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NBA Free Agency 2018: 5 offseason targets for the Sacramento Kings

By Jerry Christodoulatos

NEW YORK, USA - JUNE 21: Marvin Bagley III walks across the stage after being drafted second overall by the Sacramento Kings during the 2018 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 21, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York, United States. (Photo by Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, USA - JUNE 21: Marvin Bagley III walks across the stage after being drafted second overall by the Sacramento Kings during the 2018 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 21, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York, United States. (Photo by Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Andrew Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by Andrew Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /

1. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Caldwell-Pope’s free agency turned out to be somewhat of a disaster last summer.  Kentavious turned down a hefty five-year offer worth a total value of $80 million from the Pistons early last July. That seemed like a big risk in the moment. Detroit subsequently renounced KCP and let him hit the unrestricted market. As cap room dried up around the league, Caldwell-Pope was hung out to dry. He had to accept a one-year, $18 million dollar deal with the Lakers midway through July.

KCP will thus hit the market again this summer. Although Caldwell-Pope’s skill set is generally in high demand around the league, teams don’t seem to have an especially high opinion of him. His reputation doesn’t seem to have caught up with his productivity just yet. Even so, KCP’s offense has generally improved with every season and he’s one of the toughest backcourt defenders in the league.

KCP has yet to lock up significant long-term money in his career. Accordingly, his top priority will be securing a rich, multi-year deal.  With the cap situation around the NBA severely strained until 2019 though, getting a big time offer seems unrealistic for the former University of Georgia standout. Will any teams really be willing to offer him much more than the full MLE?  If his market does turn out to be lukewarm, perhaps Caldwell-Pope will be amenable to signing another short deal. That way, he could become a free agent again in 2019 or 2020, when more teams have legit spending power.

The Kings could swoop in a sign Caldwell-Pope at a bargain price on a one or two-year contract. At age 25 KCP is a bit older than the core of the team, but he’s not a total timeline mismatch. He fit well on a young Lakers team last season and could really improve the struggling Kings. KCP would immediately step in as the best defender on this team. That’s not saying much given the defensive ineptitude that has long plagued this Sacramento roster.  He’s a bit too small to handle most threes across the league, but KCP can really bother guys at both guard positions.

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On offense KCP is mostly a complementary player. He’s not so creative off the bounce and he’s not an especially nuanced passer. With Fox as the primary ball handler and Bogdanovic taking on secondary creation duties, KCP can do damage off the ball. That would suit him well. Caldwell-Pope has become legit catch and shoot threat from deep, which could immensely benefit the cruddy spacing of the Kings. He had the best shooting season last year for the Lakers. Kentavious took over 50 percent of his shots from deep and nailed 38 percent of them.

Caldwell-Pope would start at the two for Sacramento. Defensive zero Buddy Hield would then move into the bench gunner role that he seems destined for at this point. KCP is definitely worth an shot in free agency; there aren’t many players that have the ability to provide stout defense across multiple positions and actually space the floor. A two-year contract in the range of $20-$25 million total seems like a reasonable compromise for both sides.

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