Here’s where things stand for the Sacramento Kings heading into summer

With a plethora of cap space and no first round pick, the Sacramento Kings are poised to be major free agency players for the first time in a long time.

The Sacramento Kings are in unfamiliar territory this offseason. After yearly trips to the NBA Draft lottery, the Kings were left on the outside looking in this year, thanks to a short-sighted trade in 2015.

Thankfully for the team and its fans, the Sacramento Kings have a ton of cap space and three second round picks. Whether or not you trust the Kings to make the right moves with those assets is a different story, but they are available.

The draft, however, is fast approaching and soon after that follows free agency (opening on June 30 this year, not July 1). So where do things stand as we head into the dog days of summer?

Cap Space

Projected Cap Space: $38.4 million

Max Cap Space: $62.6 million

Remember when I said the Sacramento Kings have a lot of cap space? I wasn’t kidding.

Currently, the Sacramento Kings are actually over the cap, but will change when they renounce the rights to Kosta Koufous, Alec Burks, Corey Brewer and, likely, Willie Cauley-Stein. Some of those players (such as Brewer) might be brought back, but the Kings will look to clear their cap holds ASAP.

The Kings are also likely to waive both Frank Mason III and Yogi Ferrell, as neither performed well this season and both are on partial or non-guaranteed contracts.

Should Harrison Barnes decline his player option and walk though, the Sacramento Kings cap space goes from around $40 million to over $60 million, but unless they’re signing Kevin Durant, Tobias Harris or Jimmy Butler, Barnes leaving would be a disaster.

Contracts – Seven guaranteed, two partial/non-guaranteed

Guaranteed Contracts: Marvin Bagley III ($8.5 million), Nemanja Bjelica ($6.8million), Bogdan Bogdanovic ($8.5 million), De’Aaron Fox ($6.3 million), Harry Giles III ($2.5 million), Buddy Hield ($4.8 million), Caleb Swanigan ($2 million).

Partial/Non-Guaranteed Contracts: Frank Mason III ($1.6 million), Yogi Ferrell ($3.1 million).

The Sacramento Kings have eight players with guaranteed contracts heading into next year, most of which figure to be important players on next year’s team. Caleb Swanigan could be cut to clear a roster spot, so keep an eye out for that.

As for partial/non-guaranteed’s, we already touched on that above, so there’s not much left to say here other than be ready to say goodbye to Yogi and Frank.

Free Agents – Four unrestricted, three restricted

Harrison Barnes (UFA – $25 million player option ), Corey Brewer (UFA – $2.4 million cap hold), Alec Burks (UFA – $17.3 million cap hold), Willie Cauley-Stein (RFA – $14 million cap hold), B.J. Johnson (RFA), Kosta Koufos (UFA – $16.6 million cap hold), Troy Williams (RFA – Two-Way).

Harrison Barnes and Corey Brewer should both be brought back next season, though it’s not implausible that Brewer might walk for greener pastures, though he has signaled a desire to return.

Alec Burks didn’t provide much for the team after coming over via mid-season trade, so he’s likely gone. As is Kosta Koufos, whose role has diminished significantly over the last two season, though he could be brought back on a minimum salary as a locker room player. B.J. Johnson and Troy Williams are two players who could be two-way candidates next season, though Williams might have played his way into a more permanent stay with the Kings.

Willie Cauley-Stein is the big question mark here. All reports seem to suggest that Cauley-Stein is as good as gone, but we don’t know what his market will be. He’s still just 25-years-old, so it’s not hard to envision a rebuilding team throwing a big contract at him, which the Kings would be foolish to match. If his market doesn’t develop, however, the Kings might bring him back for a year or two if the price is right. Whether that’s a good idea or not is a whole other question.

Draft Picks – Three

• 40th overall
• 47th overall
• 60th overall

The Kings, as we said earlier, don’t have a first round draft pick this year, they do, however, have three second round picks. We haven’t heard much from the Sacramento Kings on where they’re planning on going in the draft and though their pre-draft workouts have given hints, it’s unlikely the Kings will use all three picks.

The 40th and 47th picks are a good bet to be packaged to move up, especially if a player the Kings really like has fallen to the 30-35 range, but it’s entirely possible the Kings strike gold on a pair of players falling to them like Shamorie Ponds and Admiral Schofield. The draft, as always, remains impossible to predict and with the possibility of a truly crazy night of trades on draft day, anything is possible .

The 60th pick, however, is a good bet to be (figuratively) thrown away. Isaiah Thomas remains the only 60th pick to make a real impact in the NBA, and it’s hard to see that changing this year. If the pick isn’t traded, look for the Kings to take an international player as a stash or for them to take a flyer on somebody like UCF’s Tacko Fall.

Free Agent Targets

Nikola Vucevic: Vooch has been one of many free agents linked to the Sacramento Kings since the season ended, and he may very well be the best. Coming off a career year with the Magic, Vucevic fills a lot of needs for the Kings and that might get him rewarded with a four-year, max contract.

Tobias Harris: When word broke that the Kings were going to be a suitor for Tobias Harris, you could almost hear the fan base lose it’s collective mind. Harris is one of the best free agents this season and would be well-worth any offer the Kings made to him. If they can get him, look out, NBA.

Harrison Barnes: This goes without saying, but Barnes almost has to retained at all costs. He’s an incredibly important piece of this team, and there’s a dearth of good small forwards on the market this year. Unless the aforementioned Tobias Harris, Jimmy Butler or Khris Middleton decide to come to Sacramento, losing Barnes would be a disaster.

Marcus Morris: Morris was recently linked to the Kings and it’s not hard to see why. He’s an excellent shooter and would provide much-needed depth for a team that was lacking in that department last season. Depending on the price, Morris could be a nice get for the Kings.

Patrick Beverley: The Sacramento Kings are in dire need of two things — a backup point guard, and defense. Beverley brings both of those things and has been a fan-favorite everywhere he goes. It’s unlikely he leaves the Clippers, but the Kings should try to court him anyway.

Offseason Goals

Re-sign Harrison Barnes, sign a good backup point guard and add some depth. Sounds simple, but we’ve all seen teams completely botch phenomenal in-season development with awful offseason decision-making.

Will that be the case this season? We sure hope not, but with Vlade Divac forcing himself to go all out to make the playoffs this season after firing Dave Joerger, there’s a non-zero percent chance things go wrong this summer.