Sacramento Kings Add Free Agents to Bring Experience to Very Young Roster
The Sacramento Kings feature one of the youngest rosters in the NBA, but added some experienced vets to the mix on Tuesday.
The Sacramento Kings are going through another rebuild, and their roster reflects that. Before Tuesday, they only had two signed players with any extended NBA experience. Kosta Koufos, at 28 years old and entering his 10th NBA season, and Garrett Temple, 31 entering his eighth season, were the elder statesmen in the group.
Willie Cauley-Stein is entering his third season, while Buddy Hield, Malachi Richardson, and Skal Labissiere are all entering their second years. The roster also includes four rookies – De’Aaron Fox, Justin Jackson, Frank Mason, and Harry Giles – so the team added some experience to pair with the youth and enthusiasm.
On Independence Day, the Kings signed point guard George Hill to a three-year, $57-million contract, and inked power forward Zach Randolph to a two-year, $24-million agreement.
Randolph immediately becomes the oldest player on the Kings’ roster at 35 years as he enters his 16th year in the Association. The 6’9″, 260-pound Randolph is no longer the player that averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds five times in an eight-season span between the 2003-2004 season and the 2010-2011 season. His numbers have come down as his age has risen, but he’s still a productive player.
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Last season, Randolph transitioned to a role mostly off the bench for the Memphis Grizzlies, and played 24.5 minutes per game, his lowest total since his second year in the league. He still put up 14.1 points per game and pulled down 8.2 rebounds per contest in 73 games, only five of which he was in the starting lineup.
By coming to Sacramento, Randolph is reuniting with Kings’ head coach Dave Joerger. The second-year Sacramento head coach was with Memphis for the first seven seasons of Randolph’s tenure, first as an assistant before becoming head coach.
Overall in his career, which spans over 1,000 games, Randolph has averaged 16.8 points and 9.3 rebounds while shooting 47.1 percent from the floor. He’s a two-time NBA All-Star (2010 and 2013), was named to the All-NBA Third Team in 2011, and was the Most Improved Player in 2004.
Hill, now 31 years old and going into his ninth NBA season, was drafted 26th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in 2008, but had most of his best seasons with the Indiana Pacers. While with Indy, Hill scored in double-figures four of his five season and averaged career-highs with 5.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds in the2014-2015 season.
He was traded from the Pacers to the Utah Jazz as part of a three-team deal before last season, and averaged a career-best 16.9 points per game. He earned a Western Conference Player of the Week honor, coming in the of October 31st to November 6th. Hill was limited to 49 games because of some injuries, including a sprained toe that cost him 13 games.
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For his career, Hill averaged 11.8 points, 3.3 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 0.9 steals per game. He’s a career 38-percent shooter from beyond the arc, but has shot over 40 percent in each of the past two season. At 6’3″ and nearly 190 pounds, Hill is a strong defender that comes with a very long wingspan (6’9″).