J.Ross: My Favorite Choices For The Kings in Free Agency

NBA free agency starts on July 1st.  We all eagerly await the decisions of Chris Paul, LeBron James and Kevin Durant.  What kind of dollars will they fetch and will any of them actually change teams?  As far as the Sacramento Kings go, they have money they can use this off-season but will they spend it?

Assuming that Garrett Temple opts out the Kings could have as much as 19.5 million in salary cap space.  I personally believe their biggest need is small forward.  I also believe they shouldn’t dive into any older veterans this off-season.  The last couple of off-seasons they have signed names like Anthony Tolliver, Arron Afflalo, Zach Randolph, Vince Carter and George Hill.  These veterans were fine but they were all on the back ends of their careers.  I would like them to target a small forward veteran that is younger than 27 and could grow with this young team.

With that said, here are my primary targets for the Sacramento Kings at the small forward position.  I have been extremely high on this team offering a lot of money to 22 year old Aaron Gordon from the Orlando Magic.  He actually might be a power forward but he can rebound, stretch the floor, is a great athlete and is still young but experienced.  I am not sure that the Kings can land him but that is a great target in my opinion.

Some other names that should be considered at the small forward position include Mario Hezonja, Rodney Hood, Luc Mbah a Moute and maybe even Jabari Parker.  Parker is like Gordon in that I don’t think the Kings could get him and he is more of a power forward.  Now I am going to give you a list of people that I think are realistic, affordable and could fit in very well with the Kings.

Will Barton is now 27 and has been an extremely consistent scorer for Portland and Denver either off the bench or as a starter.  He could bring offense to the Kings as last year he finished with a career high 15.7 ppg.  He is hitting the sweet spot of his NBA career and could really be a boost to this team.  His career earnings are at 9 million total so any kind of decent offer could intrigue him to come to Sacramento.

Kyle Anderson is a 24 year old small forward that has played his entire career with Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs.  This organization is so great at developing players but a lot of those players fit best in the Spurs system.  That would be the question to figure out, is could he thrive away from the Spurs?  He plays in slow motion but is a smart player and does a lot of things well but nothing great.  If you signed him the hope would be that he finds his groove in Sacramento.

Jerami Grant is a great athlete.  He is just 24 and at 6-8 could give the Kings a really good athlete and fit for this organization.  He played well in OKC with big names like Westbrook, George and Anthony around him.  He too has low career earnings so it wouldn’t cost a huge bundle of cash to land him.  The age is right, the experience is right and maybe a new home would be perfect for him.

The last one I like is Glenn Robinson III.  He has not quite played enough games for my liking but I do believe that there is a lot of potential in his game.  He fits the profile as a 24 year old that could be needing a new opportunity.  The last 3 seasons he has been in Indiana but he could really thrive here.

These names are more realistic and not huge financial burdens.  They could make the team better this year and keep a ton of cap flexibility going into next summer.  We will actually find out very soon what will happen in the crazy season of NBA free agency.

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