All offseason long, we've said that the Sacramento Kings need an upgrade at power forward if they plan on contending for a title. Even after they orchestrated a sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan (making Keegan Murray their de facto starting power forward), the Kings have still been rumored to be in the hunt for another big deal.
Without question, the best player of all the ones connected to the Kings (even better than DeRozan) was Lauri Markkanen. Unfortunately, after Tuesday, the Kings will have to kiss that dream goodbye, at least for this upcoming season.
JUST IN: NBA All-Star Lauri Markkanen and the Utah Jazz are expected to agree to a massive long-term contract extension and sign Wednesday or later, making him untradeable for entire 2024-25, sources tell me, @Tjonesonthenba, @anthonyVslater.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 6, 2024
Details: https://t.co/g4ioZvcaix
In case you didn't know, on Tuesday, it was announced that the Utah Jazz and Markkanen are expected to agree to a massive extension that will make the one-time All-Star and 2022-23 Most Improved Player of the Year (MIP) untradeable through the 2024-25 season. According to the Shams Charania article we linked above, the deal is projected to be worth upwards of $200 million over five years.
The List Is Dwindling For The Kings
The Kings have had a great offseason, and they don't need to make another deal to have a chance at winning a playoff series next year. However, if the Kings do plan on adding another power forward, the list of available candidates is starting to dwindle.
Not only is Markkanen (the best option) no longer a possibility, but on Monday, we also found out that Jerami Grant prefers to stay with the Portland Trail Blazers if possible.
If the Blazers plan on placating to Grant's desires, that leaves the Kings with only Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Cameron Johnson, and Dorian Finney-Smith as realistic options to pursue. Although, the latter two forwards could be in danger of being pouched by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
As we alluded to earlier, the answer to the Kings' power forward conundrum could be as simple as Murray stepping up and filling the void. I guess we will just have to wait and see.