It has not gone unnoticed here in Sacramento that the Kings still have plenty of cap space -- about $9 million worth. There's no real roster space, no real free agents (Wilson Chandler aside) and, given the space between the Kings and the No. 8 seed in the standings, no reason to make a big splash right this second for a veteran.
But huzzah! There is another way to use the cap space: to carry other teams' baggage for a small price. A report from the (great-)granddaddy (he's old, get it?) of NBA trade rumors, the New York Post's Peter Vecsey:
The Lakers are doing some fast talking to the Cavaliers, who are swamped by calls, as are the Kings. Sacramento leads the league in cap room, $9.4 million, whereas Cleveland has $7.1 million. Teams want them to take contracts for draft picks so they can maneuver.
The Kings could take on a veteran with an expiring contract to allow contending teams the flexibility to make bigger moves ... and grab a draft pick in the process. There aren't any obvious options, but as the March 15 trade deadline approaches, the candidates will become more clear. While, like everyone else, I long for the Kings to be the team making a big move to land a substantial contributor, in the interim -- meaning between now and July -- I'm OK with using the cap space as an asset to pick up a more tangible asset. In other words, the 2011-12 cap space is going to be useless on March 16, so let's do something with it, even if we're disappointed with having that cap space.