Sacramento Kings: Bargain Free Agents Team Should Target

Brandon Bass, Power Forward, Boston Celtics

Mar 27, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Boston Celtics forward

(30) shoots a free throw during the third quarter against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Boston Celtics won 96-92. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The Kings started their offseason by not tendering a contract to Derrick Williams. The team then traded away Jason Thompson and Carl Landry in a salary dump. While George Karl has stated he wants to start Rudy Gay more at the power forward position, the team doesn’t have a “true” power forward on the roster who played substantial minutes.

That is where Bass comes in. After playing four years in Boston, the team decided to go a different route and sign two different power forwards. The Celtics brought in former Raptor Amir Johnson at $24 million for two years. They also resigned Jonas Jerebko to a two-year, $10 million deal. With those two players and also Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk in the mix, it seems as if Brandon Bass is the odd man out. The Kings could swoop in and sign Bass to a deal.

Bass will be 30 by the end of the 2015-16 season and it will be his 11th season in the league. That veteran leadership is extremely valuable to young draft pick Willie Cauley-Stein. He provides much more than just veteran leadership as he can still perform on the court at his age.

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In the 2014-15 season Bass averaged 10.6 points per game, 4.9 rebounds per game, and 1.3 assists. He averaged 23.5 minutes per game. These numbers are all pretty solid and reflect highly on what he has done throughout all his career. Bass’ career stats are all within 1.5 points of his 2014-15 stats. His consistency is clear and is essential for a bench player of his caliber.

Bass is also pretty efficient shooting the ball. He is a career .489 percent shooter in eleven seasons. Bass has developed quite a solid mid-range jump shot, so being able to convert almost half of his shots, not only in the paint but on jumpers as well, is stellar.

On the defensive side of the ball, Bass holds his own. In 2014-15, Bass had a defensive rating of 106 per 100 possessions. The leader in that stat was the Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard with 96.4 per 100 possessions. Seeing as Bass is a bench player, having a defensive rating only 9.6 points away from the leader is quite impressive.

To put the cherry on top, Bass was named not only defensive player of the year, but unsung hero by NBA.com/Celtics. That just shows how important of a role he played for his former team, and the role he can play for the Kings.

The worst case scenario would be Bass starting, but in a backup role, he could prove quite valuable. Bass can be a nice low price-quality player signing at a position in which the team suddenly seems slim.

Next: Ish Smith