Why the Doug McDermott signing could signal that a Kevin Huerter trade is coming

On Wednesday, the Sacramento Kings signed sharpshooting journeyman Doug McDermott. The move was kind of expected, as the Kings recently cleared up some cap space by trading away Jalen McDaniels (before he even played a single game for them) to the San Antonio Spurs.

For the most part, the Kings adding someone to their roster wasn't that interesting in and of itself. What piqued our curiosity was the type of player they signed.

Doug McDermott makes Kevin Huerter expendable

In a sport where you have limited roster spots and financial resources, it is wise to avoid having too many redundancies on your team.

McDermott – like Kevin Huerter – is a versatile shooter and below average defender (McDermott was in the 1st percentile in Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus last season, per Dunks & Threes). So, by having both of them, the Kings have a skillset overlap.

Normally, you can never have enough shooting. However, the Kings' roster is still pretty flawed (they need more size and defense). So, the team probably can't afford to have that luxury.

McDermott (3.3 million dollars this year, per Spotrac) is a cheaper version of Huerter (16.8 million), and Huerter is the more valuable trade asset. So, the Kings may opt to keep the cheaper movement shooter and use the more sought-after one in a trade that diversifies their roster some more.

This adds up with recent reports (from yours truly) that the Kings may not be done making significant moves. However, neither Brandon Ingram nor Zach LaVine (the players they are rumored to be interested in) gives the Kings a skillset they don't already possess.  

It is worth mentioning that Huerter is a much better version of the movement shooter archetype than McDermott, and losing him would be a tough blow. However, this league isn't about accumulating as much talent as possible.

You need talent and lineup balance. And with McDermott now in the fold, the Kings may unlock more lineup balance by moving Huerter for a better-fitting role player (like Cameron Johnson or Dorian Finney-Smith).