Sources: Kings trade Nik Stauskas, Carl Landry and Jason Thompson to 76ers in salary dump
Adrian Wojnarowski By Adrian Wojnarowski
10 minutes ago
Yahoo Sports
The Sacramento Kings cleared about $16 million in salary-cap space on Wednesday night, unloading two significant contracts onto the Philadelphia 76ers, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The Kings traded forwards Carl Landry and Jason Thompson and 2014 No. 8 overall draft pick Nik Stauskas to the 76ers for the rights to overseas players and a future second-round draft pick, sources said.
The Kings will send the Sixers a protected future first-round draft pick as part of the deal, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Landry and Thompson each have two years and $13 million-plus left on their contracts.
The Kings had about $9 million of cap space before the trade, now giving them a total of about $25 million.
Sacramento wants to pursue several free agents with the space, including point guards Rajon Rondo and Monta Ellis and shooting guard Wesley Matthews, sources said. The Indiana Pacers were meeting with Ellis on Wednesday in Indiana and working to reach a deal with him, league sources told Yahoo.
Stauskas, 21, is a young shooting guard who the 76ers targeted in the deal as the incentive to take on the Landry and Thompson contracts. Multiple teams had inquired about Stauskas, who had been the draft choice of the regime of deposed general manager Pete D'Alessandro and coach Michael Malone. Stauskas is still considered a good, young NBA prospect, and he'll get a broader opportunity to play with the Sixers.