Sacramento Kings welcome the Darius Acuff Jr. era. Now comes the hard part
The easy part of the Sacramento Kings’ offseason is done. Now comes the difficult road for general manager Scott Perry, his top lieutenant B.J. Armstrong and the rest of the front office to reshape a roster that went 22-60 last season.
Selecting Darius Acuff Jr. with the No. 7 pick in the NBA draft was the conclusion many Kings observers have seen coming for months. It’s a decision that’s clearly popular with the fan base and, more importantly, addresses the team’s pressing need for a long-term orchestrator on offense that’s been apparent since De’Aaron Fox was shipped to San Antonio 16 months ago.
But rebuilding the roster around Acuff is going to be the hard part. That includes figuring out the uncertain futures of the team’s pricey veterans Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, none of whom are expected be running mates for the 19-year-old Acuff when the team hopes he’s ready to return Sacramento to the postseason, years down the line.
It was a subject Perry wasn’t willing to dive into during his late-night press conference at Golden 1 Center following the selection of Acuff on Tuesday, when he spent 19 minutes extolling his new point guard’s offensive skill set, work ethic and potential.
“I’m not at liberty to address anything like that right now,” Perry said. “So we got another day at the draft (Wednesday), so we’re just at a halfway point in the draft process. The offseason, the entire offseason, is team building mode, as you know, and when we make decisions on what we’re going to do and the direction we’re going to go, we would notify you at that time.”
Specifically, HoopsHype reported earlier Tuesday the Kings are “expected to waive-and-stretch” DeRozan, allowing him to sign with another team. The report noted the Los Angeles Clippers are expected to be interested, while the move would leave the Kings paying DeRozan his remaining guaranteed $10 million over the next three seasons.
Moving on from DeRozan would allow for an expanded role for Keegan Murray, who was limited to just 23 games due to injuries last season after he signed a five-year, $140 million rookie extension in October.
DeAndre Hunter, who was acquired in a deadline trade for Dennis Schroeder and Keon Ellis, will also figure prominently into the rotation at forward.
Rumors still swirl around LaVine and Sabonis
Next Monday is the deadline for LaVine to pick up the $49 million player option to return to Sacramento next season, which he is expected to pick up, putting the Kings in a tough financial spot.
With LaVine, Sabonis and DeRozan’s money factored in, the Kings are roughly $1 million over the first apron, leaving a $4.2 million tax bill. They would be the only one out of six teams in the tax that didn’t reach the playoffs last season, according to Spotrac.
But more importantly, being over the first apron prevents teams from being able to take back more salary in a trade than they send out, acquiring players via sign-and-trade, using the roughly $14.1 million midlevel exception, adding players on the buyout market who were previously making more than the non-taxpayer midlevel, or use trade exceptions.
In other words, being in the tax takes away a lot of tools in Perry’s toolbox.
Sacramento could get under the first apron and tax moving on from DeRozan, but would lack real flexibility without being able to move on from LaVine or Sabonis, the latter of whom is making over $94 million combined over the next two seasons.
For LaVine, the Kings could logically ask his camp to look for a new deal with another team, saving them from paying his $49 million. There have been rumors about LaVine being a solution to the Detroit Pistons’ scoring problems after they blew a 2-0 lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Otherwise, there isn’t an obvious suitor for the 31-year-old who played 39 games last season. His return could create an awkward situation where he remains in Sacramento despite the team clearly going in another direction. Whether the Kings would be trying to showcase LaVine in a trade or give him a more limited role in favor of developing younger players remains to be seen.
For Sabonis, there have been trade discussions with the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors to no avail. The first round of the draft coming and going without a trade means the Kings likely won’t be getting any players from this talented draft class in a swap for the former All-NBA center.
Suffice to say, Perry has his work cut out for him, which makes the rest of the summer — and perhaps all the way up to the trade deadline in February — a difficult time for remaking the roster around Acuff.
