Remember how the Sacramento Kings have been a laughingstock for most of the past 13 years in which they haven’t made the playoffs? And how they suddenly looked like a young team on the rise last year who could move into the upper echelon of the NBA if they kept their intriguing young core together?
Well, here we are. The Kings have patiently built a fun, talented team that may not make the playoffs in the crowded West, but there’s so much promise down the road.
The only problem is their cap sheet. They paid Harrison Barnes this offseason (a reported four years, $85 million), gave talented center Dewayne Dedmon $41 million over three years and acquired Cory Joseph for three yeras and $37 million.
But looming is what to do with Buddy Hield. That’s the same Buddy Hield who exploded last year by putting up 20.7 ppg and an eye-popping 42.7 percent from beyond the arc. Another “hey, remember that?” worth mentioning: the Kings ended up winning that DeMarcus Cousins trade everyone (including myself, I’ll fully admit!) ridiculed. There are people making Steph Curry comparisons.
Yet Hield isn’t happy with what the Kings are offering — per Yahoo, it’s a four-year, $90 million offer and Hield wants somewhere in the $110 million range — so he told the media he was insulted, adding, “If they don’t want me here, I’ll find somewhere else.”
This is a pretty easy call here: give Hield the extra $20 million he’s asking by Monday’s deadline and that’s it. Yes, there’s also Bogdan Bogdanovic, who also needs an extension, but Hield is the priority here. I’ve seen people rolling their eyes at the idea that $90 million is an “insult,” but that’s not the point here.
The Kings have spent so long mired in the NBA muck that retaining a player who’s living up to the hype and then some (the Curry comparisons came with him from Oklahoma to the draft) has to happen, even if it puts a dent in their salary cap. Hield is a centerpiece who might be even better in 2019-20, and he’s even talking about trying attract big names to Sacramento, which might be harder than it sounds, but if there’s a player who free agents might want to play with, it’s a guard who can shoot the lights out.
That’s worth the extra money, especially if you don’t want the headache that’s bound to come with an angry Hield who may follow through on seeking employment elsewhere even though the Kings could match whatever huge offer comes his way.
But it shouldn’t come to that. Pay the man.
[jwplayer iemBRmdg-q2aasYxh]
