The Sacramento Kings have had a very interesting offseason to say the least. George Karl has already infuriated his best player, DeMarcus Cousins, but the roster looks a whole lot better than it has in recent years. After signing Caron Butler, it appeared the Kings were also going to get Andrea Bargnani but the Brooklyn Nets swooped in and signed him. Now the latest reports say that the Kings are moving close to a deal with Luc Mbah a Moute, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
The Kings have also been linked to Josh Smith recently, but there hasn't been any update on their pursuit of him. As of right now the Kings do not have a power forward of starting quality on the roster, but Mbah a Moute could be that guy if the Kings decide to not start first round pick Willie Cauley-Stein alongside Cousins.
Mbah a Moute will turn 29 in September and will be entering his eighth season In the NBA. The former UCLA product did have a short stint with the Kings a couple of years ago but only ended up playing in nine games in Sacramento. Mbah a Moute spent his first five seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks before spending time with the Kings and the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2013-14. Last season he spent the whole year with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Although Mbah a Moute had his best scoring output last year (9.9 points per game), he had his lowest shooting percentage of his career (just under 40 percent.) Mbah a Moute is not much of a scorer, but he was required to do some scoring on a bad 76ers team. His best role would be as a defensive stopper coming off the bench as he is long and, although undersized for a power forward (6-8), an all-around very good defender. Last season Mbah a Moute extended his range to beyond the arc taking 202 three pointers, after having only taken 86 in his previous six years, and he hit 31 percent of them.
Mbah a Moute is not a guy that is going to put up big numbers for a team, but he is a very solid defender and will now even hit the occasional three, giving him a place in this league. If the deal gets done between the Kings and Mbah a Moute, they will have added another rotational player that could help aid them in winning more games.
