
The Kings currently face a predicament that often befalls NBA teams possessing a litany of young talent after many years of consecutive lottery picks.
However, the Kings made a significant investment this summer in a player who was not one of those lottery picks when they extended former Warriors and Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes.
Sacramento ponied up $85 million over four years to lock Barnes up this offseason, but now the team reportedly is lamenting the decision with younger stars like Buddy Hield and De’Aaron Fox seeking their own financial windfall.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Friday that the Kings have already “expressed some remorse” on the Barnes contract, citing league sources.
However, a league source told NBC Sports California's James Ham that the Kings have no such feelings about the contract they gave the young wing this summer.
This feels like a case of an agent trying to create leverage over a team.
Hield has been vocal in recent weeks about his desire for a lucrative extension with Sacramento, but he and the Kings’ management reportedly remain millions of dollars apart.
NBA
The 26-year-old Hield certainly has played well enough to earn a significant payday, finishing last season shooting almost 43 percent from beyond the arc despite taking almost eight three-pointers a game.
General manager Vlade Divac has his hands full with Fox, Hield, Marvin Bagley, and Bogdan Bogdanovic all looking at a hefty pay raise when it’s all said and done. It's a young core the Kings no doubt want to keep together, with Barnes and Hield being a big part of their future plans.
[RELATED: Kings on the mend less than a week before opening night]
But there is little to no chance the Kings can afford to keep all of their talented young core together, and with Barnes locked up on a guaranteed deal for the next four seasons, look for either Hield or Bogdanovic to be on the outside looking in with regards to a new contract in Sacramento.