Latest On Kings-Warriors Negotiations And Sacramento’s Direction

Latest On Kings-Warriors Negotiations And Sacramento’s Direction

And this is the insiders. James Ham joining us live from Cabo. Jesse Topia is in. I’m Kyle Madson. We’re sponsored by Jify Lube. So, and we’re hanging out with you till noon as well. So, we have talked a lot about the Jonathan Kaminga thing. And it’s all hypothetical. Well, if this person wants this, they should do this. Should they give up a first round pick? Should they give up two? How bad do they want him? Are you Are you going so far to include Keon Ellis or Keegan Murray? We talked about all this. So, uh, I ask you, where where are the kings with this with this Jonathan Kaminga thing? Because the last thing we heard, they made an offer and we haven’t heard anything since. Okay. So, I talked to some people around the team um, yesterday. Yesterday, and Monday. Uh, Monday when I got here, uh, that’s where again I was able to get the Dennis Shruder uh, trade details. um you know before before they put out press release stuff. Um and look, the Kings are very interested in Jonathan Kaminga, but this is one of the most complicated transactions that you can possibly do. Number one, the Kings don’t have cap space to go out and sign them to an offer sheet. So any deal that they they do here requires, you know, 18 to $25 million going out the door somewhere. Uh on top of that, they have this issue that the Golden State Warriors um they’re going to want something from this deal and uh the Warriors of of course they’re going to get offers from other teams, but realistically there aren’t a lot of teams that are out there offering anything. Then we have this other thing about the base year compensation where the amount of money that goes out and the amount of money that comes in has to be very specific. And then on top of that, we have Kaminga and his people wanting X amount of dollars. And as of right now, um, I I think in order to complete a deal, I I think they can get in a room and they can work out the financials. I think they can work out what makes sense for the Kings for Kaminga. They can be really honest with Kaminga about the fact that he’s a restricted free agent and that nobody right now has any money and he’s not going to get paid. And that’s just the way it is. Like getting paid and getting paid are two totally different things. Right. And uh you know, so there’s a way for him to get a $20 million contract. Maybe a little bit more than that, but there’s not a way to get a $30 million or even higher than that contract. It just isn’t going to work. The Kings are not going to go into the luxury tax right now because they’re a team that isn’t very good on paper or a team that is pretty mid. If they had a championship contending team, they would definitely go into the luxury tax. uh I’ve been told, but as of right now, like I I think they’re realistic about the team they have. So, what we have to have here is if a deal is going to transpire between these three entities, because that’s what it is at this point, uh it’s three different groups that have three different motivations. The Kings would have to find a taker for a player like Malik Monk and probably another player as well to clear enough cap space in order to uh stay under the luxury tax. Uh, on top of that, Kaminga is going to have to take less money. Uh, and on top of that, the Warriors are going to have to take whatever they’re going to have to take. And I I think at this point, what we understand about the Warriors is, uh, while they may have a public show of, hey, we’ll bring him back and all that stuff. That’s not realistically what the Warriors want to do here. They would they they really aren’t going to match any massive deal for Kaminga. they uh they aren’t gonna have probably match any like relatively small deal for him either. um if it comes down to him playing for the you know the qualifying offer sure you know they’re going to take pick up that deal and then they might try to trade him later but even that has its own complications because if I’m not mistaken once he if he’s playing for the qualifying offer he can decline any trade during the season right because his Larry Bird rights are attached to where he’s at right now so it’s a really complicated situation um I would not be surprised if this drags out a little bit longer. Um, and then it’s very possible the Kings just throw their hands up and say, “Hey, look, if you guys aren’t going to work with us, if the the amount of money that the Kaminga wants isn’t going to come down a little bit, if what the Warriors want isn’t going to come down a little bit, um, then the Kings will be like every other team at this point that’s just walked away.” And, uh, I’ll add the other caveat, too. Like, the Kings had hoped that they would work out a deal with Detroit to make Detroit part of this group, right? and we’ve seen this whole three team deal that that might make sense for the Kings. Um, but then Detroit went out and they were able to sign Caris Levert and then they were able to go out and and do the sign and trade for Duncan Robinson. So, they no longer have a need for a guy like Malik Monk. They just don’t. And so the Kings have kind of lost one of the potential trade partners. And there just aren’t a bunch of trade partners right now in the NBA that are willing to take on a whole bunch of uh money from from a team whether it’s a good player they’re getting or not. The only team in the league that has any cap space is the Brooklyn Nets. Um but that’s how these complicated deals usually get done. You’ve got to move pieces around everywhere and then in the wash you got to figure out uh if you can get the player that you want. And I’m not convinced that it’s going to happen, but I also the the Kings haven’t closed the door from what I know. They’re they’re still very interested. Um, and they’re also, as of right now, they’re really looking at the summer in 2027. And I know fans don’t want to hear that, but they’re looking at that as that that moment where their books almost get clean and they’ll be able to go out and do a lot more things. And in the meantime, they’re going to try to put a serviceable product on the court that may or may not be, you know, hopefully will be a playoff team, but maybe it’s not. And there’s really no way around it. You’re uh Scott Perry inherited a mess. Uh financially, the books are a mess. Uh the lack of, you know, second round picks is a mess. And now they’ve got to try to move forward understanding that. So, how how determined do you think they are to get like something like this Kaminga deal done? or have they just accepted that hey, we might just go in with this roster plus from last year plus Dennis Shruder. Yeah, I mean realistically that’s that’s uh one of the options right now. They’re they’re hoping that they can still get something done. Um but again, they’re not going to they’re not going to break the bank for for a player that has no options. Realistically, Kaminga has very few options and the options that are out there are drying up so fast. Uh, you know, again, look at what, uh, Miami’s done to sort of bring in other players, to bring in someone different. Uh, again, Detroit, Brooklyn made the Michael Porter Jr. trade. Um, you know, so so there’s a lot of uh pieces that are just missing in this deal that there’s normally in a normal offseason, you don’t walk into an offseason with one team in the NBA with true cap space. And Kaminga is not the only one. I mean, look at like all of the restricted free agents are in a holding pattern. Even Josh Getty’s trying to get a fiveyear $150 million deal. And you know, the bulls are looking at him like, “Okay, who are we competing with here, right?” Like, like, why do we need to give you all that money when no one else on the market can give you anywhere close to that money? And so, it’s a it’s a very difficult situation, but it’s also why you see the Kings going out there and doing savvy moves. So, you know, the Dennis Shruder trade is really savvy. It’s a really smart trade the way that they were able to do it. I don’t love Dennis Shruder, the point guard, because, you know, a guy and he’s played for 10 teams now in 13 years. But he is serviceable. And when you’re able to do that deal, and you’re able to basically sign, you know, do the signing trade, but also acquire a second round pick in the deal. And it’s not some incredible second round pick. It’s the worst of their 2029 second round picks. Uh, and they have they have three. They have their own, they have the the Knicks, and they have uh the Bucks. So, it’s the worst of those those deals. But the Kings are in a situation where they have no second round picks to play with. And that’s how so much of business is done in the NBA now. It’s with these little transactional second round picks that you throw out there to go get a Jake Larabia or to go get a Yonas Valenunis. So, um, you know, Scott was able to bring in an asset along with, uh, along with Danny Shruder and, you know, sure hard cap the team, but they weren’t going to get there anyways. And on top of that, Detroit was able to create a $4.1 million trade exception, which could be huge for them in this in this season. Could you argue that as as that’s the familiar voice of James Ham, he’s uh kind enough to join us live from from his vacation in Cabo to give us some updates on on where the Kings are with their offseason plans with Jonathan Kaminga and everything else. Uh could you argue though that giving up a Charlotte 2026 in the in the deal just to get a 2029 back is lateral at best? No. No, because the Charlotte pick is is protected 31 through 55. So if Charlotte is one of the top five teams in the league, oh then the Kings would lose the pick. No, no, that that pick is so heavily protected. And the reason why they did that is because in the NBA when you make a trade, there has to be something going out from both teams. Got it? So both teams have to give some sort of asset. And the traded player exception doesn’t count. No, no, the traded player exception doesn’t count. And this is why sometimes you see the Kings have acquired like the draft rights to some 37year-old European player that no one’s ever heard of, right? It’s because that is an asset in itself even though it’s not a realized asset. And so there has to be something that goes out into the trade. Uh and and again, the Kings did not give up a second round pick at all in in this trade. What they did do is they gave up the ability to trade the back end of that second round pick. So now they could turn around and if they need to acquire something with the front end, the 31 through 55, they can go trade that part portion of that second round pick as well. Got it. You you mentioned they’re kind of gearing towards 2027. So is the goal the next two years just to kind of stay afloat, maybe like fighting the play, maybe get to the first round, and then like that’s just kind of when you start the building or like what’s the plan here? Because we’ve been kind of talking like the last few days about where where’s this direction heading? Yeah, I think a lot of teams out there are confused by what the Kings are doing because they wouldn’t do it this way. They would just like go, “All right, we’re not going to be good. Let’s just go ahead and trade off all of our assets and try to stay afloat for two years.” Um, but that’s not what the Kings are trying to do. The Kings are, you know, it’s it’s uh it’s financial partially. It’s it’s the fact that you have a fan base is vibrant. You don’t want to turn that fan base completely off. Um, so they’re going to go out there and play and they’re going to hope that, you know, maybe Doug Christie with a full season. Um, maybe there’s a step for Keegan Murray or Keon Ellis or maybe Meek Clifford is way better than you think and and all of a sudden he starts playing a major role. Uh, a Devin Carter, you know, that has some upside. So, they’re going to try to just kind of tweak this thing um and kind of keep it floating the right way, uh with the hopes that, you know, if you miss the playoffs, you miss the playoffs and you’ll be in the lottery. Um but if you don’t, you know, who knows once you get to the playoffs, you never know. You’re trying to build a culture while not sinking the ship and just going for for a full tank. Um, and in the meantime, like you get to 2027 and you know, Zack Lavine’s $49 million falls off the book and the books, any money that you owe Demar De Rozan again is gone. Um, so that’s a $26 million salary or a $10 million buyout. That’s gone. You’re now down to just the player option year of Malik Monk, if he’s still on the roster. You’re down to a much smaller chunk with guys like Deanna Sabonis. Uh so it’s that moment where the books are almost wiped clean and and sometimes again uh Scott Perry came in and he’s trying to clean up a mess and the first thing you got to do is is at least feel the team which is what the Dennis Frutter trade is. It’s you you got to have a point guard. You got to at least uh field a team to go into the season. All right, we we only have about 30 seconds here. So uh I just want to make sure on this. This is the plan. 2027, we’re circling that on our calendars. Kings will have cap space. They can start making moves and signing restricted free agents or free agents or whatever it is. They’ll have the opportunity to do that. The owner is good with this. The owner it’s gonna have to be. Okay. All right. I just want to make because I don’t want I don’t want to get the 27 and they got a new GM. Yeah. when you get out there and you uh you’re the one who says go ahead and trade for Zack Lavine and who puts yourself in this sort of financial situation, you you have to be okay with somebody coming in and and you know doing the best they can to strip it down and get you to an end goal and a date where you can start to rebuild. And it is what it is. And just because we’re saying 2027, that doesn’t mean that a a glorious deal doesn’t come through midway at the trade deadline this year or next off seasonason, someone goes, “Hey, I’ll take the final year of of Zack Lavine’s contract to make some moves.” So, there’s a way to speed this up, but there’s also a way in which this thing does extend to 2027. You just kind of got to live with it. That’s James Ham. He’s vacationing in Cabo. Uh James, hope you continue to have a great time down there uh with your lovely wife and we will uh see you next week or maybe later this week if something wild happens. See you James. That’s James Ham. He hosts this program when he’s not on vacation. Jesse Topia filling in for James. We’ll be back.

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