Royal Reading: A proposed trade between the Kings and Pacers

The 2020 NBA offseason will officially begin once the NBA Finals wraps up. Sacramento Kings general manager Monte McNair will start to shape the roster to his vision as he tries to get the franchise back to the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

The pandemic’s economic fallout means we are looking at a flat cap for next season, meaning teams will not have too much wiggle room to sign free agents. This could result in a lot of player movement, especially for organizations that are up against the cap.

Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz came up with a trade that will shock each NBA fanbase and proposed this one between the Kings and Indiana Pacers:

“Sacramento Kings Receive: C Myles Turner

Indiana Pacers Receive: SF Bogdan Bogdanovic (via sign-and-trade)

While the Kings are probably more likely to trade Buddy Hield this offseason, what if they sent Bogdanovic off instead?

Myles Turner would solidify the center position and is young enough (24) and experienced enough (five years) to help Sacramento now and grow with a mostly young rotation. Hield would get his starting job back and hopefully start talking to head coach Luke Walton once again.

Indiana previously pulled off a sign-and-trade of a restricted free agent to bring in Malcolm Brogdon last year, and getting Bogdanovic to play small forward would let it shift T.J. Warren to power forward and Domantas Sabonis back to center.”

Bogdanovic turned down a four-year deal worth $50 million from Sacramento when Vlade Divac was still running the team late in 2019. The 28-year-old averaged a career-high 15.1 points and 3.4 assists while shooting 37.2% from beyond-the-arc. When head coach Luke Walton put Bogdanovic into the starting lineup in place of Buddy Hield, the Kings began to play their best basketball of the season.

Turner doesn’t have too much money on his current deal, which is worth up to $54 million over the next three seasons, with a $17.5 million cap hit. Turner put up 12.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 34.4% from the 3-point line. Sacramento has Richaun Holmes on the roster and could move him to a bench role. Playing Turner at the 5 will allow Walton to start Marvin Bagley III at power forward and will space the floor for budding All-Star De’Aaron Fox.

Bogi’s game fits well next to Fox, but the financial impact of having him and Hield on the roster — with a pending max extension for Fox — limits the Kings’ flexibility in the future.

It remains to be seen what McNair’s vision for the roster is, but that picture will become more apparent in the coming weeks.

What do you think of the proposed trade that will land Turner in Sacramento?

On to some more links:

McNair will rely on analytics to round out the roster over the coming seasons. The Athletic’s Jason Jones goes deeper into McNair’s vision and more in his latest mailbag.

Big name free agents haven’t been easy to attract to Sacramento, but the franchise has hit some home runs. Kriel Ibarrola of Clutch Points looks at the five-best free-agent signings in Kings’ history.

Sacramento is are the forefront of NBA teams when speaking out against social justice issues. The Kings will be one of the leading voices of the Team Up for Change summit on Oct. 21. (Kings.com)