When considering trade assets for the Sacramento Kings, the most common names plugged into the trade machine are Kevin Huerter and Trey Lyles. The two were reportedly shopped dating back to last season’s trade deadline, and continue to be two of the Kings most likely to find a new home before the next deadline. But there are a couple of other Kings players that could have surprising value at the deadline, according to a theory put forth by Jake Fischer. Fischer is a tenured NBA reporter who most recently joined Marc Stein’s substack, and had an interesting article on a trade trend to monitor. The key detail around Fischer’s story is this:
Here’s the small print that inspired this whole piece: That wonkiest rule — let’s call it the One-Dollar Rule — gets suspended on Dec. 15. The date universally known as the unofficial start of NBA Trade Season, then, isn’t solely the day that numerous free agents signed in the summer become eligible for trade. It’s also the day that the One-Dollar Rule restricting the number of minimum contracts that can change hands in a trade gets lifted through the Feb. 6 trade deadline. From Dec. 15 until the trade buzzer sounds, teams can suddenly move as many minimums as they wish to help grease legal swaps.
Wonky, yes, but also important to file away.
Fischer expects that minimum contracts are going to be surprisingly valuable this year, and presumably going forward in this new CBA. While he discusses a few unique scenarios, the key idea is that with the salary matching requirements facing many teams, stacking minimum contracts is a valuable tool to reach matching for trades. Three-team trades to include additional minimum contracts could also be in play.
That could lead us to more three-team trades, like the creative route New York took to get Towns. I already wrote about the rise of multi-team deals last November. This season I’m anticipating second-apron teams like Milwaukee and Phoenix to scour the market for minimum-contract additions. Because any team, regardless of their cap situation, can always sign or trade for a player by way of the minimum exception. That doesn’t include two-ways converted into minimum contracts, like Grizzlies center Jay Huff, because Memphis technically used a piece of their mid-level exception to sign Huff. But any team can acquire or trade out players initially inked to a veteran’s minimum contract any time.
With this in mind, the Sacramento Kings have 5 minimum contracts on the book that may hold surprising value at the deadline.
Before I go into specifics a quick tip of the cap to Spotrac, the site I rely on for contract details for the Kings and every other team.
Colby Jones and Orlando Robinson
Colby Jones has two more seasons under contract, but neither is guaranteed at this point. He is guaranteed $1.1 million next season if not waived by 7/1/25, and the final year of the contract is a club option. Jones is a young player that a team can kick the tires on, still have team control over if they like what they see, but is essentially an expiring contract if the team decides they don’t like him. While we may be tired of watching Colby Jones minutes this season, he could prove an interesting inclusion in trade packages especially for rebuilding teams who don’t want to take on long term salary.
Orlando Robinson is an interesting trade chip based on his contract structure. Robinson is only guaranteed $500k of his $2.08 million contract, with the contract becoming fully guaranteed on 1/10/25. A team wanting to shed money for luxury tax purposes could acquire Robinson before January 10th and waive him, trading away guaranteed money for unguaranteed and reducing their cap hit. If Robinson isn’t traded before January 10th he’d still be an expiring contract. As an added bonus, Robinson will be a restricted free agent after the season, so if a team acquired him after 1/10 as an expiring contract but he ended up playing well, the acquiring team could still maintain player control.
The Rest of the Minimums
The Kings have several other minimum contract players that could be included in trades as well. Doug McDermott is also only guaranteed $750k with the same 1/10/25 guarantee date as Robinson, but due to when he was signed Doug cannot be traded until 1/16/25. While he doesn’t offer the same immediate savings options as Robinson, Doug does still come with a beneficial wrinkle. Despite making $3.3 million on his contract due to his years of experience in the NBA, Doug is still a minimum contract and only counts against the salary cap, luxury tax, and apron penalties for the standard $2.08 million.
Alex Len is fully guaranteed, but has the same benefits as McDermott. Len’s $3.3 million contract only counts as $2.08 million for cap purposes. Same for Jordan McLaughlin, who will make $2.4 million but counts for slightly less against the cap.
All together, the Kings have 5 minimum contracts that could be included in deals before the deadline (because he was signed later in the season Jae Crowder cannot be traded until 2/27/25, after the 2/6/25 deadline). If Fischer is right and minimum contracts become valuable, perhaps the Kings can use those contracts to improve the team or add some other assets to the war chest. Trade season unofficially kicks off on December 15th, when most players signed this past summer become trade eligible.