Category: Sports News

You probably don’t give a damn with the Sacramento Kings did during the draft. They haven’t been a contender since Andrej Stojakovic’s daddy was shooting threes in the California capitol.

But here in Dub Nation, we believe in knowing your enemies. Not in a conspiracy board and red string kind of way, but like in a “Sacramento is 90 miles from Chase Center and just picked seventh in the draft” state of mind.

So let your Gold Blooded King give you the official Kings draft debrief. Lucky you!

The Kings came into draft night with a very specific hole in their roster where a point guard used to be. De’Aaron Fox was sent to San Antonio to detonate their title dreams in the NBA Finals traded away. Dennis Schröder came and went in the blink of an eye. And Russell Westbrook, a future Hall-of-Famer, was holding down the position the way you hold down a job you know isn’t yours for long.

Sacramento needed a star. And by golly they may have found exactly that.

With the seventh overall pick they selected Darius Acuff Jr. out of Arkansas, and Sacramento may have discovered its point guard of the future.

Acuff averaged 23.5 points and 6.4 assists last season, shot 44% from three, and won SEC Player of the Year under John Calipari. Calipiari is a coach whose guard pipeline reads like a Hall of Fame waiting room: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Devin Booker, De’Aaron Fox, Jamal Murray, Tyrese Maxey, Derrick Rose, John Wall. When Calipari vouches for a guard, you don’t dismiss it.

Calipari told a story about his star guard:

Darius walked in, we just lost to Alabama. I had four guys fouled out of the game. I’m playing with two guys the last overtime that hadn’t played all year. He’s trying to will us to win. His foot is so bad, he scores 49 … I said listen, ‘You should take the next game off.’ He was in a boot. We were playing Missouri at home. He looks at me and he said, ‘Do you know we lost?’ And he got up and left. Like, I’m not sitting out we just lost a game. You don’t want that? You don’t want a guy that he is going to give you everything he has?”.

This is new for Sacramento, right? In previous years, a franchise this desperate would have traded half the future to move up two spots and overpaid for a prospect the whole league knew they wanted. Instead, apparently GM Scott Perry held firm at seven because the whole league already knew Acuff preferred Sacramento anyway. They sat there, let the pick fall into their lap, and didn’t flinch. Then they traded into the first round to select Connecticut’s Alex Karaban at No. 29, a 6’7″ wing who shot 37% from three, passes with purpose, makes quick decisions, and keeps possessions moving. Then Emanuel Sharp at 45 out of Houston, another 3-and-D guard ready to contribute real minutes immediately. Three picks. One vision.

Now before we give them a champiponship, let’s keep it real. Acuff’s defense is a genuine question mark, not media noise, and the Kings still have expensive roster decisions ahead involving players who may or may not fit what they’re building. What do they do with Zach Lavine and Demar Derozan? But as they answer those questions, it’s more than fair to give them so love so far in the process.They’ve had nineteen lottery appearances in twenty seasons so looking competent on draft night is progress.

Golden State should keep an eye out. Sacramento is building something in our backyard, quietly, without the drama, and placing their bets on standout talent.

Keep your friends close, Dub Nation. Keep your Pacific Division rivals in your group chat, your timeline, and your scouting report. Because the Dubs are gonna see these guys several times this year, and the Kings may finally have stopped behaving like the KANGZ.

The Bucks’ roster experienced a shakeup on Monday afternoon after the front office declined Andre Jackson Jr.’s $2.41m team option and Taurean Prince picked up his $3.82 million player option, per Eric Nehm. The two transactions mean that Prince will remain in Milwaukee for the 2026-27 season, while Jackson will become an unrestricted free agent.

It felt like Jackson’s exit from the Bucks was imminent throughout the season—it wasn’t until the Bucks’ 17th game that he registered a point and he appeared in just 48 games in total, the lowest of his three-year career. Across the season, he averaged only 8.5 MPG—also a career low—posting just 2.4 PPG and 1.5 RPG on .328/.250/.625 shooting. Jackson struggled heavily on offense as he failed to shore up the faulty shooting mechanics that followed him throughout last season and eventually fell behind more versatile, serviceable wings on the Milwaukee depth chart.

During his tenure in Milwaukee, Jackson gave the Bucks elite athleticism, high energy and hustle, and unselfish play. His lack of shooting was always a major issue—he was a 29% career three-point shooter at UConn—but he provided potential as a defensive disruptor and playmaking wing. Despite his time in Milwaukee appearing over, and his value as a 6’6 non-shooter low, it’s not out of the question for another NBA team to take chance on him.

While Jackson is leaving, Prince is somewhat of a surprise returnee for the Bucks, with many projecting him to seek a new home on a contender following the Giannis trade and apparent youth movement. After playing the first eight games of the season, a herniated disc and subsequent neck surgery kept Prince out of action for most of the season, but he bravely returned for the campaign’s final 18 games.

Across his 26 total games, including seven starts, Prince was as steady as ever, averaging 9.2 PPG and 3.1 RPG, connecting on 44% of his shots from long range. In addition to this heady play and shooting prowess, he provides invaluable veteran leadership on a team comprised mainly of young players.

The Detroit Pistons and restricted free agent center remain far apart on a new deal, and it has motivated Duren to seek out meetings with teams as free agency opens on Tuesday evening. The Sacramento Kings will be the first team to get a meeting, as we reported earlier, but now another team has entered the chat — the Los Angeles Lakers.

Sam Amick reports that there is a call between Duren and the Lakers scheduled for tomorrow. Any deal would require a sign-and-trade.

There aren’t many details beyond that, to be honest with you. I could have updated the original story with this morsel of information. Instead, I decided to get some of that sweet, sweet Lakers-fan SEO traffic by giving this its own story.

So let’s talk Lakers.

The easiest pathway for the Lakers is to simply let LeBron James walk to Golden State, renouncing his rights along with their other free agents gives them $51 million in cap space, per Keith Smith. As a restricted free agent, the Pistons would still have the right to match any offer. I do imagine Detroit would match any offer instead of risking losing him for nothing.

On the other hand, the two teams could work out a sign-and-trade that was palatable to the Pistons.

What do they have to offer? Honestly, not much. There are two avenues the Lakers could explore, both seem unlikely to me. The first would be a deal that includes Jarred Vanderbilt, Deandre Ayton, Dalton Knecht and a couple first-round picks for Duren.

The other, hilarious, option would be to organize some sort of dual sign-and-trade featuring Austin Reaves and Duren. It was widely reported the reason the Lakers agreed to a max deal with the Lakers is because Los Angeles knew Detroit was prepared to create the space space needed to offer him a max outright. The shoe would be on the other foot.

I can’t fathom a team widely touting the return of a star player on a max deal to then trade him days later, but it feels like a weird offseason.

The Lakers have inserted themselves into one of the biggest developing stories in the hours leading up to free agency.

After setting themselves up to try to steal Austin Reaves in free agency, the Pistons appear to have lowballed their own free agent, Jalen Duren, leading to him meeting with other teams. Among the teams he’s set to talk to? The Lakers.

Earlier in the day on Monday, Sam Amick of The Athleticalso reported that Duren and the Pistons were not close on a contract and that the big man would explore sign-and-trade scenarios, including meeting with the Kings.

All-NBA forward Jalen Duren was underwhelmed by the Detroit Pistons’ initial offer in restricted free agency and is planning to explore sign-and-trade scenarios when they are permitted on Tuesday, league sources told The Athletic.

It’s not hard to see why the two sides would be far apart in negotiations. During the regular season, Duren was one of the best big men in the league, earning Third Team All-NBA honors while averaging 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting 65% from the field.

But once the playoffs rolled around, Duren became a shell of himself, averaging 10.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and shooting 51.4% from the field. He was a huge reason for an underwhelming postseason performance from the Pistons, as they needed seven games to beat the Magic before losing in seven games to Cleveland.

Detroit is likely negotiationg from a standpoint of his postseason performance while Duren and his agent are negotiating from the standpoint of his regular season performance. For now, that gap is big enough for Duren to look elsewhere.

Still, this is restricted free agency and Detroit still holds the power. Even in a sign-and-trade scenario, the Pistons are going to have to get value back as they can simply just match Duren’s offer sheet and bring him back.

But that things have gotten to this point is notable.

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The debates about Jonathan Kuminga and the Golden State Warriors will never end. The sun will rise in the east and set in the west, oceans will rise and fall, empires will crumble, the sand will inexorably pour down the hourglass of life, and someone will still be arguing about whether Kuminga earned more minutes than Steve Kerr gave him.

Now, Kuminga’s final contract with the Warriors is officially over, as the Atlanta Hawks declined to pick up the 23-year-old’s $24.3M team option for 2026-27. The move doesn’t necessarily close the door on Kuminga to return to the club at a lower salary, but the Hawks did give Kuminga what the Warriors refused to: The chance to pick his next team.

There’s conflicting reports about the league-wide interest in Kuminga. Marc J. Spears says the Sacramento Kings are still interested in Kuminga, though they can only offer him $2.6M. Yes, much like when they proposed a trade of Dario Saric and Devin Carter for Kuminga last summer, the Kings have very little to offer for Kuminga. Sam Amick reports that the Kings are out on Kuminga, perhaps out of a wildly optimistic hope they can trade for Jalen Duren.

Kuminga had some big moments for the Hawks after heading to Atlanta alongside Buddy Hield in a deal that sent Kristaps Porzingis to the Warriors. He put up 19 and 21 points in the Hawks two wins over the New York Knicks, helping to deal the eventual champions two of the three losses they’d suffer in the entire playoffs. Kuminga averaged 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds, upping his three-point shooting to 34.6 percent, and eventually moved ahead of 2024 No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher in the Hawks rotation.

At the same time, Kuminga was limited by injuries, something that plagued him during his 2024-25 season with the Warriors as well. He played in 16 of 29 possible regular-season games for the Hawks. After missing 35 games the season before, Atlanta may have been understandably hesitant to pay Kuminga such a large sum, especially at $10M more than Nickeil Alexander-Walker and $16M more than newly-acquired three-and-D wing Aaron Wiggins.

This could be beneficial for Kuminga in the long term. He may not be getting the payday he wanted or expected — Kuminga reportedly turned down an offer for more than $100M when he became extension-eligible in 2024 — but at least he can choose a team that truly wants him.

It can’t have been easy for Kuminga last season, with the Warriors clearly only viewing him as a trade chip. The nature of restricted free agency meant that Kuminga remained in limbo all summer, hoping some team would make him an offer despite his old team threatening to match any offer. In the second-apron era, there are fewer teams than ever with salary cap space, further chilling the market. That also means Kuminga’s best hope this summer might be convincing a team to offer him the mid-level exception, which is $15M for non-taxpaying teams this summer.

In other Hawks news, the team guaranteed Buddy Hield’s full $9.66M salary for next season, rather than buy him out for $3M. It probably means they want to use his contract in a future trade, but good for Hield for getting the remainder of the proverbial bag.

All in all, the Kuminga trade has to be considered a solid win for Mike Dunleavy, Jr, & Co., after Porzingis agreed to a two-year, $40M contract Monday. Of course, waiting until February 2026 to trade Kuminga still goes down as a solid loss.

We would like to wish Kuminga luck in his next endeavors. He’s an exciting player, a world-class dunker, and a guy who contributed to an NBA title despite being in a less-than-ideal situation for five seasons. Kuminga is at a career crossroads, but wherever he ends up, we’d love to see him prove the Warriors wrong.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Wizards fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

So, you saw the news. Anthony Davis could go to the Golden State Warriors. Could he be traded there or to any of the other 28 teams not named the Warriors or Wizards? Vote below!

Hopefully Shams Charania won’t make this a NULL AND VOID SURVEY BY THE TIME THIS PUBLISHES OR SOMETIME TUESDAY!

The Golden State Warriors and center Kristaps Porzingis have reportedly agreed to a two-year $40 million contract extension, per ESPN NBA insider Shama Charania, as he was told by his agent Jeff Schwartz.

Charania’s report also said that Porzingis’ deal will include a player option after the second year, which could allow him to hit free agency following the 2026-2027 season.

Porzingis’ extension comes after he was traded to the Warriros by the Atlanta Hawks during last year’s NBA Trade Deadline.

Porzingis missed a large chunk of games last season, appearing in just 32 as he was dealing with illness [That dates back to when he was on the Celtics in 2025], an achillies, and right ankle injury.

Celtics team doctors diagnosed Porzingis with ostural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, an autonomic conditional that can increase heart rate, and cause dizziness and fatigue.

When he was on the court, Porzingis averaged 16.7 points, 5.2 total rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game.

The Warriors just snuck into last season’s NBA play in tournament before the playoffs.

Porzingis played 28 minutes in the team’s 126-121 win against the Los Angeles Clippers, where he shot 8-12 from the field, and was 3-6 at the three point line. Porzingis finished the night with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.

The Warriors season came to an end in their 111-96 loss to the Phoenix Suns on April 17, where Porzingis saw a decrease in minutes, playing 15 minutes, 4 minutes in the third and not making an appearence in the 4th quarter.

Throughout the offseason, rumors have surrounded the Warriors in acquiring LeBron James.

On Sunday night, reports came out that Golden State had interest in bringing in James, alongside his former Lakers teammate Anthony Davis.

On Monday morning, reports indicated that Draymond Greeen would be declining his $27.7 million player option to become a free agent, as a way to help the Warriors create more financial flexibility.

The Spurs have wasted no time with the negotiation period for their own free agents. After agreeing to new three-year deal with Julian Champagnie, ESPN’s Shams Charania is reporting that Harrison Barnes will return to the Spurs on a one-year, $8 million deal. He reports that the Spurs valued “his leadership and production” when negotiating the new deal.

The move will ensure Barnes returns to the Spurs for a third season. He was acquired via trade in 2024 as part of a three-way trade that sent DeMar DeRozan from the Bulls to the Kings. Barnes started in all 82 games in the 2024-25 season for the Spurs to continue a streak of three straight iron man seasons. He started this season as their starting power forward and looked on track to continue that trend. He was red hot from three through the first third of the regular season, living up to his nickname of “Mr. 100%” before his shooting fell off, and he was eventually benched in favor of Champagnie as the Spurs looked for answers during a tough January stretch. Barnes would eventually miss five games with an ankle injury to end his streak of 82-game seasons.

He eventually fell out of the main rotation all together as Mitch Johnson seemed to value Carter Bryant getting more developmental time, even in the playoffs. As a result, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see Barnes test the free agency market, but it’s quite possible that at 34 years old, there may not have been a huge market out there, and he very well may value the Spurs as much as they do him, as well as the possibility of winning another ring.

With these two moves, it’s quite possible the Spurs are aware that the power forward market is a bit dry or outside of their price range. While this doesn’t mean they won’t make any major moves or trades in free agency, the fact that they’re bringing back last season’s rotation shows that they’re prepared to run it back as a worst-case scenario, and provided Bryant continues to improve, bringing back a rotation that went to the finals and was a few blown leads from winning it all isn’t a bad thing.

Welcome back to San Antonio, Harrison!