by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings have an estimated $59-million of available money under the $99-million salary cap limit for the 2017-18 season to sign free agents to play for the team. Part of that money — approximately $9-million — will go to Serbian shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic who the team signed to a three-year contract last week.

 

The Kings obtained the rights to Bogdanovic last year in a draft-day trade that sent Marquese Chriss to Phoenix and ultimately netted the Kings Georgios Papagiannis, Skal Labissiere and the signing rights to Bogdonovic.

Bogdanovic refused to sign with the Phoenix after being drafted by the Suns in 2014. By waiting until 2017, Bogdanovic was able to bypass the NBA Rookie System and enter the league in the Free Agent salary pool. He rolled the dice, played well in Europe for Fenerbahce of Turkey who won the EuroLeague Championship in 2017. Now he is a member of the Sacramento Kings making big dollars.

Signing the 6-foot-6 shooting guard fills a major need for the Kings but does not complete the many needs the Kings have for experienced players at key positions. Sacramento is a very young team at point guard, small forward and power forward. They need some veterans to play vital minutes until very young players can be developed to take over those positions which could take one to three seasons.

The Free Agent Market Opened on July 1

The Kings have been active in trying to interest free agents to come to Sacramento. The Kings were rumored have been fringe players in the Andre Iguodala sweepstakes. Not that it was a realistic pursuit, but it does prove the team has their sights set high.

Currently, they Kings are rumored to have made an offer to Restricted Free Agent Otto Porter, Jr. Reports have the Kings meeting with Porter on Sunday and offering him a maximum contract of $106-million over 4-years to take over the small forward role for the club. The Kings lost their veteran small forward when Rudy Gay decided to opt out of the final year of his contract to become a free agent.

Porter had his best best year as a pro in 2016-17 for the Washington Wizards. He averaged 13.7 points per game in 32-minutes of playing time. Porter shot 51.6-percent overall from the floor (43.4-percent from 3-point range). He averaged 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

As a restricted free agent, the Wizards have the right to match any offer that Porter receives from another team. Washington has indicated they intend to match any such offers; however, matching a “max offer of $106-million over four years would put the Wizards over the salary cap and force them to pay luxury tax. Most observers feel the team really does not want to pay that tax and will let Porter walk.

If the Wizards are inclined to let Porter go because of the money, that does not mean he automatically winds up in Sacramento. He is reportedly meeting with the Nets on Monday and will be meeting with a third unnamed team this week.

Porter is just 24-years old so he fits the Kings youth movement perfectly. He also has four years of experience that would be very welcome on team that is so young and full of rookies.