Sacramento Kings Trade Rumors: Kings Deal Three Players To Philadelphia 76ers
Sacramento Kings trade rumors reveal a huge deal took place with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Kings traded Carl Landry, Jason Thompson, and 2014’s No. 8 overall draft pick Nik Stauskas. In exchange for the three players, the 76ers send back the rights to several overseas players and a future second-round draft pick. A report from Yahoo! Sports late Wednesday (July 1) also confirms that the Kings will trade a protected future first-round draft pick to the 76ers to close the deal.
The only way to look at this deal is as a salary dump, as the Kings trade away three guaranteed contracts in order to get further under the salary cap. Since both teams involved in this deal are under the cap already, they don’t have to match salaries to get complete the trade. Carl Landry is owed $6.75 million in each of the next two NBA seasons, and Jason Thompson is owed about $13.3 million split over that same time period. Stauskas makes just under $2.9 million for the 2015-16 NBA season and then has two team options for the remaining two years of his rookie contract.
This Sacramento Kings trade gets the team about $16 million further under the cap for the coming NBA season, dropping the team total to about $36 million. That will give the front office a lot of money to chase after free agents like point guard Rajon Rondo. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the team had already been shopping forward Rudy Gay to try to make room under the cap, but have now found a way to hold on to Gay and create that space. Now it could be much easier to pursue Rondo in free agency as well.
The Philadelphia 76ers have added more bodies by agreeing to this deal, helping to increase the salary total past the $24.1 million they already had on the books. The team is putting together a good roster of big men, including Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel, and Jahlil Okafor. They aren’t really ready to compete for a spot in the postseason, though, so this trade gets the salary totals above the NBA minimum to avoid penalties from the league.
These Sacramento Kings trade rumors show just how hard the front office is working at putting a competitive team on the court again. By dealing away three good role players, though, the team will not only have to find a way to sign a big name in free agency, but also a few additional bodies to fill out the 15-man roster.
[Image Source: Nick Laham/Getty Images]
