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Vlade Divac, with no front-office experience, has negotiated a cap-minded trade with Sam Hinkie, master of minutiae, with an eye towards chasing a handful of marquee free agents.
In an effort to dump salary, the Sacramento Kings are sending shooting guard Nik Stauskas and forwards Jason Thompson and Carl Landry to the Philadelphia 76ers, according to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
In addition to Stauskas, who was a lottery pick 12 months ago, the 76ers land a future top-10 protected first-round pick (no earlier than 2018), and the right to swap first-round picks in two other drafts, all to eat the salaries of Thompson and Landry.
The two power forwards are owed a combined $12.9 million this season and another $13.3 million next season, although Thompson's 2016-17 salary is only partially guaranteed.
With more cap space, the Kings are expected to target free-agent guard Rajon Rondo - there's reportedly mutual interest - and the club has also entered the sweepstakes for shooting guards Wesley Matthews and Monta Ellis.
The Kings will meet face-to-face with Matthews on Thursday, according to Marc Stein of ESPN, looking to beat out the Dallas Mavericks and Toronto Raptors for his services.
The Kings only have an estimated $37.3 million in salary committed now and could conceivably offer two of Rondo, Ellis, and Matthews market value, but that's contingent on the players wanting to sign with a team that's recycled players, head coaches, and front-office decision makers ad nauseam for the last two years.
As for the Sixers, they've essentially acquired something for nothing. Even if Stauskas doesn't pan out - he hit 32.2 percent of his threes last year and struggled to find consistent playing time - and the picks and swaps prove only marginally valuable, they've got nothing to lose.
Philadelphia will also send the draft rights to Arturas Gudaitis, an intriguing Lithuanian center, and Luka Mitrovic, a Serbian power forward, as consideration to Sacramento. Both were second-round picks on June 25 and neither is considered a likely bet for the NBA in the near future.
