Sacramento Kings: What was the team’s best move of the offseason?

The Sacramento Kings had a pretty successful offseason by most measures, but now that the dust has settled, what was the team’s best move of the summer?

Despite what many critics may be claiming, the Sacramento Kings actually had themselves a pretty solid offseason. They set themselves up for success in the short-term while also keeping their long-term options open as well.

On the surface, it seems hard to argue with that strategy.

Rather than make the splashy max-contract signing that many fans likely hoped they would, the Kings had a different approach. Instead, Sacramento made a collection of lower-profile signings that fit the team’s current roster and future planning.

We’re talking scheme fits, front-loaded contracts, and high-work-ethic leaders.

They didn’t land a Nikola Vucevic or a Tobias Harris. Al Horford didn’t even find his way to Sacramento. But at the end of the day, the Kings offseason couldn’t have worked out much better than it did.

However, this bears the following question. What was the Kings best move of the entire offseason?

To determine this, criteria such as contract details, scheme fit, and of course player caliber must be considered.

Undoubtedly the biggest move that the Kings made this offseason — at least financially speaking — was the re-signing of Harrison Barnes. Consequently, there has been no move more controversial than this one.

The Kings handed Barnes a four-year, $85 million contract extension in the offseason and while some view that has a massive overpay, others point to his true value and the Kings’ current situation as possible rationale.

The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle, but in no way was his contract as bad as many have made it out to be. Barnes came in last season and solidified the small forward position for the Kings.

And in free agency, Sacramento was unlikely to find a better option than Barnes. Harris wasn’t going to come here and neither were any of the other top players on the market.

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Was it in an overpay? Yes, absolutely. But not by as much as many have made it seem. And it also bears repeating that the Kings — a small-market team — are regularly forced to overpay for free agents.

It’s just the way of the business.

But even though Barnes’ contract is not nearly as bad as the general consensus, his re-signing still wasn’t the Kings best offseason move.

You could make the argument that from a pure value standpoint, the Kings best signing was that of 26-year-old big man Richaun Holmes. Holmes was signed well into free agency to a modest two-year, $10 million contract which is a steal for a player of his caliber.

The former Phoenix Suns big has spent the past four seasons serving as a spark plug, high-energy bench contributor. His hustle outputs solid rebounding and block production and he’s very efficient on his close-range shots.

But even though Holmes’ contract is likely the best true value, that doesn’t mean it was the “best” move as his impact will likely be limited because of his bench role.

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For that reason, the Kings best move this offseason has to be the signing of center Dewayne Dedmon. Sacramento gave the former Atlanta Hawks big man a three-year, $40 million contract this offseason to hopefully serve as a major upgrade at the center position.

He isn’t Vucevic and he isn’t Horford. But there was no player on the open market that better fit what the Kings were looking for than Dedmon.

The 29-year-old is a plus three-point shooter with above-average rebounding and rim-protecting skills. Basically, everything that Willie Cauley-Stein was not.

His contract gives the Kings flexibility if they’d like to replace him in the future and also allows them to continue grooming someone like Harry Giles to potentially even fill that role in a few years.

The contract length/cost, roster fit, and player value are all exactly what the Kings were looking for and are why the signing of Dedmon is the best move of the offseason.

The Kings made plenty of great moves this offseason, but none stand out in terms of initial impact and future planning like the signing of Dedmon.