With the first day of free agency in the books, many fans were surprised by the relative lack of noise the Sacramento Kings were making. After signing Maurice Harkless and Alex Len to paltry deals, it appeared the team was content to sit back and watch the cards unfold around the league.
And unfold they did, as blockbuster trades were made and hundreds of millions of dollars were dolled out in the pursuit of building up contenders. Most notably, Kyle Lowry is on the move to Miami after inking an enormous deal. Western Conference rivals in Phoenix and Utah successfully negotiated the return of their star point guards, while Dallas and New Orleans through a lot of money at a lot of less-than-exciting names.
Meanwhile, Richaun Holmes waited.
He waited so long in fact, that he began to voice his concerns on Twitter, causing a bit of chaos among the fan base. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long because just hours later Holmes was signed to a four-year, $55 million dollar deal.
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— Richaun Holmes (@Rich_Holmes22) August 3, 2021
Bringing the electric big man Richaun Holmes back on a team-friendly deal may prove to be one of the biggest steals of free agency for the Sacramento Kings.
Not to say I’m qualified to evaluate talent at the level of an NBA general manager, but when you look around the league and see free agents like Tim Hardaway Jr. ($74 million), Evan Fournier ($78 million), and Duncan Robinson ($90 million) get a truckload of money in their new deals, it’s hard not to feel really good about this re-signing.
Especially when you take into consideration the Toronto Raptors were rumored to be heavily interested in Holmes. The prevailing line of thought entering free agency was that Sacramento was going to have to offer Holmes in the area of $80 million over four years to keep the big man.
Obviously, it’s much easier to feel good about this re-signing now that it won’t hamper the Sacramento Kings’ cap space for the next half-decade. Holmes’ lack of size does hurt him on defense and may mean he’s not a starting-caliber center for a championship team, but he makes up for everything he lacks in size with his physicality, heart, and hustle on the hardwood.
This deal will help keep the Kings competitive as they try to build a contender around De’Aaron Fox, and that’s what matters most here. I’m very excited to see another year of Richaun in Sacramento, and apparently, he is too.