keep him. I think Malik Monk is an incredibly valuable player. I think Malik Monk is one of the best six men in the league, period. And uh even if he does not fit Scott Perry’s long-term plan, he sure as hell is not the only one on this roster that doesn’t fit that long-term plan. So, I’m all for like for some reason so many of you thought that me sharing what I knew about the sign and trade and Monk’s situation in terms of his value around the league. You were thinking that I was endorsing Perry’s desire to move on from him and just get rid of him. And you were say you for some reason people thought I was just saying get rid of Monkey. He’s useless. He means nothing. Trade him for scraps. Never ever have I endorsed that or felt that way. I would much rather the Kings hold on to Malik Monk than trade him for garbage, for nothing. And it looks like that’s what’s going to end up happening for the Kings. But we can acknowledge that. But we also have to acknowledge the reality that this team is more than likely just going to run it back. the amount of tweets that I got from people today when I put out what their depth chart looks like right now. Their point guard position is Dennis Shruder and I guess Devin Carter. Their shooting guard position is uh Zack Lavine, Malik Monk, Nick Clifford, who yes, I consider to be more of a two than a three. He’s a two-3 hybrid, but he’s 6’6. And coming into the league, I think he’s going to be more of a two guard than he is a three guard. He’s backing up Demar Rosen as that at that three spot. The Kings have the same freaking problem that they did last year, which is they are undersized at that position. They also have Keon Ellis, not to mention Terren Davis, who’s still on this roster. Like, that is a log jam at that position with only one true point guard in that mix. And so many of you were tweeting me saying, “Matt, it’s going to be fine. and you can play Lavine at the two or you sometimes move Lavine to the three or or Keon Ellis can run the point. Last season was clearly not fine. Did we just forget that last season existed? So, I’m all for keeping Malik Monk if the Kings can’t get anything of value for him. I’ll side with you on that. But recognize and acknowledge that if you don’t want the Kings to get rid of their fan favorites or your fan favorites rather, then there’s a very very good chance that they’re just going to run it back because moving on from Demar Rozan while not impossible is very unlikely at this point because Demar does seem to fit the plan of Scott Perry. You can’t move on from Zack Lavine no matter how much Scott Perry may want to because of his god-awful contract that apparently VCron was the only one willing to take on. So, here’s where you’re at. So, you want to keep Malik, great. Cool with me. But you’re probably just gonna run it back with some some few tweaks around the edges like Dennis Shruder and these other moves that we still have to get to here on Locked on Kings. Today’s episode of the Locked On podcast is brought to you by Monarch Money. Ever wish managing your money felt easier? With Monarch Money, it can be easier. Whether you’re growing your savings or planning a big purchase, Monarch puts you in the driver’s seat. It’s like having your own personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances. Monarch Money is more than just a budgeting app. It’s a complete financial command center. You can track all your accounts, investments, and spending in one place. So, in addition to managing your money, you’re also building wealth. What was one surprising thing that you noticed if you’ve been doing your budget reports or if you started using Monarch Money? What’s one surprising thing that you noticed? Right. 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So, actually before the Dennis Shruder deal was officially reported, the Kings made a trade this morning around 8:00 Pacific time, sending their backup center and big man Yonis Valenunis to Denver to be the backup for Nicola Joic in a trade for Daario Sarich. Now, this deal saves or saved around $5 million per year in caps, excuse me, in cap space, but immediately because Valentunas made about 10 million, Sarge makes about five. So, $5 million of space that the Kings opened up immediately. Now, it sounds like some or most of that space was used to ultimately give the or give Shruder the amount of money that he wanted or or to to come up with the money needed to close that deal because it was a little bit more than the MLE. Now, the Kings, I forgot to mention this in the last segment, one of the reasons why the Kings are trying to execute this sign and trade and and move Malik Monk is if they were to do that, it would then reopen their ability to use the MLE. So, basically give them $14 million to go out and get another player. So, that’s why they’re trying to do the sign and trade again. Doesn’t look like it’s going to happen at this point, but that’s one of the one of the reasons why Perry was looking to do it, not just to dump Malik Monk. Let’s talk about Dario Sarich a little bit first before I talk about this trade and why I don’t like it. Sarich, a 6’10 forward, a career 36% three-point shooter. That’s important because we’re getting a sense that Perry really values full floor spacing bigs and guys who are going to be able to to to space the floor and Dario Sarge seems to be able to do that. Last season, played in just 16 games for Denver. So, someone who it’s coming off of a bit of a a down year. I am not a fan of this deal. I’m not a fan of this deal for for a couple reasons. Number one, I think Yonis Valenunis I feel like this deal was rushed. And again, maybe this is what they had to do in order to get and secure the money that they needed to go out and get Dennis Shruder. I felt that Jonas Valenunis, you could have gotten more, especially from a team like LA who I know they’re desperately trying for DeAndre Aiden or the Warriors who are trying for Al Horford now, right? Like there are teams out there that need centers. Valenunis is a very very very very good backup, arguably the best backup center, one of the best backup centers in the league. But he does have the potential to be a starter in the right environment. I mean, he’s going to be the backup to Joic in Denver, which I think is a fantastic move for the Nuggets. The Nuggets also moved um Michael Porter Jr. in a deal here recently to to go out and get Cam Johnson, who of course the Kings are very familiar with because they’ve been trying to get Cam Johnson out of Brooklyn, it feels like, for a couple years. I I just I don’t know. I I felt like, excuse me, the Kings could have gotten more for Valenunis. And I guess you could copy and or ch take Valenunis out and apply Malik Monk to the same conversation and and you can relate to how I’d feel if the Kings were to trade Malik Monk away and not get the proper value. I just feel like this trade was rushed a little bit. I don’t think it had to happen right now, but what do I know? Maybe it did again to make sure the money was there to to to secure Shruder. making a trade to open up money in cap space is a really hard sell to this fan base right now. And like it it didn’t open a ton, but if we’re being honest, the Sacramento Kings traded two second round picks for Jonas Valenunis at the deadline, had him here for a couple of months, and then kind of salary dumped him. And if you need any further indication that Scott Perry would not have done or made the moves that the the the past regime at the urging of ownership did back in February or March, whenever it was, Scott has made it clear, or at least past comments before he got the job made it clear of what he thinks of Zack Lavine as a winning basketball player. And now both Valenunis and Jake Laravia are gone. I don’t think I mean I know Perry would have never ever made the trade for Le uh Lavine and and and traded De’Arren Fox for Lavine in that deal. He would not have done it. And the two other guys that the Kings traded for, one he willingly traded away in Valenunis. The other one, to be fair, he lost because the Lakers could pay him more. But I I’m not I’m not going to pretend like Jake Laoravia was a top priority. Retaining Jake Clarabia was a top priority of Paris. I know for a fact the Kings wanted to bring him back, that Doug Christie really really liked him. But all three or two of the three moves that you made, arguably the only two good ones that you made at the deadline are both gone. And the other one you’re kind of stuck with again because his contract is ridiculous in in Zack Lavine. I don’t like this Valenunis trade. I don’t like it. I’m I’m sad to see him go. But the Kings did make another move, a very minor move, but a move that buys them a little bit of time at that center position. I’ll share with you what that is in just a second. The final move of this very active day two of free agency for the Sacramento Kings, the Kings went out and got Clippers big man, Drew Eubank, signing him to a one-year deal. unless I’ve missed it. The specifics of the deal in terms of finances have not been disclosed. I have to imagine it is a veteran minimum or league minimum deal, right? It’s not going to be a deal worth a lot of money. Again, the Kings didn’t have a lot of space to begin with, but Drew Eubanks is not the uh most prof the the highest profile of player. I don’t think there was a lot of demand for Drew Eubanks. And I’m not saying that to be disrespectful. I just that’s what I believe him to be in this market at this point. To me, Drew Eubanks simply is a placeholder. It’s not a bad thing. I think he can hold the position down. Well, I think Drew Eubank’s responsibility is to hold that spot down until hopefully Maxim Reno is ready to step into that spot. Remember, Maxim Reno a second round pick. So, who knows if he’s even going to get there, but I think the Kings are going to give him a shot. I think they expect to give him a shot. I think they’re more willing to move on from Yonas Valenunis because they drafted Maxim Reno. We talked about that on draft night. So, I believe Drew Eubanks is here to buy Reo time and to be able to give the Kings a viable option and some viable depth at that backup center position even though Drew Eubanks is tech technically 6’9. give them time for Reo to acclimate himself to the NBA game. Granted, Reo is an older rookie. Had four years of college experience at Stanford. Hopefully, he can be ready for that position sooner rather than later, but the Kings are realistic again. It’s a second round pick. It’s not like a top lottery pick. So, Eubanks a career 39%, excuse me, three-point shooter. So someone who again fits that Scott Perry, Doug Christie spacing big man role who can be out there on the floor. You can put him in the corner. You can use him in the high pick and pop. I don’t know. No matter who’s running the point or has the ball in their hands opens up space for Demar Rosen to go to work, assuming Demar’s still here, for Zack Lavine to attack the basket. I know Zack Lavine’s still going to be here. And this is a like it’s a virtually no risk move right there. There’s no harm in this move. If if Eubanks only plays a handful of games and Reo takes the spot from him, great. That means Reo’s ahead of schedule. Awesome. There’s no there’s nothing to be disappointed about or upset with this move whatsoever. It’s a depth move. It’s a smart move in that sense, but it probably does fit the mold of underwhelming, right? Dennis, the the the three free agency editions at this point, granted one of them was in a trade, but at the free agency uh uh time period, Dennis Shruder, who again I think Kings fans are going to like, Dario Sarich, me, and now Drew Eubanks. Meh. I never expected Scott Perry, in fact, I made it very clear. I never expected Scott Perry to make changes overnight. I never expected him to be able to fix this roster in one off seasonason. In fact, I’ve been very, very consistent with you from the second that Scott Perry was hired that he needs to be given time to essentially get through what I think is just going to be a dead year. I know that sucks. If you’re a season ticket holder listening, I know they raised raised your season ticket prices. And look, here’s the thing. I know Kings fans are so dedicated, so loyal to this team that y’all are still going to show up. The Golden One Center is still going to be one of the best environments in the NBA. I know it and I love you all for it. I understand completely if you’re sitting here going, “God, this is what I have to I I’m Do I want to financially support this? Do I want to go out and watch this? This team’s not going to be horrible. And some of them, some of you want them to be not going to say they’re going to be good, right? Like if everything and and of course this is only day two of free agency. I think this roster is not complete yet. But if everything for this roster as is went right, what is the ceiling? six seed, probably, maybe fifth if everything goes right. Like, we’re we’re realistic about what this roster is. They’re not bad enough to get a great draft pick. They’re not good enough to really make any serious noise in the Western Conference. They’re going to be competitive. I think a lot of these moves show that Perry is still trying to prioritize competitiveness and find whatever he can to hold it down this year and get through this year so that he can really start making moves next summer and beyond. That’s what this season is to me. That’s the lens that I’ve always looked at this upcoming season. And when you look at these moves through that lens, it makes sense. even if it is underwhelming. But now I want to hear from you. Your thoughts on this day two of free agency, the moves. Do you like him? Do you hate him? Russell Westbrook, I guess, still is potentially out there, but the Kings don’t really have room to sign him at this point in time unless they do complete a sign and trade for Dennis Shruder’s deal and include the league mug. I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s all still technically possible. Of course, I’m trying to stay on top of as much as I can. Whatever I hear, I will share with you or whatever I can share with you, I will here on the Locked on Kings podcast. Keep following me on Twitter or x matte sack. You can email me matteorge [email protected] to share your thoughts on this day two of free agency. Remember we are meeting the Kings rookies. Nick Clifford and Maxine Mareno are having a press conference with Scott Perry and Doug Christie on Thursday. And I will have those comments that press conference for you here on Lockdown Kings. Hopefully a one-on-one interview with both of those guys as well here on Lockdown Kings. So, keep an eye out for that. And anything else the Kings do in free agency and beyond this off season, we’ll stay on top of that, too. Plus, Summer League right around the corner in Las Vegas. Still don’t know if I’m going or not, but I’m excited to see these young players play, including the two-way guys that the Kings brought in. So, I can’t wait to have you join me on these future episodes of Locked On Kings. Until then, my name is Matt George. You’ve been listening to the Locked On podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network.

Matt George reacts to the three moves the Sacramento Kings made on day two of NBA free agency.

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A Very Busy Day 2 of NBA Free Agency for the Sacramento Kings
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