Dates and decisions facing Sacramento Kings in NBA summer league, trades, free agency

Fresh off a whirlwind draft process, the Kings will remain busy over the next several days with the summer league roster expected to be released Wednesday and free agency set to begin Thursday.

Kings general manager Monte McNair, assistant general manager Wes Wilcox and the rest of the front office are finalizing deals with summer league signees while working the phones to negotiate potential trades and free-agent signings.

The Kings will be active and aggressive on the trade market while looking to fill needs through value signings in free agency. They aren’t expected to have anything in the way of cap space to offer free agents, but they will have the $10.3 million mid-level exception and the $4 million biannual exception to add reinforcements.

Atlanta Hawks power forward John Collins continues to be the most interesting name in trade rumors involving the Kings. The need is questionable after the Kings selected Keegan Murray with the No. 4 pick in the NBA draft, but the rumors persist.

McNair was asked about his approach to trades and free agency after the Kings drafted Murray.

“I think we’re going to take this week to reassess, prepare for July,” McNair said. “I think adding Keegan, somebody who can play multiple positions, really helps us as we build it out, but as always, we’re going to be aggressive, see what we can do to continue to add to this team, get with coach (Mike) Brown and continue to build our alignment with him on what he feels he needs, but we feel we’re in a good spot to add in July whether it’s free agency or trade.”

Summer league

A league source told The Sacramento Bee the Kings expect to finalize their summer league roster Wednesday morning and Murray, the rookie from Iowa, is expected to play.

The Kings will open summer league play at the California Classic, which will get underway this weekend at Chase Center in San Francisco. They will play the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, the Miami Heat on Sunday and the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.

The Kings will also defend their title at the Las Vegas Summer League July 7-17 after claiming their second championship last year. They will play their first game July 9 against an Orlando Magic squad that will feature No. 1 draft pick Paolo Banchero.

Other players who will reportedly be part of Sacramento’s summer league squad include Keon Ellis, a 6-foot-6 guard from Alabama; Jeriah Horne, a 6-7 forward from Tulsa; Alex O’Connell, a 6-6 guard from Creighton; Jared Rhoden, a 6-6 guard from Seton Hall; and Jai Smith, a 6-9 forward from Overtime Elite.

The Kings have signed Ellis to a two-way contract. Ellis is a promising 3-and-D guard with toughness, tenacity and a 6-9 wingspan. He went undrafted out of Alabama after averaging 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists last season. He shot 43.7% from the field, 36.6% from 3-point range and 88.1% at the free-throw line.

Fans are clamoring to see more of young center Neemias Queta, but it’s not clear if he will be a part of Sacramento’s summer plans. Queta, the 39th overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft and the first NBA player from Portugal, was with the Kings last season on a one-year, two-way contract.

The Kings have until Thursday to offer him a $1.6 million qualifying offer, which would make him a restricted free agent. Sacramento’s plans for Queta are not clear, but it could take time to resolve his free agency situation, so it’s possible he will not be on the team’s initial summer league roster.

Free agency

Free agents can negotiate with teams beginning at 3 p.m. Thursday. Contracts can’t be finalized until the moratorium ends July 6.

The Kings have more than $106 million in active roster cap allocations with over $49 million in cap holds. They are expected to operate well over the projected $123.6 million salary cap.

However, they can try to bolster their roster using the $10.3 million mid-level exception, which can be used for one player or multiple players, and the $4 million biannual exception. The full MLE would allow them to sign a player for up to $43.4 million over four years.

Some intriguing free-agent options could include Miami Heat guard Victor Oladipo; Golden State Warriors guard/forward Gary Payton II; Indiana Pacers small forward TJ Warren; Charlotte Hornets small forward Cody Martin; and Miami Heat small forward Caleb Martin.

One league source mentioned Danuel House Jr. as a player the Kings could have interest in, but time will tell how free agency unfolds.

First, the Kings will have to decide what to do with their own free agents. They face a Thursday deadline to extend qualifying offers to Queta and guard Donte DiVincenzo. As mentioned earlier, the qualifying offer for Queta is only $1.6 million, but the qualifying offer for DiVincenzo is $6.6 million with a $14 million cap hold.

Another decision the Kings will have to make is what to do with power forward Chimezie Metu. He has a $1.9 million non-guaranteed contract for next season. His deal is guaranteed for $881,398 if he isn’t waived four days after the moratorium begins. It becomes fully guaranteed on Dec. 1.

Sacramento also has three unrestricted free agents: guard Josh Jackson, guard Jeremy Lamb and center Damian Jones. The Kings hold Bird rights on Lamb and Jones with early Bird rights on Jackson.