Kings Free Agent The target is Gary Trent Jr.
As the NBA offseason approaches, the Sacramento Kings are at a crossroads between free agency and trade season.
What can Kings General Manager Monte McNair do to take this club to the next level?
This week on Stiles & Watkins, hosts Allen Stiles and Chris Watkins discussed players that may be on Sacramento’s offseason free agent wishlist.
Today, let’s look at the next guy on Chris’ free agent list: Gary Trent Jr.
This offseason, the Sacramento Kings have several choices to improve their roster. General manager Monte McNair frequently mentions the three options for doing so: the draft, trades, and free agency. For the time being, we will concentrate on the latter portion.
Working with the entire non-taxpayer Mid-Level Exception (projected at 4 years/$55.3 million) and Bi-Annual Exception (projected at 2 years/$9.6 million), which leaves some significant flexibility.
Last season’s pending free agents included Malik Monk, Kessler Edwards, JaVale McGee, Alex Len, Jordan Ford, and Jalen Slawson. With Monk’s unpredictable nature, the Kings must consider a wide range of potential free agent signings. Guards do not appear to be in high demand right now, but that might change rapidly depending on what the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up decides to do.
A dynamic guard who can play both on and off the ball offensively while also providing some disruptive defense and having decent length may be beneficial. Gary Trent Jr., a 6’5 wing, fits the profile and is one of the few (possible) free-agent choices that could fairly match Monk’s prior productivity level.
As an unrestricted free agent, Toronto may want to keep the Duke alum, but what they do with him and Bruce Brown (who has a $23 million team option in 2023-24) has a significant impact on their open market spending power. If they liked, they could even work their way into the Monk discourse themselves.
Last season, Trent Jr. (25) appeared in 71 games for the Raptors, averaging 13.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.1 steals while shooting 42.6 percent from the field, 39.3 percent from three on 6.4 attempts a game, and 77.1 percent from the free throw line.
The 37th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft (ironically, by Sacramento before being moved) may benefit many teams across the league due to his interesting two-way abilities, spark plug offense, and efficient spacing. He has 12 games with 20 or more points, including four with 30 or more in 2023-24.
From Sacramento’s viewpoint, acquiring Trent Jr. would most certainly require the entire MLE, and his versatility might improve their depth going ahead. Toronto may even choose to keep him and pay more than the Kings could offer; the same is true for other budget space teams this offseason.
However, they must decide whether he is someone they should spend that asset on, or if the opportunity cost of other options is too high. How would the mental process alter if Monk left? As we continue this Sactown Sports series, we’ll look at more current free-agent names for the Kings.
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