The James Ham Show – Kings Any Closer To Landing Jonathan Kuminga?

The James Ham Show – Kings Any Closer To Landing Jonathan Kuminga?

Well, let’s ask James. James, these two hate Keon Ellis. Not true. Not true. Leazy barley. What do you And and I guess this is probably a really important place to start. James, it feels like a lot has happened. I don’t know that anything has actually happened, but it feels like a lot has happened since we last talked at 12:15. Do you what would what are the odds Keon Ellis is with Sacramento for the foreseeable future? Oh man, that’s a tough one. Like I to be honest with you, I I don’t know. I know that, you know, clearly there was some unhappiness about him uh about them picking up his his option. And I I mean to be honest I I think at this point it might have played out better for him that they that they didn’t make him uh restricted free agent because we’re watching that unfold and it’s really ugly. Uh but the Kings also would not have had any cap space to go out and do anything. So it would have eaten up all of the buffer they have between the the salary cap and the luxury tax if they would have paid Keon. And like look, deep down I think the Kings in a perfect world would have loved to have just given Keon a four-year deal like right now. They would have already like a four-year deal for this season that started this season. But that’s just not the dynamics of their cap space and where they were when uh they had to make the decision on Keon. And I think part of it was timing and um I think part of it is like just look at the restrictive free agent market. It’s just a disaster. I mean Josh Getty and you know like Kaminga but you know Cam Thomas and you know all these guys are just stuck in limbo and Keon very well could have been in that same exact position. The one difference I would point out though is that I think maybe Quinton Grimes is in the same bucket that Keon would be around the same price tag. Um, but outside of that, like Kaminga and and Getty, like Cam Thomas, they’re all hoping for way more than that, right? Cam Thomas I like the blatant disrespect from the Nets where they’re like, “Hey, we’ll offer you 14.1 million, which is a mid-level exception on a one-year deal with a secondyear team option.” That that’s like a really really tough tough negotiating like starting point. Keon is probably a player who’s going to make 12 to 15 million uh 12 to 14 million in restricted free agency or or as a free agent. That’s sort of like his his zone. Maybe a little bit less than that. Maybe a four-year 40. So, it’s possible that some team that’s out there that’s really good that still had their mid-level would have said, “Hey, we’re going to go get we’re going to go try to get Keon.” But if the Kings made it known that they’re going to match any offer, then, you know, Keon would have been in the same position that all these other guys would be. um you know outside of maybe the Nets taking a big swing at him and stealing him away. Um but even that isn’t like I I don’t think that that’s part of their team build uh philosophy. I we were James before you came in we were discussing like the ceilings and what we you know some of these players could potentially be. We were talking Keon again too and we said Keon Ellis you know what if he maximized and turned into Alex Caruso which I think is plausible like he could do that that’s a valuable person and we were trying to figure out like Kaminga ceiling what would that look like maybe agree or don’t disagree but what if Kaminga turned into Jaylen Brown would you rather have Jaylen Brown or Alex Caruso to kind of start your franchise moving forward Yeah. I Sorry, Hammer. Sorry, Hammer. Go ahead. I mean, if we’re starting like a franchise, then I’d prefer like, you know, the the 22year-old potential superstar, potential all-star. If you know, I’m the Sacramento Kings and you’re trying to build or trying to take that next step like they were two years ago, then Caruso would have made a ton of sense. and they actually chased Caruso and that would have just made like a a absolute ton of sense for this team to go out and get a defensive minded guard like that. So, u I I think it depends on where you at you’re at in your team build, what’s the average age of your team, all of that stuff. Um but yeah, I get the point. Like one is a role player and an established like extremely good role player. The other one is a player who hasn’t accepted a role and you’re wondering what his role can be, what his ceiling can be and you know the question is always going to be hey look if Jonathan Kaminga you don’t end up being as good as you think you are will you accept being someone less than that and not as in like accept it and and be happy about it but accept that you know you have to turn yourself into something different whether it’s like an Aaron Gordon or a John Collins or one of those types of players. And you know to to date I don’t think Kaminga’s got the opportunity with the Warriors to feel like he’s fulfilled this this dream of becoming something more. And so he’s left in this weird limbo which to be honest with you we don’t see very often. I mean there are players out there that you know you get four years into their career and they still you know I remember talking to Jason Thompson in like year seven and he’s like man I just want like 12 shots per game. It’s like, bro, you ain’t ever getting 12 shots per game. You went to Finnerbotchi and didn’t get 12 shots per game. You know, that’s not being disrespectful. That’s just like your lot in life in the NBA. And that’s okay. But if you’re unwilling to accept that, then you find yourself out of the league. I remember Omry Caspby told me one time, he said, you know, he left the Kings, he went to the Cavs, did not have a good good time with the Cavs, and there was expectations on him that were different. And then he left there and he went to Houston and he was like I sat down with Kevin McCale and Kevin McCale said look this is who you will be in the league and if you don’t be this player you’re going to be out of the league very quick and if you don’t accept this role and you don’t try to flourish in this ro role as a 3 and D guy who stands in the corner and accepts your role and goes and grabs some rebounds and every once in a while you get a fast break and stuff like that. But if you won’t accept that, you’re gonna find yourself in the unemployment line and you’re gonna find yourself playing in Europe or you’re gonna find yourself playing somewhere else. And that’s going to be on you. It’s not on us. We’re here. We have our team. We have our players that we have, you know, tiers of players. Like Kyle Madson likes to tier everybody. Um, and this is where you’re at and what tier you’re at. And we need you to play to your strengths and be that player. And if you don’t want to do that, that’s fine. and we’ll find another place for you. But if you do want to be that, we think we can elongate your career and make you into a ball player that keeps getting paychecks. And Omry said, I I accepted it cuz it was like the honest truth and it was with my own best interest in mind. And once I accepted that, it was a lot easier to move forward and be a really good role player. I also think this whole conversation is unfair because that is a massive if. If Jonathan Kaminga becomes Jaylen Brown, well, we talked about what a ceiling is, right? You know, I mean, not saying that’s to you, but we talked about like what a ceiling is like probability, he’s probably more around Gerald Wallace. So, like that’s that’s what I would that’s what I would bet. Sure. But so so if we went if we went like over the top with the idea of Jaylen Brown, I’ll go over the top with Keon Ellis and say Derek White, right? We’ll go back to the thing Jesse brought up earlier. Those two needed each other to win a title. And I think that’s my my point is I I feel like Keon can be a part of a future build for the Sacramento Kings, which is why I don’t want to lose him. And I think the most important part for me right now is I don’t feel like they have to. That’s the part that’s killing me. Like if you want to get the deal done just to get it done, then fine. Maybe you do it. Maybe. And if Kaminga is that important to you, fine. But I also look at it like who are you bidding against? It’s you’re you’re basically in a you’re in a game of chicken with Golden State. You don’t want him to play on this qualifying offer because you don’t want to lose the ability to trade him. You don’t want the ability to get back uh a draft asset or even a you look, they may think Devin Carter isn’t very good, but that’s fine. You’re still getting back a young player that you can at least find out that he’s not good. Otherwise, you get nothing. You also have the oldest basketball team in the league. You’re going to need somebody to play professional basketball for you in games 60, 70, and 80 of the season. And so, I I’m I’m completely okay with Scott Perry just going, “All right.” And there’s a James, how do you do you think this thing really could draw out till October 1st? I I don’t think so. I mean, we always like you would hope that it would get figured out quicker. I’ll tell you this, too. Like you you brought up Devin Carter and like one of the player comps for Devin Carter is Gary Payton the second. Like this is a guy that the Warriors might be able to use that he might fit in what they’re doing. But again, I think with the Warriors, a lot of times you’re looking at it in in the same way that you’re looking at the Kaminga situation. Like, hey, he the word on the street is he doesn’t really want to play a role that he thinks he’s better than what his role is and what his role might be. And that makes it extremely difficult, right? because, you know, it’s it’s much easier for the Warriors to go out and sign Enl Horford, uh, Seth Curry, and who’s the other guy they’re looking at that that they have locked up, the kid who blew out his knee last year? What’s that? Melton. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Melton. Melton. Right. So, so if you’re looking at like those players, those players know exactly who they are and the the Warriors are accepting those players and plugging them into a a situation that they think that they can flourish because those players have proven that they can flourish in those roles at other spots. So, when you’re taking on a young player like Devin Carter, like it you’re going to have to see if he fits your system or not. You’re going to have to see if he’s an NBA player or not. But again, great rebounder, uh, long wingspan, huge hops. Like again, Gary Payton the second is one of those guys who really he does look like as as a player. Um, and you if in the right situation, you might be able to figure out how to convert him into that player, but it comes down to like players being willing because, you know, again, if Devin Carter doesn’t figure out how to beat that player very quickly, he’s not going to be in the league. And and that’s a, you know, it’s a tough reality. every single year there are 30 first round picks have guaranteed money coming in. That means that 30 dudes that were in the league the year before lose their jobs. You know, they’re not making more jobs that you’re just out and it’s sort of the tough reality and it doesn’t matter if you’re the 13th pick or you’re the 28th pick in the first round. You’re fighting for your NBA job every single time you’re on the court. And uh so so look, I I know Golden State has a bunch of wants, needs, and all that stuff, but at the same time, like they got themselves into this situation, and it’s on them to figure out how to get out of it, but trying to strongarm somebody, using the press to strongarm somebody, like none of this seems like it’s uh it’s going to work out all that well for anybody involved. The thing that baffles me about the Warriors POV in this situation is the Warrior fans is the the notion that yeah, we’ll just bring them back on the qualifying offer. Like that’s literally the worst case scenario for the Warriors. And that’s the dumbest case scenario. You’ve done all of this and turned down all these deals that you say aren’t good enough and that you don’t want to take just to bring him back on a qualifying offer where he’s going to leave in x amount of months anyway and he has a no trade clause so you don’t have any control of it and you don’t get anything back. That would if you’re a Warriors fan, that’s the last thing you should be rooting for. Not celebrating, oh we’ll just bring him back on the qualifying offer. That would be dumb. It’d be stupid. It’d be dumb. be stupid and the second that he rolls an ankle and takes 12 weeks to come back from a rolled ankle because he he’s an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and has no reason to rush back. Like that’s a problem. And and it’s a problem that you created. And I I get the system in place. the system in place is to um is to preserve, you know, your draft picks or it’s to to make it so when you draft somebody, you realistically don’t just get them for their first four years, but really your first eight if you want them. And and it’s to build continuity in the league. It’s so you can sell more jerseys. It’s so, you know, it’s just good for the league. But this situation here isn’t good for anybody because like let’s be clear, the Golden State Warriors are are being very obvious that they don’t want him back. I mean, when you offer a two-year deal in the second year as a team option, that means that you don’t intend to keep that team option. That that’s that’s what they’re doing. They’re like they’re hoping that some much bigger trade comes along and that they can take him as a $20 million trade ship and go deal him. But that’s where I think the October 1st date really does start to come into play because if he pushes until October 1st and that’s when he signs his deal, then I believe that they cannot trade him this season. I mean, they can’t trade him anyways because uh well, they can’t trade him if he’s on a um if he’s playing for the qualifying offer. He can turn down any trade because as soon as he gets traded, his Larry Bird rights end. And so if you’re trading him to say a team like the Kings, the best they can do is offer him the mid-level exception of 14 million bucks because they’re over the cap. And and so it puts him in a really bad situation. If you give him the one-year deal, you can trade him, but you got you have that six-month window, right? So if he pushes this out till October 1st and says, “Fine, I’ll sign the two-year $45 million deal.” That deal won’t be available to him anymore because they’re going to be like, “Nah, we’re good. We don’t because now we can’t trade you.” So, remember how Lori Marketin last year waited and waited and waited until that one date where they’re like, “If he signs it today, he can be traded before the deadline. If he signs it tomorrow, he cannot be traded until next off season.” It’s kind of like the same exact situation here, but just a little bit different. Um, James, did you get the opportunity to see what Mark Spears said on television today regarding Jonathan Kaminga and the Sacramento Kings? Um I I didn’t listen to it. I did hear like a snippet from from Kyle. Um yeah, it’s probably the most important part that you heard. He talked pretty extensively about one um Jonathan Kaminga’s preference out of Sacramento and Phoenix is to come to Sacramento. Uh and he laid out the reasons why. And it’s the fact that Sacramento has clearly defined what they believe Jonathan Kaminga’s role would be uh with this Kings basketball team. And that includes starting at the four position alongside Keegan at the three and Domas at the five. And we kind of we Mark did not say this on television. We’re working through this ourselves. That leads me to believe that Zach that led us to believe that Zack Lavine is at the two. Dennis Shruder is at the one. And at least for the time being, for the first time in 15 of his 16 seasons, uh Demar De Rozan will go to the bench and Let’s start with that component. What do you think of Mark Spears or perhaps the Sacramento Kings laying out the fact that they have a very prominent role ahead for Jonathan Kaminga should this all happen? Well, yeah. I mean, it makes perfect sense like um Kyle and I have been like beating this drum. I’ve been coming on your show for the last like I don’t know maybe four years talking about needing length and athleticism at the wing. When you’re looking at Kaminga and you’re looking at the the skill set that he has, the athleticism that he has, this is the type of player that every other team in the league has a bunch of and the Kings don’t. So, I I think he’s a switchable forward. I think he can play the three and the four. Him and Keegan Murray would be able to just like seamlessly switch between players, right? So, I I get the reason why Kaminga makes sense to them. And I also think that like when you’re getting a 22-year-old player with like the sky is the limits, um you’re also you’re bringing in somebody who um that you want to get out there and play major minutes. You know, you’re not going to concern yourself with everything else. I mean, hopefully he’s healthy and would be able to play, you know, 75 to 80 games, but um you know, this is this is a player that should be able to seamlessly fit into your rotation. Um is he a perfect fit? No. uh you know, he’s not a great three-point shooter. He shot, I think, 37% in his second year, but hasn’t come close to that since. Um, but I also don’t think he’s been happy, and I don’t think he’s been a player who’s been put in a position to succeed. And, you know, I I think when you’re looking at the Warriors and how they design their their team, like, he’s an afterthought for them. And that’s just a reality. He’s a he’s a total afterthought. Um, so you got to figure out a way to kind of fit him in. Uh, if you’re the Warriors, but with the Kings, it’s like, “Hey man, go out there, play 34 minutes, show me what you got.” Like, let’s This should be a fun adventure. And you would drop your age considerably and and then, you know, the dollars and cents we can probably discuss uh when we get back from the break. Well, I I I can’t I can’t lay out the dollars and cents for Scott Perry, but I know if Jonathan Kaminga wants to come up to Sacramento, man, we will uh we’ll take him out to West Sacramento. We’ll take him out to Baker Family Wines, right? We’ll introduce him to the Hall of Famer, Dusty Baker, and the coach of the Nicaraguan national team. Yep. Cuz he just can’t stop managing baseball teams in his blood. Just kid. If he’s not making the best wine in the city, he’s managing baseball teams. You can join Dusty’s Clubhouse for exclusive releases and tasting room specials. I strongly encourage you to do that. Head over to bakerfamilywines.com right now. Plan on visiting the taste room. This wine is absolutely spectacular. If you’ve been paying attention to the show over the last year and some change, you know, I’ve I’ve I’ve hit my LeBron era. I’m drinking wine in 2025 and some of the best bottles I have, especially this 2022 Pino Noir. This is one of my favorites right here. It’s from Baker Family Wine. Dusty Baker, his crew, Chip, they have put some incredible work into this. Head over to bakerfamilywines.com right now. Join Dusty’s clubhouse and make your plans to visit the tasting room. Not in Napa, not in Namador County, not in Loi. It is right here in West Sacramento. We’re going to come back. We’re going to talk a lot more about this King situation with Jonathan Kaminga, with James Ham when we return here on Sacramento Sports Leader ESPN 1320. Giants lose. What’s up, Mark? Yeah, it’s Mike. Sorry, boys. No, you’re good, man. What’s going on? What’s up, man? How are you? I’m good. How you doing, man? Good. Yes, sir. I’m good. Yes, sir. So, thank you for the uh the walk. It’ll be nice to have you out there. So, thank you for a great Is that on Thanksgiving Day, too? No, it is October, I think, like 25th. Okay. So, it’s later this year. It’s not in September. Cuz to be honest with you, I had never got in before. I don’t know. Oh, no. Okay. But I’m down. I mean, good. They mentioned your name in it from the past. So, I’m glad you’re willing to do it. So, Dave, you got Dave, you guys are still live, just so you know. Yeah, it’s fine. Yeah, I’m finding wherever I go. Hi, everybody. I don’t know if you can hear me or not. Very possible you cannot hear me. No, they can, James. Oh, they can. Oh, sweet. All right, I’ll talk to you while while they’re having a meeting. Sweet. Um, yeah, that’s Mark. He’s one of our many new uh new executives. Sweet. What’s going on everybody? Anything happening? I see you guys are talking about uh Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I saw some post the other day on I don’t know what it was on some sort of social media site and it was calling out uh Grandpa Joe for being one of the the worst characters in television history. Just like a leech on society, wouldn’t get out of bed, wouldn’t work, wouldn’t go help, all that stuff. I thought it was funny. Uh Jaylen, what’s my favorite color? Um, I’m going to say typically I say forest green, like a rich green. Uh, says S can’t be aggregated in a trade. Um there’s a window in which he can be aggregated in a trade. Um but I actually I I don’t think that that’s the case because it’s a one for one swap. I I would have to look that out. There is a way in which you cannot be aggregated in a trade. I don’t even know what I just walked into. Yeah, we have created a very relaxed environment here. You guys live kind of. He just walked in like, whoa, what up? Like, hey, what does that sign say out there? Yeah. Um, Rosto, did the Kings have a plan B? Uh, yeah. It’s to run the same roster out there. Uh, I didn’t see was there more on Keon somewhere that I missed or was that just like a topic of discussion you guys were having? That was just a conversation. Yeah, it was conversation. We just talking. Mhm. Uh, I agree, Norm. At least he had pants on. and not the day someone walks in here without parents, it’s gonna be a problem. Uh, we’re coming back, Hammer. This is an interesting show. Always very interesting work dynamic we’ve created. Are you guys live right now? No. The crazy thing is, hey, are you guys live right now? What’s good? What’s good? No. Mark just Mark. Mark coming in to talk. You guys live? Yeah. Charlie sitting in here waiting for me earlier. Oh, are you back? Oh, no. That was the best part. Casey’s like, “Yeah, we’re coming back, Charlie.” Charlie’s just standing there still. I still don’t know what Charlie looked like he had something important to say. Yeah. Welcome to Jurassic Park. That’s what he had. Medulla oblangara. Uh, well, might have been that, too. Uh, might have been that, too. Um, shout out to DLo. Giants lost. I’m not going to lie. As soon as he changed it, put it back on, it just all went downhill. Like I said, he put the game on immediate four pitch walk to turn two. Couldn’t make that happen. Literally play after that. Pirates still second. Hammer. It turns out I uh appear to be bad luck. Now, I do want to I didn’t watch the San Francisco Giants for a week and a half. Yeah. can’t can’t put the whole damn season on. Let’s just say it’s been a long time since I’ve seen them win a baseball game, though. We’ll say that. In fact, the last one I think I saw was the comeback. It was the Rockies comeback. Oh, man. That’s even sad, too. We made it a comeback against the Rockies. That was tough. Jesus, that was tough. I haven’t seen them win in months. Oh, man. These guys have ruined the summer. When does football start? I could tell James was tweeting. That’s why we were talking about baseball. I knew you were working on something. And there it is. The uh the Daycoin two-way contract right there. Um Hit the Quan. Hit the Dan’s back, baby. Yeah, let’s go. The first one to return. Yeah, it didn’t The first one didn’t last too long, but it’s all good. That spelling is going to kill me every single time he makes an appearance. I haven’t received it, so let me Can I try? Duan. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah. Yeah. D A A Q W. No. Nope. You want to try it? D A Q U. Nope. Nope. D A D A Q E. Nope. Nope. I actually love this game. You want to try again? D A Q. Nope. Nope. Jesus. You’ve said some right letters though. D A W. Nope. I’m out. See, I love this. Can you use it in a sentence? That’s a good That’s That’s That’s funny. Somebody A E Oh. Oh no. Q W O N. Bam. We should have been able to read it. Daquin. The Sacramento Kings signed Daycoin Plowen to a two-way contract after an impressive summer league showing. Makes perfect sense now looking at it. Okay, I see. What is the origin like? You got me. Is there another spelling? Yes, there is. Hammer in this. Yes. Yes, James. There are there are other spellings for sure. Um, hell, Dacoin Jeff didn’t spell his name like that. No. I think it was I think it was you you had I think it was D A. Was there a U inquest segment of the day, that’s for sure. As King 1985 says, you you think Casey would have figured out that Q isn’t a third letter? They let me cook like past Q a couple times. That’s what that’s what messed me up. I said like Q A and they were like no. That’s when they when I said A. I kept saying Q. And Q wasn’t even a third letter. Damn. I’m going get it. I’ll never forget it now though. No. Yeah. No, I bet you won’t spell it right now. B A E Q. I know. W E O N. No. Oh, damn. Damn. Um, just Well, the E must not be there. So, what is it? Spell it. D A E. Yep. Q Wo N. There it is. Yay. Oh, man. Um, James, in situations like we’re seeing right now, this is a it’s a it’s an interesting situation regarding a restricted free agent. Normally, there’s offer sheets in play and things like that. Those those are not in play for Phoenix. Those are not in play for Sacramento and and and Golden State is working off this qualifying offer thing. you also have the kind of unique component that they don’t really want Jonathan Kaminga and so that adds a whole wrinkle to this and there’s you know the word leverage has been used a lot over the course of the last three weeks or so since then since this story first started to percolate James I’ll ask you who do you think has the leverage in this situation the the Warriors the Kings Jonathan Kaminga feels like the Suns are just here. But like, who really has the leverage in this? I think the really uncomfortable answer is absolutely no one. No one has the leverage because there are two teams out there. So, it’s not like the Kings are aren’t competing against somebody else. The Suns offer is is not good. Um the Kings offer is not what you would consider good for the type of player that that Kaminga could potentially be. Um so like the Warriors are not in a good position because Kaminga can just play for 7.9 million. Kaminga is not in a good position because if he does that, you know, he gets to the end of the year and he’s an unrestricted free agent in a draft class that has a bunch of other unrestricted free agents from the pres previous season plus a bunch of new restricted free agents plus a bunch of new free agents that are available, you know, and so you’re you’re always going to be wondering, will he get his money back? and in a market whereesh the NBA is lowering the salary cap increase from 10% to 7%. So like look, I don’t think anyone is in a particularly great spot. I do get, you know, the Kings holding their line and saying, “Hey, look, this is we’re not going to add Keegan. We’re not going to add Keon. We’re not going to add Isaac Jones.” At least at this point, we haven’t heard any of those names being mentioned. But um you know you are in a in kind of this weird spot where like nobody is super comfortable with their spot w with with what’s happening. Um you know Kaminga does not want to he would much rather play just like Keon Ellis doesn’t want to play for 2 million. Uh he wants to play for 25 to 28 million right maybe 30 million. That’s what he was hoping to play for. And you know I think everybody’s expectations have to change just a little bit. But if you want the deal done, you know, we even hear this this thing now that has been floated that the Warriors want an unprotected first round pick from the Kings as opposed to the um you know, the the pick that they they’re a protected pick. And you know, both of those those things have like their pluses and minuses, right? Because the Kings don’t have a lot of sweetener to add to the back end of a protected first round pick. So, it could end up being like the the JJ Hixon deal from years ago where literally took like five years before that that pick uh got actually traded, which was was miserable. Like the Kings were stuck basically in the Steppian rule and couldn’t trade their picks out in front of them at all for five years because they had this protected pick that they were dealing with. Yeah, we don’t have to even go that far back when we deal with this stupid ass Kevin Herder trade which yes s me on damn near all conditional like I’m I know it’s not just take the pick. I don’t want to do a conditional pick anymore after dealing with that nonsense. I’m cool off that. Um well to that point really quick Casey the Kings do have their you know like hey they could tell the the Warriors, hey how about we do this? How about we do a game of chance? We’ll give you an unprotected 2027 San Antonio Spurs pick. That’s if it goes beyond 16, you lose it. If it’s one through 16, you get to keep it. And it’s not our pick, so we don’t have any any reason to tank for you. It’s the Spurs pick. But, you know, the Kings have already traded the backside of that pick. And so, it’s like, hey, if it if it if it uh like relays to you, it relays to you. If it if not, you get nothing. or you could just give him the 2031 Minnesota Timberwolves pick and it’s unprotected. But that there’s just so much value in in an unprotected pick and that’s kind of not where the Warriors are are coming from a place of value. Well, James, me and and Damian, we talked about it on the complete opposite end of that spectrum. like we give you the 26 pick because we don’t believe even with all the negativity around the Kings that they’re going to be some 25 win team like we don’t they still have talent on the on the on the roster and even last year they won 40 games they lost in the first game of the playin they were a nine seed in whatever it was that ended up being a for number 14 pick that they had to give away if let’s just say you recreate the same scenario IO again this season, I’d give you the 14 pick in 2026 as opposed to I don’t know what this team’s going to look like in 2029, 2030. And I mean that in a negative way. I’m not giving you an unprotected unprotected pick later in in this draft process. I’ll give it to you right now where I don’t think we’re going to be like bottoming them out. Okay. So, you don’t think they’re going to be bottoming out? But I mean, let’s let’s be real. Vegas has them at 35 and a half wins. That’s like like the seventh or eighth pick in the draft. Like and Jonathan Kaminga, like to be honest with you, at this point in his career is not worth the seventh or eighth pick in the draft. He’s not. And and part of that, you know, straight up, it’s it’s on the Warriors. Like, you’re not trading like the the seventh pick in the draft or the sixth pick, whatever he was. You’re trading a player who’s been in the league for four years and has had had all kinds of ups and downs and was out of your rotation at one point in the playoffs like and then you had to bring him back because you had an injury and he was incredible. But before that like we’re going to believe a showcase in the playoffs that make it so and you didn’t win the playoff series. So like what are we basing his value off of? And like what we were talking about earlier, like there’s a tremendous amount of value in a pick before there’s a name attached to it. And once a player’s been in the league for four years, you don’t usually get, you know, dollar for-doll value for them. you’re going to get 40 cents on the dollar, which is why the the offers are what they are at this point, especially because of the the complexities of a deal where base year compensation and, you know, all of this other stuff, the the restrictive free agent status and all that stuff is is still in play. The Suns won 36 games last year. Portland won 34. They were the 10th and 11th picks. Yeah, but I mean it changes from one year to the next. And like look that what if you win look out and win the lottery. Like you don’t want to give up a the top three pick for for a player that you don’t know. Like if I’m the Kings, I’m not trading my 26. I’m certainly not trading my 27. And I even have a tough time trading my 28 because you’re not trading anything beyond that. Those are the ones that I’m not trading. Once you get to 28 29 and you got Dear and those those are the ones we’re not getting rid of cuz I’ll give you this scenario here. You get to the 2027 season, everybody’s off the books. We didn’t trade Deontto Sabonis. We have no veterans here. This escalated quickly. Well, I’m I’m just saying like don’t want to be here if we sorry. So you you trading him for assets. You’re just a sorry team and now you don’t have your first round pick in 27 or 28. Like that’s that’s very I think that’s a very real possibility. I feel I don’t I know Vegas has them at 30 35 James or whatever it was 38. I feel like this team can make the playoffs. They’re not making a run to the conference finals or winning a championship but could they get in through the playing? Could they get a six seed? Like this team we overvalued last July. They underperformed you know last April. They could meet somewhere in the middle. Now, I don’t know that that middle gets them to 48 wins, but does it get them to a better version of the basketball team that they were last year? Yeah, maybe. I don’t know that I can say that for 2027 or 2028, you know, Scott’s got a lot ahead of him to do, but do I feel like this team could win some games in 2026? I do. Maybe. Yeah. I mean, to be honest with you, I’m like after this discussion, I’m probably rolling the dice on one of those other two picks, the picks that aren’t yours. Like, sure. But I mean, that’s fine. And if I was the Warriors, I’d hang up. Why do I want that Spurs pick? That might not even happen. Well, what you could also do something like this. You could say Spurs pick. You could say the Spurs pick and if the Spurs pick doesn’t relay, we’ll give you an unprotected Minnesota Timberwolves pick. keep your own picks because like look, I think the potential of the Spurs being better than the Kings is is realistic. I think that the potential of Minnesota in 2031 being better than the Kings is is very realistic. We don’t know for sure. Um but that’s kind of like it’s the tough gamble here that you’re going to take as a franchise. Um like if you are going to try to add a player and you know it takes something to get something and then on top of that, we’ve talked about this a little bit. Top of that, you if you make the Kaminga trade and it doesn’t include one of your, you know, 18 to$25 million players, somebody’s got to go because you’re way over the luxury tax and you’re pushing on the the first apron. And so that means you got to make another corresponding move uh to somehow clear up space. Whether that’s, you know, again, Malik Monk going somewhere else, whether that’s uh, you know, Demar De Rozan going somewhere else, somebody has to go in that scenario if they’re not part of the trade to actually acquire Kaminga. You know, we talked a little bit a second ago about leverage and all this other stuff. And and I’ll I’ll flip the words just a little bit, you know, cuz um, James, you talked about how nobody really has any le leverage. I flip it a little bit and say everybody has their own little piece of leverage, right? Kaminga has a little say so and how this goes about it because he’s got different deals that he can sign and no Trey Claus is the Warriors. As dumb as it would be, they don’t have to make a deal, right? They can just hold on to them. The team would probably and the the the group with the least amount of leverage honestly is probably the Kings because they’re dependent on everybody. They’re dependent on Kaminga wanting to come here. They’re dependent on the Warriors um deciding to trade him and everything. And all they can do is offer what they can offer, but they don’t have any real say so in how this plays out. So I I think I the leverage the Kings do have is the market and being able to not, you know, go crazy with a trade proposal, but I think everybody has their own little little value of leverage in this situation. I I would actually like I would flip it and say like I think the Kings have leverage because they can just walk away and it’s you know nothing ventured, nothing gained. You you had conversations that didn’t work out upwards and onwards. Let’s see what the season looks like. I think the Warriors um like again if he accepts the qualifying offer um or he signs a two-year 45 but demands that the second year is is a player option not a team option like all of these things could like I just don’t see them having a lot of ways to get better. And the reason why they’re doing this right now, why they’re holding everybody hostage is super super specific. They want to have a $20 million player to trade mid-season because as of right now, they’ve got nothing. You know, they’ve got like they’ve got their top end heavy contracts. I we talked about this the other day, but like they they have, you know, of course Steph and then Jimmy Butler and, you know, so they’ve got two top-end contracts. Then the next one is is Draymond Green at 26 million. But then Moses Moody makes 115 and Buddy Hild makes 9.2. and then they drop all the way down to 3.6 million. So, let’s say, I don’t know, LeBron James becomes available this during the season. Well, I don’t know if that’s gonna happen or not, but you know, if you could package Moody and Kaminga and Buddy Heield, uh, plus first round picks and stuff, maybe you get that deal done. Um, but if you don’t have uh if you don’t have a Kaminga on the roster, then you don’t have that $20 million contract to trade for a $50 million player and you’re not going to be able to make the deal. So, I mean, again, if you take away if you’re not going to trade Steph, Jimmy, or Draymond Green, um, then to piece together a deal that would get you to the salary that that LeBron James makes, it literally would take every player on your roster outside of that, you would have to go Moody, healed, that’s that puts you at like right at 20 million. Then, Pajki at 4 million, Ge Santos at 2.2. like you don’t have any any contracts, any money to send out in the LeBron James trade. And so that’s where I think the Warriors keep centering this thing. And it’s also why they should probably figure out a way to to swing a deal that includes either a Demar Roen or a Malik Monk because then they would have that contract to trade uh if they can’t keep Kaminga at 20 million. But that’s all they’re looking for. We always talk about like the trade exceptions being a coupon. They’re looking at Kaminga as like a a coupon that can play here and there, but they’re they’re not gonna want him to get hurt or anything else because they won’t be able to trade him. That’s why Kaminga’s team told the Warriors to go to hell. Yeah. Yeah. I mean I mean and I and I perfectly agree with that or I I very much agree with that. Hammer, we also speculated. We wondered if if you know either if this this thing with Jonathan Kaminga were able to get done or perhaps there was a resolution that landed with Kaminga being elsewhere. Uh if this would start some sort of uh you know effect for the Sacramento Kings and you mentioned Demar De Rozan and some of these other guys maybe once this transaction is complete there are other moves ahead for them to make. Um you know we go back to the Demar D Rozan Demar D Rozan has played damn near 1,200 basketball games in his career. He the only games that he he hasn’t started in 12 of those 1,200 some odd games. All 12 of them were in his rookie season 16 years ago. And so the idea that you’re just going to casually move a player like Demar De Rozan whose play has not declined to the bench I think is I think it’s interesting. I also think maybe you have a discussion with him and his agent about potential destinations for him across the league. Uh Miami is the one that comes up a lot. I believe there were discussions there, but they weren’t any good. Um but I I wonder if there’s a a next chain of events that that gets set off or a chain of events that gets set off for Sacramento should a resolution be reached in this Jonathan Kaminga situation. Yeah, that’s going to be the next step. Like what’s the the ripple effect? And you know, again, we we keep hearing Malik Monk’s name mentioned all over the place. Um, it’s it’s gonna be easier to move Demar, I think, uh, because he’s only got one year and then a buyout at 10 million than it would be to move Malik Monk. And it’s easier to move Dear at 24.5 million or 25 million for a $15 million player than it is to move Monk for like an $8 million player because you got to remember, you gota clear up that cap space, that 10 million bucks. And then on top of that, everyone’s like, “Oh, they’ll just sign Russell Westbrook.” that like then they need another 2 million 2.2 million or whatever to free up to make sure they don’t go over the luxury tax if they’re going to do that as well. So, I I definitely could see a a play where they they did something like I said this earlier, but Demar for Terrence man, where you’re uh you’re going to a team that has, you know, salary cap uh plenty of salary cap to work with, but also um you know, so they can absorb more contract coming in, but also they’ve got a player who is, you know, 15 15 and a half, 15 and a half, and 16 million over the next three years. So, you’re going to take back more contract, but you’re gonna uh, you know, clear up a bunch of flexibility this year and and even take on a little bit more next year, like five million versus a 10 that you would have had for a buyout for tomorrow. And then that third year, you’re putting up 156 million that you don’t have on your books right now. And so, that’s where it gets a little complicated. But um the other thing someone brings up, you can uh wave and stretch uh Devin Carter, that doesn’t make an impact on the Kings, but waving and stretching Demard Rosen. And I’m not saying they’re going to do that, but you might be able to get him to take less money on that secondyear buyout and then stretch his money over three years. Um because that’s, you know, that would free up 16 million bucks that you don’t have right now. And I’m not saying that I think Dame Lillard broke people’s brains like that does not happen very often. the wave and stretch like that does not happen a lot but it happened to Dame obviously that was a stunning amount of money and all of a sudden everyone’s like oh just wave and stretch everyone Brad well is that but that’s not what they did is it didn’t they didn’t they buy him out just they they used to stretch provision what was that those be sneak and cut the podcast what you Wave and stretch everyone. I don’t think so. Not on this show. Yikes. My bad. He gads. That’s my bad. You know what? Let’s just end. It’s fine. That’s fine. We’ll we’ll we’ll just end on that note. That’s my bad. Um Well, I guess we’ll uh I mean, obviously, don’t expect anything to happen tonight, but we’ll see what happens over the course of the next few days. Man, it’ll certainly create some fun conversations uh as they center around the Sacramento Kings and James Ham and Kyle Matson will be here to cover it all beginning tomorrow at 10 a.m. here on Sacramento Sports Leader ESPN 1320. Mamos’s wave and stretch.

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