McLaughlin was a relative unknown when he signed a two-way contract with the Timberwolves at the start of the '19-'20 season. He went undrafted in 2018 and spent the '18-'19 season in the G-League. He eventually established himself as a rotation-level player, although his minutes per game decreased a little as the Wolves became deeper and more competitive. McLaughlin mostly play-makes for others, as his assist to usage rate has consistently been right near the top of the league, according to Cleaning the Glass. Overall, McLaughlin may not make a ton of plays or be the engine of an offense, but he makes quick reads, moves the ball well, and doesn't make a lot of mistakes. Having that steady presence as a backup point guard can be very valuable. Although he isn't a massive threat from outside because of the low volume of shots he takes from three, he has hit 37% from three and finished decently at the rim, which makes him pretty efficient overall. At 6'1", McLaughlin is undersized but competes on the defensive end. I wouldn't call him a liability. He also gets steals at a good rate. Already 29 years old as a free agent in 2025, McLaughlin may not have a ton of upside, but I think he's still a decent bench guard. It is concerning that he essentially fell out of the rotation in '23-'24, and barely played at all in the playoffs, so it will be interesting to see how much he plays in '24-'25 for the Kings.

McLaughlin will be an unrestricted free agent with a $2.3 million cap hold and Non-Bird Rights. This means that the highest starting salary the Kings could offer him using the Non-Bird Exception is $3.4 million. This should be enough to retain McLaughlin, since he settled for the minimum to come to Sacramento. Alternatively, the Kings could use their Mid-Level Exception or Bi-Annual Exception (if available) to re-sign McLaughlin if he demands more than $3.7 million.  Other teams will have multiple ways to sign McLaughlin as even teams without cap space could possibly use the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, or possibly even the Taxpayer MLE or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. It's also possible that McLaughlin only gets minimum offers again, and he may not even get fully-guaranteed offers.

Monte Morris (1 year minimum, 2024) Tyus Jones (1 year minimum, 2024) Reggie Jackson (1 year minimum, 2024)