by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings stayed busy on the 4th of July as they reportedly signed 7-foot center Kosta Koufos to be the backup for DeMarcus Cousins. The Kings cannot officially make the announcement until July 9th when the moratorium on signing free agents ends.

The deal was made public by ESPN from information gathered from an anonymous source (it really is worse than the Watergate scandal. No one can go on record but everyone knows what is happening through unknown sources).

Koufos has spent the last two seasons in Memphis backing up Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. He has played for four different teams over his seven years in the league.

Koufos spent parts of three seasons in Denver playing for George Karl, so he knows the “dribble-drive system” and what it is like to play under Karl.

Koufos’ contract is reportedly a four year, $33 million deal. The fourth year is said to be a player option.

Koufos – who played his college ball at Ohio State – averaged 16.6 minutes per game in 81 games for Memphis last season. He averaged 5.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game.

The Kings may be looking for a backup forward right now. Sacramento lost Derrick Williams to the Knicks. Reports had the Kings wanting to hold on to Williams.

They currently have center Ryan Hollins and forward Eric Moreland on the team. Hollis may be expendable with the addition of Koufos. Moreland was injured and missed almost the entire season in 2014-15.

The Kings could really use an experienced forward to backup Rudy Gay and Willie Cauley-Stein. Another wing player who can shoot the “3-ball” would also be of help to the team.

The Kings are said to be interested in bringing back forward Omri Casspi who played well under all three coaches last season. He is an unrestricted free agent. Casspi played for just a little over $1 million last season.