Are Kings complete? McNair details offseason options after DeRozan originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Kings general manager Monte McNair and Co. have kept busy this NBA offseason, and they certainly have a lot to show for it.
Sacramento parted ways with Harrison Barnes, Davion Mitchell, Sasha Vezenkov and Chris Duarte this summer, but the team acquired Jalen McDaniels, signed Jordan McLaughlin, re-signed Alex Len and Malik Monk, and drafted Devin Carter.
But the cherry on top was landing NBA star DeMar DeRozan via a sign-and-trade deal with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs — the biggest acquisition in McNair’s Kings tenure and one that likely will wrap up Sacramento’s offseason, as he described where the team stands with possibly landing other big-name players and how it plans to fill its open roster spots for the 2024-25 NBA season.
“I think for the most part, we’re always looking to improve the team and if opportunities arise, we’ll certainly take advantage,” McNair said Monday on Sactown Sports’ “Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross.” “I do think at this point we’re expecting that this is probably the core of the group that we’ll go into training camp with. But potentially one or two more roster spots. I think we’re going to take our time a little bit. It’ll probably be more wing/forward/big. We feel pretty good at the guard spot right now. So we’ll look.
“This is a part of summer league. We’ll see what our guys can do, [it’s a] great opportunity for a lot of these young players who are not even on a roster to potentially showcase themselves. Our group’s been watching the G League and international, so [there are] a lot of different ways we can go but we’ll take our time, we’ll see what we got there and as we head into training camp we’ll fill those last couple spots, but we’re happy with the group as is.
“Again, if something comes up, we’ll certainly look at it, but I think right now this is the bulk of the group we’ll have.”
Building around Sacramento’s NBA All-Stars De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, DeRozan will provide the Kings with another reliable scorer to help take the load off of Fox, with Keegan Murray, Kevin Huerter, Monk, Keon Ellis and Trey Lyles rounding out that core depth.
The Kings have been tied to other big-name players this offseason, such as Zach LaVine, Kyle Kuzma and Lauri Markkanen.
But by the sounds of it, DeRozan likely concluded any big moves the Kings will make this summer.
Of course, never say never.
NBC Sports BayArea
