The Sacramento Kings could actually be a player in this year’s edition of NBA free agency. After drafting Marvin Bagley III with the second overall pick in last week’s NBA draft, Sacramento has a young core of players that might be ready to make some noise next season.
According to K.J. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, the Kings are interested in signing Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine to an offer sheet. LaVine is a restricted free agent, meaning that he can sign an offer sheet by another team, but the Bulls will have the opportunity to match it.
Johnson mentioned that the Bulls would prefer to re-sign LaVine between the $14-$16 million per year range, but would not be surprised if another team went above that amount to the tune of $20 million per year.
If Sacramento decided to sign LaVine to an offer sheet, they could sign him to a potential four-year, $80 million contract. However, the Bulls would have 72 hours to match it.
The high-flying guard only played in 24 games this past season for the Bulls, rehabbing from a torn left ACL injury that he suffered the previous season.
However, within that timespan, LaVine showed he could be a potential franchise building block for the Bulls.
He averaged 16.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in 27.3 minutes per game. The former UCLA product also shot 38.3 percent from the field and 34.1 percent from three-point range.
Before suffering an ACL injury in the 2016-17 season, LaVine was on his way to becoming an offensive threat for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
But Minnesota ultimately traded the 6-foot-5 guard to the Chicago Bulls during last year’s NBA draft for Jimmy Butler.
Nevertheless, LaVine isn’t the only restricted free agent that the Kings are interested in. A couple of days ago, James Ham of NBC Sports California reported that Sacramento is interested in signing RFA Jabari Parker.
Both players are coming off of injuries and a team like the Kings would be willing to take the risk of either signing them or driving up the price.
