The Sacramento Kings continue their summer rebuilding project. First they went for broke in the NBA Draft, selecting three first-round picks and an early second rounder. Then they enticed European sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic to join the team on a three-year deal.
After building the young core, the focus shifted this week to shoring up the infrastructure of the team with quality NBA veterans.
Point guard George Hill was signed to mentor rookies De'Aaron Fox and Frank Mason. Zach Randolph, a 16-year veteran, was brought to help Kosta Koufos develop young bigs Skal Labissiere, Harry Giles, Georgios Papagiannis and Willie Cauley-Stein.
With Garrett Temple set to work with wings Justin Jackson and Malachi Richardson, the Kings needed one more piece to challenge a fleet of young shooting guards.
Bogdanovic and second-year guard Buddy Hield will have the honor of working with an NBA legend. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, 10-time All-Star Vince Carter has agreed to join the Kings on a one-year, $8 million contract. Carter, along with Randolph are set to join Dave Joerger, their former head coach with the Grizzlies.
With the addition of Carter, the Kings officially said goodbye to Rudy Gay, who reportedly inked a deal with the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday. He joins a long list of veteran free agents to leave the Kings over the last week, including Darren Collison, Langston Galloway and Ben McLemore.
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With the addition of Carter, Sacramento's roster now stands at 15 players. They have an opportunity to ink two additional players on two-way contracts in conjunction with the NBA's G-League.
The rebuild is in full swing and it's hard to argue with the Kings' approach. They've added cultural building blocks, talent and depth across the board.
It's an unconventional roster make-up, but the Kings have five quality veterans to go with 10 players under the age of 24, nine of which are first-round picks. Eight of those players are on their way to Las Vegas for Summer League, where they open Friday night against the Phoenix Suns.
