Sasha Watch 2022-2023

[206Fan]

The following are massive assumptions:

Lets assume Sasha does not come over next year for whatever reason, now lets also assume that Barcalona is cutting huge salary (is true) and Nikola Mirotic get's out and wants to come to the NBA would the Kings offer Mirotic 2/3 year 20-30mil? Mirotic will get his final pay day while still somewhat productive at 32/33/34/35 while playing as a strech 4 and being able to be a good "go to" 3rd option guy along with Monk.

I would be ok with it, but he's not my favorite choice. He's too injury prone and doesn't play enough defense. He would be a good substitute for Sasha, but I'm not sure that we'd be this invested in Sasha if we didn't have his rights.

but the more I think about it, Mirotic would be a great bench piece with his shooting.

 

[serbiangoat]

According to Serbian news, the Greek news is reporting Sasha is 100% coming over for 2 year/9mil (might be slightly different not 100% set but in that ballpark). According to the source it could be an even longer contract of 4 years as well......
https://sportske.net/vest/kosarka/m...000-000-evra-olimpijakos-ne-moze-nista-494880

This season's Euroleague most valuable player, Alexander Wesenkov, is unlikely to play in Olympiacos greece from next season.
The brilliant Bulgarian led the Red and Whites from Piraeus until the final of the elite European competition, but the Greek club eventually lost the Title of European Champion. The winger (wing) delighted with his games, and they did not escape the Sacramento Kings, who made the final decision to hire him, media in Greece confirmed. The NBA team will set aside €1,500,000 as the 27-year-old Wesenkov's buyout clause, and Olympiacos won't ask. There remains a dilemma over the height and length of the contract between Kings and Vezenkov. The Sacramento club is reportedly offering the EuroLeague most valuable player a two-year contract worth 4,500,000 euros per season, but it is possible that the cooperation will be twice as long.

Rough google translation. The part about Olympiacos won't ask is bad translation I'm not even sure what to make of it in Serbian but there's no way imo they will waive it. Maybe it meant there no question that the Kings/Sasha will pay it.

Also on the Nikola Mirotic front he's got a 5mil Euro contract and Barca wants to half it and he does not have to accept it and can leave.....

 

[macadocious]

So, the BAE basically.

 

[funkykingston]

Two years seems right for both sides. It gives Vezenkov an escape route if he doesn't play well or just doesn't enjoy his role in the NBA but also lets him potentially jump to a bigger contract sooner if he does play well and wants to stay. Likewise for the Kings - lower risk and a chance to see if he's a significant piece of the team moving forward.

 

[206Fan]

According to Serbian news, the Greek news is reporting Sasha is 100% coming over for 2 year/9mil (might be slightly different not 100% set but in that ballpark). According to the source it could be an even longer contract of 4 years as well......
https://sportske.net/vest/kosarka/m...000-000-evra-olimpijakos-ne-moze-nista-494880


Rough google translation. The part about Olympiacos won't ask is bad translation I'm not even sure what to make of it in Serbian but there's no way imo they will waive it. Maybe it meant there no question that the Kings/Sasha will pay it.

Also on the Nikola Mirotic front he's got a 5mil Euro contract and Barca wants to half it and he does not have to accept it and can leave.....

That’s a really low salary for Sasha. Good for the Kings, but I hope he fights for more. He’s too good of a player imo

 

[pdxKingsFan]

So, the BAE basically.

Not sure about the new CBA but the BAE has had cap ramifications and Monty hasn't used it yet. I don't expect him to do so now either because it may limit his ability to move Holmes. I think there's a lot of speculation based on BAE and the math needed to make the numbers work plus him pay his own half of the buyout and still net positive. I think this will ultimately wind up at around 6 mil per, plus I expect a 3 year deal of some sort with maybe an option so that we will have Bird and RFA rights when the contract ends. Same sort of deal we made with Bogi. It would absolutely be malpractice to sign him to a 2 year deal and then have him as a free agent that we can't match a higher price on.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Not sure about the new CBA but the BAE has had cap ramifications and Monty hasn't used it yet. I don't expect him to do so now either because it may limit his ability to move Holmes. I think there's a lot of speculation based on BAE and the math needed to make the numbers work plus him pay his own half of the buyout and still net positive. I think this will ultimately wind up at around 6 mil per, plus I expect a 3 year deal of some sort with maybe an option so that we will have Bird and RFA rights when the contract ends. Same sort of deal we made with Bogi. It would absolutely be malpractice to sign him to a 2 year deal and then have him as a free agent that we can't match a higher price on.

If he's on a two-year deal we would be protected by the Gilbert Arenas provision.

 

[macadocious]

Not sure about the new CBA but the BAE has had cap ramifications and Monty hasn't used it yet. I don't expect him to do so now either because it may limit his ability to move Holmes. I think there's a lot of speculation based on BAE and the math needed to make the numbers work plus him pay his own half of the buyout and still net positive. I think this will ultimately wind up at around 6 mil per, plus I expect a 3 year deal of some sort with maybe an option so that we will have Bird and RFA rights when the contract ends. Same sort of deal we made with Bogi. It would absolutely be malpractice to sign him to a 2 year deal and then have him as a free agent that we can't match a higher price on.

@Capt. Factorial said in another thread he would still be a RFA after the BAE. I think the BAE creates a hard cap situation, but that is over the luxury tax line which we are never going into.

If it's a 3 year deal it's using part of the MLE. So any of those free agent we may be after go away, unless we release Barne's cap hold, which then we lose his bird rights. So he would for sure be gone.

The Holmes thing is the biggest "WhoTFKnows" part of the off season. We could trade him, keep him, stretch him. All depends on what else is available out there.

 

[macadocious]

TOO FAST Cap'n

 

[pdxKingsFan]

@Capt. Factorial said in another thread he would still be a RFA after the BAE. I think the BAE creates a hard cap situation, but that is over the luxury tax line which we are never going into.

We won't this year, but if we re-sign Barnes and then extend Domas to 30+ I am not sure where we'll be?

I assume we'd use the remainder of the MLE and we'd also use it next year, plus we'd figure out how to turn Holmes into a player on similar money that contributes. Not sure how close we'd be to luxury territory at that point. I assume if we are a second round or WCF team in 2 seasons Vivek is going to pay. I am squarely in the camp that thinks Vivek isn't cheap just because he let random FO people go without directly replacing them or traded a second rounder for cash. I think winning is important to him he just struggled to get there because basketball and sports ownership doesn't entirely work the same way as the other businesses he has had success with. Tech people seem to be extremely difficult to impress that upon, even within different sectors of tech.

 

[iowamcnabb]

This is an interesting development if true. Ham said before last season that Sasha wanted the BAE and we wanted to carve out a smaller part of the mle for him

 

[Capt. Factorial]

@Capt. Factorial said in another thread he would still be a RFA after the BAE. I think the BAE creates a hard cap situation, but that is over the luxury tax line which we are never going into.

If it's a 3 year deal it's using part of the MLE.

If we use the BAE, we would be hard-capped at the apron (expected to be $169M, so not really a big deal for this year). Obviously we could carve out a BAE-sized chunk of the MLE.

If the BAE is enough $$ to get Sasha to come the upsides of using the MLE instead of the BAE would be:
1) Apron concerns (not relevant to our situation)
2) Keeping BAE for next year
3) Giving 3 or 4 years, which would have implications for Sasha's next contract (3 = RFA but no Arenas provision and Kings have full Bird Rights, 4 = UFA, Kings have full Bird Rights)

The downsides would of course be:
1) Can't spend full MLE on a ~$10M player, because you used some of it

 

[pdxKingsFan]

This is an interesting development if true. Ham said before last season that Sasha wanted the BAE and we wanted to carve out a smaller part of the mle for him

I think re: last season there is a TON of speculation that is utter hogwash.

And Ham was definitely pushing the narrative that Monte and Vivek were cheap with no clue what they were doing hard last summer.

 

[Vinny Basketballerino]

According to Serbian news, the Greek news is reporting Sasha is 100% coming over for 2 year/9mil (might be slightly different not 100% set but in that ballpark). According to the source it could be an even longer contract of 4 years as well......
https://sportske.net/vest/kosarka/m...000-000-evra-olimpijakos-ne-moze-nista-494880


Rough google translation. The part about Olympiacos won't ask is bad translation I'm not even sure what to make of it in Serbian but there's no way imo they will waive it. Maybe it meant there no question that the Kings/Sasha will pay it.

Also on the Nikola Mirotic front he's got a 5mil Euro contract and Barca wants to half it and he does not have to accept it and can leave.....

TRUE IF BIG.

Ziveo @serbiangoat

I will point out that him coming over on that humble salary likely means he understands he'll be competing for playing time, etc. just like everyone. I really like the looks of this. I think he's essentially our 7th man and first big off the bench once he gets his sea legs.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

It's so humble a salary he will come out ahead after paying at least half of his buyout out of his own pocket.

 

[SacTownKid]

That salary would fit into a room MLE as well wouldn't it? I mean, the Kings could also have cap room to do it as well. We have to see.

 

[The_Jamal]

Two years seems right for both sides. It gives Vezenkov an escape route if he doesn't play well or just doesn't enjoy his role in the NBA but also lets him potentially jump to a bigger contract sooner if he does play well and wants to stay. Likewise for the Kings - lower risk and a chance to see if he's a significant piece of the team moving forward.

Do we still get his RFA rights, because he's technically a rookie?

If not, I'd push for a 3 year deal. By the time that contract comes up, we're going to be long past the point of having any sort of cap space.

 

[SacTownKid]

I'm sure whatever the deal is Monte won't screw it up to where Sasha could just leave. I can very easily see Sasha wanting as short a deal as possible though for various reasons stated by some others as well as a quick escape plan in case he busts or he's not happy.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

That salary would fit into a room MLE as well wouldn't it? I mean, the Kings could also have cap room to do it as well. We have to see.

It would fit into the Room MLE - in fact the Room MLE would be a little bigger - it was $5.4M last year. But the Room MLE is limited to a 2-year deal.

That's the kind of deal we might try to do if we decide to let Barnes go. We can clear our cap holds (except for Lyles), hold on to Edwards/Queta/Ellis, and still have about $20M in cap space if we stretch Richaun (I'm not sure about how willing we will be to do that, we may find out). Spend the $20M, use Room MLE on Sasha, use Early Bird for Lyles.

 

[Vinny Basketballerino]

It's so humble a salary he will come out ahead after paying at least half of his buyout out of his own pocket.

Anyone know the rules on teams paying the buyout fee and how it affects salary cap? @Capt. Factorial I assume does. Excuse me, Salary Capt Factorial.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Anyone know the rules on teams paying the buyout fee and how it affects salary cap? @Capt. Factorial I assume does. Excuse me, Salary Capt Factorial.

750k the team can pay, rest the player does.

 

[Vinny Basketballerino]

I'm sure whatever the deal is Monte won't screw it up to where Sasha could just leave. I can very easily see Sasha wanting as short a deal as possible though for various reasons stated by some others as well as a quick escape plan in case he busts or he's not happy.

Ever since the Kings started contracting with my nonna to provide lasagna to newly signed free agents - we've had very little trouble with players wanting to leave. Oh you thought this amazing Kings culture wasn't fueled in part by The Sauce™??

 

[Capt. Factorial]

750k the team can pay, rest the player does.

The team can actually pay up to $825K for '23-'24. That $825K does NOT count towards team salary.

In some cases the player will pay a portion of the buyout, but this is considered "what they do with their own money" and has no salary cap implications, either. Their contracted NBA salary is the salary applied to the NBA salary cap, even if they send some money off to Olympiacos.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

The team can actually pay up to $825K for '23-'24. That $825K does NOT count towards team salary.

In some cases the player will pay a portion of the buyout, but this is considered "what they do with their own money" and has no salary cap implications, either. Their contracted NBA salary is the salary applied to the NBA salary cap, even if they send some money off to Olympiacos.

Is that just scheduled to go up 10% or was it part of the new CBA?

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Is that just scheduled to go up 10% or was it part of the new CBA?

The buyout amount has been rising on schedule by $25K a year for a while. Your $750K number was a couple years out of date. I don't know what the new CBA has, haven't seen it yet.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

The buyout amount has been rising on schedule by $25K a year for a while. Your $750K number was a couple years out of date. I don't know what the new CBA has, haven't seen it yet.

oh weird, I saw 750k as the number last year. because I only know from following the Sasha saga.
It's kind of a dumb rule if the NBA wants to have the best talent in the world, but I guess it also protects teams from Euro clubs putting crazy buyouts on every top prospect knowing the teams can/will pay it.

 

[iowamcnabb]

"I feel very good when specialists and coaches say nice words [about me] but I know it's a business and it's all about how, what, and when. We agreed that it would be fairest to finish the EuroLeague season and then talk. We'll see if they have a specific offer," Vezenkov continued. "I'm ready for new challenges but, as I've said before, Athens and Olympiacos are my home and I feel great. For me, the most important thing is what's best for my future."

 

[MizzouKing]

"I feel very good when specialists and coaches say nice words [about me] but I know it's a business and it's all about how, what, and when. We agreed that it would be fairest to finish the EuroLeague season and then talk. We'll see if they have a specific offer," Vezenkov continued. "I'm ready for new challenges but, as I've said before, Athens and Olympiacos are my home and I feel great. For me, the most important thing is what's best for my future."

I think the hesitation we’re seeing right now is just the timing of the situation. He’s poured his blood, sweat, and tears into his team and their fan base for the last 9 months; they won awards and came this close to winning it all, with thousands and thousands of fans bought in and supporting them. Throwing that all aside in an instant isn’t just unrealistic…it would be really bad form. Whatever the back channel conversations with the Kings FO, we should probably expect the situation to take some more time to evolve in the public eye.

 

[Dime Dropper]

"I feel very good when specialists and coaches say nice words [about me] but I know it's a business and it's all about how, what, and when. We agreed that it would be fairest to finish the EuroLeague season and then talk. We'll see if they have a specific offer," Vezenkov continued. "I'm ready for new challenges but, as I've said before, Athens and Olympiacos are my home and I feel great. For me, the most important thing is what's best for my future."

This, to me, reads like he is ready to come over; he just wants to be paid fairly.

I think it's a promising statement. If he had decided to stay, I think his words would lean much stronger towards not coming over.

 

[SacTownKid]

I think the hesitation we’re seeing right now is just the timing of the situation. He’s poured his blood, sweat, and tears into his team and their fan base for the last 9 months; they won awards and came this close to winning it all, with thousands and thousands of fans bought in and supporting them. Throwing that all aside in an instant isn’t just unrealistic…it would be really bad form. Whatever the back channel conversations with the Kings FO, we should probably expect the situation to take some more time to evolve in the public eye.

And it's not bad to put a little pressure with a little help from the media on the Kings right before dollars get discussed, lol.