Five free agent wings the Sacramento Kings could consider

The Sacramento Kings currently have 17 players signed, including three two-way deals.

Last season, general manager Monte McNair and the front office utilized every spot available, with Quinn Cook, Sam Merrill, and Kent Bazemore being the final cuts. Some intriguing free-agent wings remain on the market, and you can never have too many options in the modern NBA.

The depth chart shows the apparent void at the third-string point guard. Intriguing options are available there, but additional training camp openings would remain available after that.

With media day less than two weeks away, the options are limited. Luckily, Sacramento would be looking for depth rather than consistent rotational pieces similar to the role Terence Davis II played last season. K.Z. Okpala and Chima Moneke are solid examples, as well.

Here are five free-agent wings the Sacramento Kings could consider bringing into training camp.

Will Barton (32)

Barton has 11 years of NBA experience, with a majority of his time spent on the Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets.

In the 2022-23 season, he averaged 6.8 points, 2.0 assists, and 2.4 rebounds on 37.9 percent from the field. While his field-goal percentage is underwhelming, nearly half of his attempts came from beyond the arc, where he converted 36.7 percent of his 3.2 attempts.

Barton (6’6″) could function as a spark plug, similar to Davis’s for the Kings. He had three games of 20+ points but 26 nights where he tallied five or fewer.

Defensively, there’s a notable amount of variance between his best and worst moments. When embracing the challenge on-ball, his frame and quickness allow him to make an impact. Off-ball does not have the same amount of encouraging moments. Yet another aspect of his game that’s very comparable to Terence Davis.

Will Barton was really good last night. Great defense throughout to force 3 TOs, moved his feet, and got a nice block. And also nailed a 3 for his first points as a Raptor. Looking forward to seeing more pic.twitter.com/iVo79IoQCN

— S⚡️ (@WestSS_101) March 5, 2023

Terrence Ross (23) narrowly missed this list, but his skill set is similar to Barton’s. Kevin Huerter, Malik Monk, and Chris Duarte would assumedly be comfortably above either in the rotation, but injury insurance is a crucial part of roster construction.

Juan Toscano-Anderson (30)

Born in Oakland, Calif., Toscano-Anderson had an inspiring NBA journey. After playing four seasons of college basketball for Marquette, he spent five years outside of the United States. Four were in Mexico, and one in Argentina before he competed in the G-League for the Santa Cruz Warriors.

In February of his second season with Santa Cruz, he signed a three-year deal with Golden State, allowing him to play the final 12 games of 2019-20. Sacramento head coach Mike Brown was an assistant coach for the Warriors during Toscano-Anderson’s entire time there, including a championship victory in 2022.

Most recently, he was with the Los Angeles Lakers before being re-routed to the Utah Jazz in a three-team transaction headlined by D’Angelo Russell and Russell Westbrook. In 52 games played between those teams, the 6’6 free agent wing averaged 3.0 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 13.5 minutes.

He converted eight of his 38 (21.1 percent) three-point attempts last season and 28.6 percent on 70 attempts in the year prior, per NBA Stats. Throughout the entirety of his career, his three-point looks have gone down at a 33.1 percent rate.

The counting numbers are underwhelming, but his impact was typically felt on the defensive end.

You gotta love this defense from JTA on Jordan Clarkson pic.twitter.com/Xi8zF1hHZr

— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) May 11, 2021

Thanks to his 6’10” wingspan and relentless effort, the Marquette product has been able to contain wings on the perimeter, force turnovers, battle in the post when needed, and block the occasional shot.

After moving on from K.Z. Okpala and Chima Moneke mid-season, the Kings roster doesn’t currently feature a defensive-focused forward.

T.J. Warren (30)

Injuries. Sadly, injuries have been the main point of conversation surrounding T.J. Warren for years now. Back-to-back stress fractures in his foot led to Warren playing 46 games for three teams since 2020-21. After being unavailable for the first 23 games, Warren logged 42 showings last season, including Phoenix’s final four postseason battles with the Denver Nuggets.

When healthy, Warren is an impressive, versatile scorer with size (6’8″). He averaged 7.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assists on 48.9/32.8/80.0 shooting splits. Given the aforementioned injury history, it’s hard to predict his contributions comfortably. Finally having a healthy offseason to get back into ideal shape and tighten up aspects of his game could bode well.

He’s an upside-swing at this point of the offseason. There’s minimal downside to bringing him into training camp to evaluate his current level of play and fit in Sacarmento’s system, if Warren was open to that idea.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (28)

A former first-round pick in 2015, Hollis-Jefferson has not played in the NBA since 2020-21. Since then, he has been competing in Turkey, Puerto Rico, Korea, and the Philippines. He most recently garnered intrigue following stellar play in FIBA Basketball for the country of Jordan.

FIBA games are 40-minutes, and he averaged 38.6 minutes per night. In five games, Hollis-Jefferson averaged 23.6 points on 46.8 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from three. The only players who averaged more points per game were Luka Doncic, Jordan Clarkson, Lauri Markkanen, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Karl Anthony-Towns — nothing but current NBA players.

 

𝗜𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗨𝗥𝗘, 𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗘 🫡 🐍

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson kisses #FIBAWC goodbye with unforgettable highlights and memories.

His final stats 📊 23.6 PTS | 7.8 REB | 4.4 AST

Enjoy his 𝙄𝙉𝘾𝙍𝙀𝘿𝙄𝘽𝙇𝙀 best plays from the tournament! 🍿 pic.twitter.com/AnEu5xnTbJ

— FIBA (@FIBA) September 2, 2023

Social media dubbed him “The Kobe of Jordan” due to his off-the-dribble scoring ability. The free-agent wing was known as a defender during his time in the NBA, making his clear offensive improvements intriguing.

Javonte Green (30)

Similar to the logic with Toscano-Anderson, Javonte Green is a defense-first forward with impressive athleticism and consistent energy. He’s spent four seasons in the NBA with the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls. Green played in 28 of Chicago’s first 36 games before getting surgery on his knee.

“Javonte Green will undergo an arthroscopic debridement procedure on his right knee Wednesday, sidelining the Chicago Bulls forward for at least two more weeks.

Green has been intermittently sidelined with a bone bruise in the knee since the Bulls faced the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 12. He missed three games after the injury, then returned for a pair of three-game stints before discomfort and pain forced him back to the bench.”

• Stephen Beslic, Sports Illustrated

The December 12th game against Golden State was Green’s first start of the season, which may have continued if not for the unfortunate injury timing. Green played just over 13 minutes in game 81 of the regular season, but his current movement ability is publicly unknown.

When active, Green averaged 5.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 0.7 assists on 56.5 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from three on low volume.

If healthy, Green could be a high-flying force in the open court and a versatile, strong defender at 6’5″ with a reported 7’0″ wingspan that allows him to defend up. Sacramento could use training camp to evaluate his health and determine if he should make the main 15-man roster.

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