Recent Kings Forward Signs Unexpected Deal With Real Madrid

While the details of his contract have not surfaced yet, Real Madrid is well-equipped to make substantial offers. 

A recent example of this is former King Sasha Vezenkov returned to Europe on a five-year deal worth €18.5 million with Olympiacos. This was a sizable pay cut for Vezenkov, who was set to make $6.7M had he stayed with the Toronto Raptors after being traded there along with Davion Mitchell. 

Why would Lyles jump to Europe?

If Lyles was only receiving veteran minimum offers from NBA teams (very likely considering where we are at in the offseason), then a shorter deal worth something around Vezenkov’s annual salary would probably represent a raise. 

The negligible salary difference, paired with what will most likely be an increased role (Lyles has never played more than 20 MPG in the NBA), likely appealed to Lyles. 

Kings fans may be familiar with Real Madrid because of its soccer club, but they are also one of the most storied basketball programs in Europe. They are where Luka Doncic first played professionally, and currently have former NBA players Facundo Campazzo, Theo Maledon, Chuma Okeke, Mario Hezonja, Usman Garuba, and Bruno Fernando on their roster. 

They also hosted 2025 first-round pick Hugo Gonzalez last season. As you can see, the Euroleague power has no issue bringing some of the best talent in the world to Madrid. 

Though he is coming off a down season, Lyles undoubtedly had interest around the league. He was widely seen as a rotational forward who could moonlight as a 5 in a pinch, and seemed to be well-respected in the Kings’ locker room. 

Lyles’ game will probably translate very well to the Euroleague - he is heady enough with the ball and will be able to stretch the floor, providing some breathing room for a team that seems like they will feature Garuba and Fernando, several non-shooters, at the 5. 

Meanwhile, Lyles’ departure, along with Jake LaRavia’s signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, leaves the Kings incredibly thin in the frontcourt. They have now lost both players who could plausibly give them minutes at the backup 4 spot. This leaves Keegan Murray as the lone big wing on this roster - seemingly an evergreen problem for Sacramento, and an unfair position to put Murray in. 

As has been repeatedly mentioned over the summer, more roster changes need to come to rebalance what has become a large surplus of players in the 1-3 positional range, none of whom are long or strong enough to guard up on the LeBrons, Lukas, and other big creators that have given Sacramento nightmares for years. 

While we have dates for Mike Brown and De’Aaron Fox’s returns to Golden 1 Center, we will not get to give Lyles an ovation this season. Best of luck to him overseas this year.