The Sacramento Kings had a busy 2025 Trade Deadline cycle, trading away five players in return for three new ones. One of those three new players was third-year wing Jake LaRavia.
So far, LaRavia has proven to be a nice rotation piece for the Kings, even contributing to one of their best turnover-inducing lineups.
The Carter-Keon-LaRavia lineup was hilariously disruptive. Just 19 minutes played together this season, but they've forced 29.2 turnovers per 100 possessions lol pic.twitter.com/PVdu0hm3YG
— Skyler (KFR) (@SacFilmRoom) March 18, 2025
Unfortunately, while LaRavia has proved to be a solid acquisition for the Kings, they may have some trouble keeping him after this season; unless they use this creative signing strategy.
How the Kings can retain Jake LaRavia
As John Hollinger did a wonderful job ofhighlighting in a recent article for The Athletic, the Kings are limited in what they can offer LaRavia in free agency this summer. This is because his former employer (the Memphis Grizzlies) declined his fourth-year player option.
So, the Grizzlies and the team they traded him to (us) can only offer him roughly 5.2 million dollars next season. Meanwhile, the other 28 teams are not straddled by those restrictions. So, a team that is really high on him could offer him the mid-level exception and swoop him up from under us.
Fortunately, as we alluded to earlier, there is a way for the Kings to work around this. They could offer LaRavia a two-year deal, with the second year being a player option. This gives LaRavia some long-term stability while also giving him some room to be flexible.
If he has a mediocre season next year, he can opt into the second year of his deal and have a guaranteed payday for 2026-27. And if he takes the leap we often see from guys entering their mid-20s, LaRavia can decline that option and enter free agency once more. By that time, the Kings would have full Bird rights and be able to re-sign for any amount.
LaRavia isn't a franchise-changing player, but he is a good player, who is still young, and has a playstyle that fits well on most rosters (he's got size and can dribble, pass, and shoot). This cap loophole gives the Kings a chance to retain a player who they could potentially trust with minutes in the postseason.
On the season, LaRavia is averaging 7 PPG, 4 RPG, and 2.4 APG on 59.1% true shooting. He is in the 50th percentile in Offensive Estimated Plus-Minus and 50th percentile in Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus (per Dunks & Threes).