What did the Sacramento Kings do in the 2023 NBA Draft?
Jun 23, 2023, 9:16 AM
The Sacramento Kings walked out of the 2023 NBA Draft with a couple of new players and some cap space flexibility.
With a late first-round pick, the Beam Team had options for what they could do, keeping fans and pundits on their toes.
So, what did the Kings end up doing in Thursday night’s draft? Let’s take a look:
First Round of the NBA Draft
In a salary-cutting move, the Sacramento Kings traded Richaun Holmes and the 24th overall pick in the NBA Draft to the Dallas Mavericks.
Holmes, who has spent the past four seasons and has $24 million remaining on his contract, heads to Dallas along with 24th-overall pick Marquette forward Oliver Maxence-Prosper. The Mavericks used a traded player exception to bring Holmes’ $12 million salary in after dealing away forward Davis Bertans to Oklahoma City in a trade that took place earlier on Thursday night.
According to Spotrac’s Keith Smith, the Kings will have over $30 million (currently projected to have around $36 million) in cap space following the trade.
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Second Round of the NBA Draft
After swinging a trade that sent Richaun Holmes and the 24th overall pick to the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings made another draft trade, this time with the Boston Celtics.
The Kings used its 38th pick to make the jump to 34th to bring in Colby Jones, a prospect that many mock drafts had in the 20-30 range. Sacramento sent the 38th overall pick in the draft and a future second-round pick to the Celtics in return for Jones, who Boston selected with the 34th pick.
Later in the second round, the Sacramento Kings used its 54th selection to pick forward Jalen Slawson out of Furman University. The 23-year-old will provide Sacramento with a high-scoring, defensive wing presence–something that the Kings have lacked in recent years.
First looks at the new Sacramento Kings
The Kings will get their first look at Colby Jones and Jalen Slawson on Monday, July 3 when Sacramento opens up the California Classic at Golden 1 Center against the Golden State Warriors.
The Kings announced last month the California Classic’s return to Sacramento. Last year’s event took place in San Francisco at the home of the Golden State Warriors, the Chase Center.
In the past, the mini-summer tournament featured only the Kings, Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat. This year, the San Antonio Spurs and Charlotte Hornets, the teams with the first and second overall picks in the 2023 NBA Draft, are joining the fun.
Single-day tickets go on-sale at 10 a.m. Monday, June 26. Team rosters and broadcast information will be announced at a later date.
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