In sports, every spot on the roster matters. That is true for the 50 million dollar players who score 20 plus points per night to the back-end rotation guys who signed for the veteran minimum.
The reason for this is that you never know who is going to rise above the ranks and vastly outperform their cheaper contract. Take Derrick Jones Jr., for instance. The Dallas Mavericks signed him to a one-year, 2.7-million dollar contract right before the start of the 2023-24 NBA season, and he went on to start every single playoff game for them on their run to the NBA Finals.
Whenever you can get a player to over perform their contract like that, it is a huge win because you are getting production you didn't pay for. That's why it is important to try and maximize any player you use the veteran minimum on.
Sacramento Kings waive Orlando Robinson
On Tuesday, it was announced that the Sacramento Kings would be waiving Orlando Robinson. As we discussed in a recent article, by doing this on January 7, the Kings were able to get off Robinson's contract before it became fully guaranteed.
More importantly, it signals the Kings are giving up on one of the four minimum contracts they signed this offseason. Unfortunately, Robinson did end up being their version of what Jones was to the Mavericks last year. Injuries limited his availability early on, and in the end, he only played nine games for the Kings. In those contests, he averaged 2.1 PPG and 1.6 RPG.
A big problem for Robinson was opportunity. The Kings' starting center, Domantas Sabonis, is known for being incredibly durable – hardly ever missing a game (only three so far this year) and playing a lot of minutes when he is available (35.9 MPG).
When he isn't out there, the Kings have normally been using a small ball center look, which features Trey Lyles at the five. And if they do go with a conventional center, they feel more comfortable using Alex Len, who has been with the team since 2021.
By waiving Robinson, the Kings now have an open roster spot, which will be worth monitoring as we get closer to the trade deadline. Also, it looks like Jae Crowder and Doug McDermott will continue to stay with the team as January 7 has nearly passed (as of writing this), and neither of them has been waived.