Myers Moves to Portland - Former SKC Wizards Update

Chance Myers officially joins the list of former Kansas City players.The former number one overall pick signed a free agent contract with the Portland Timbers this week, joining the 2015 MLS Cup champions. Myers departs Kansas City having appeared almost 150 times in league play for Sporting, playing over 10,000 minutes, scoring two league goals (both coincidentally against the Portland Timbers). Unfortunately he'd just been pushed out of his position as the starter at right back by Saad Abdul-Salaam, but Myers will be remembered for his time as part of arguably the best back four in MLS between 2011 and 2013 with Matt Besler, Aurelien Collin, and Seth Sinovic.

A lot of players were on the move this week, with Amobi Okugo re-signing with Portland, Bernardo Anor making his permanent move to Minnesota United official as well. In the lower leagues, both Mechack Jerome and Michael Kafari both re-signed with their NASL clubs. Abroad, Nuno Coelho turned his departure from Sporting into a move to GD Chaves in his native Portugal, while Milos Stojcev moved within the Greek league to relegation threatened Veria.

Internationally, Ever Alvarado and Jorge Claros both helped Honduras win the Copa Centroamericana as Honduras went 4-0-1 in the round robin tournament that was missing Guatemala due to FIFA suspension. Fellow former KC player, Pablo Punyed and El Salvador finished third and will be in this summer's Gold Cup because of their finish. Also a congratulations to Marcel de Jong for his 50th cap with the Canadian national team this past week as he captained Canada against Bermuda.

Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Emmanuel Appiah
Vicente Arze
Omar Bravo
Amadou Dia
Pablo Escobar
Brian Fekete
Tomas Granitto
Connor Hallisey
Jeferson
Jon Kempin
Chris Konopka
Justin Mapp
Neven Markovic
Rauwshan McKenzie
Alex Molano
Victor Munoz
Jordi Quintilla
Brendan Ruiz
Michael Thomas

MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - New York - Offseason.
Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Started and played 90 minutes in Vancouver's 4-2 win over Bermuda.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - New England - Offseason.
Alec Kann - Atlanta - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Chance Myers - Portland - Offseason.
Amobi Okugo - Portland - Offseason.
Jacob Peterson - Atlanta - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.

NASL
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
Michael Kafari - Puerto Rico - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Carolina - Offseason.

USL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Amer Didic - Swope Park - Offseason.
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - San Antonio - Offseason.
Ryan James - Rochester - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Nansel Selbol - Swope Park - Offseason.
Kris Tyrpak - San Antonio - Offseason.
Ualefi - Swope Park - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.

PDL
Adnan Gabeljic - San Francisco - Offseason.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Cedar Rapids - Did not play in either of Cedar Rapids' games.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Played in Baltimore's 5-3 loss to Cedar Rapids and 7-2 loss to Milwaukee.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Did not play in Dallas' 12-5 win over El Paso.
Boris Pardo - San Diego - Did not play in San Diego's 5-2 win over Sonora.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC Eskilstuna City- Sweden - No game until 4/1.
Ever Alvarado - Olimpia - Honduras - Started and played 90 minutes in Honduras' 1-1 draw with Costa Rica. Did not dress in Honduras' 1-0 win over Belize.
Scott Angevine - YPA - Finland - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - No game until 2/11.
Reinaldo Brenes - Belen Siglo XXI - Started and played 45 minutes in Belen's 2-1 loss to Perez Zeledon. Came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Belen's 3-1 loss to Carmelita.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 90 minutes in Bengaluru's 3-0 win over Mumbai. Started and played 90 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-1 loss to East Bengal.
Jorge Claros - Real Espana - Honduras - Started and played 90 minutes in Honduras' 1-1 draw with Costa Rica. Dressed but did not play in Honduras' 1-0 win over Belize.
Nuno Coelho - GD Chaves - Portugal - Did not play in Chaves' 2-0 win over Nacional.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Defeated Morvant Caledonia United 3-0.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Did not dress in Leganes' 2-2 draw with Deportivo Alaves.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Did not dress in either of Queretaro's games.
Faik Hajderovic - Vinograder - Croatia - No game until 2/25.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - No game until 1/28.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia-Mozyr - Belarus - Offseason.
Luis Marin - CD Temuco - Chile - No game until 2/4.
Michal Mravec - RoPS - Finland - No game until 1/28.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Did not dress in Al Gharafa's 3-0 win over Al Shahaniya.
Akeem Priestley - Metapan - El Salvador - Did not dress in Metapan's 1-0 win over Dragon.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Dressed but did not play in El Salvador's 1-0 loss to Panama. Dressed but did not play in El Salvador's 1-0 win over Nicaragua.
Oriol Rosell - Belenenses (Sporting Club de Portugal)(loan) - Portugal - Came off the bench and played 15 minutes in Belenenses' 2-1 loss to Vitoria Setubal.
Soony Saad - Pattaya United - Offseason.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/18.
Yann Songo'o - Plymouth Argyle - England - Started and played 90 minutes in Plymouth's 1-0 loss to Liverpool. Started and played 90 minutes in Plymouth's 2-1 win over Cheltenham Town.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Lost 6-2 to Brora Rangers.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - No game until 2/20.
Milos Stojcev - Veria - Greece - Did not dress in Veria's 1-1 draw with Larissa. Dressed but did not play in Veria's 1-1 draw with Iraklis.
Matt Taylor - Kickers Offenbach - No game until 2/18.

Munoz Signs with Arizona - Former SKC Wizards Update

Former Sporting midfielder, Victor Munoz has a new club. The Spaniard, who was drafted by DC United last year has signed with Arizona United of the USL. Munoz made just one appearance for Kansas City, starting the club's US Open Cup game against Minnesota. He didn't exactly have a great performance and was pulled in the first half because of an injury. He did appear in Sporting's friendly loss to Manchester City this past year.

Speaking of players who played in that friendly, Michael Kafari, who made his only appearance on the field for KC in that game, is currently with FC Tucson as they play in the Desert Diamond Cup in Tucson this year.

Finally, Tony Rocha, the only draft pick from KC so far this year to not make the team has moved forward with his career, he has been in the lineup for the Austin Aztex as they've played in the ATX Pro Soccer Classic.

Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Federico Bessone
Bobby Convey
Christian Duke
Mechack Jerome
Will John
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Igor Kostrov
Rauwshan McKenzie
Michal Mravec
Nelson Pizarro
Ivan Trujillo
Konrad Warzycha

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Eddie Johnson - DC - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Carolina - Offseason.
Kyle Miller - Atlanta - Offseason.

USL
Brian Fekete - Pittsburgh - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Jonathan Leathers - Charlotte - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Austin - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.
John Wilson - Charleston - Offseason.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Ontario - Played in Ontario's 9-5 loss to San Diego.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - No game this week.
Josh Gardner - Missouri - Had a goal and an assist in Missouri's 21-4 win over Tulsa.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had an assist in Baltimore's 11-0 win over Rochester.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Played in Dallas' 11-3 win over Brownsville.
Boris Pardo - Wichita - No game this week.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - Auerbach - Germany - No game until 2/22.
Scott Angevine - Vasa - Finland - Offseason.
Vicente Arze - Blooming - Bolivia - Did not dress in Blooming's 3-0 win over Real Potosi.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and playd 90 minutes in Quilmes' 1-0 loss to Lanus.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 57 minutes in Guadalajara's 0-0 draw with Veracruz. Did not dress in Guadalajara's 1-0 win over Lobos Buap.
Reinaldo Brenes - Saprissa - Costa Rica - Did not dress in either of Saprissa's games.
Mitchell Cardenas - Atlético Coatzacoalcos - Mexico - No game this week.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 67 minutes in Bengaluru's 2-0 win over Shillong Lajong.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Lost 2-1 to JJ Urquiza.
Daneil Cyrus - Ha Noi T&T (W Connection) - Vietnam (Trinidad) -  Started and played 90 minutes in Ha Noi's 7-0 loss to Seoul
Toni Dovale - CD Lugo - Spain - Started and played 71 minutes in Lugo's 2-0 win over Leganes.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Cucuta's 3-0 loss to Millonarios.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla - Mexico - Started and played 70 minutes in Puebla's 2-0 win over Monterrey. Did not dress in Puebla's 2-0 win over Merida.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Lost 2-1 to Cavalier.
Jeferson - Boavista - Brazil - Did not dress in Boavista's 3-0 loss to Fluminense.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Defeated Al Merreikh 2-0.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in Fluminense's 3-0 win over Boavista.
Carlos Marinelli - Universidad San Martin - Peru - Did not dress San Martin's 1-0 loss to Cienciano.
Neven Markovic - Servette FC - Switzerland - Did not dress in Servette's 2-0 win over Lugano.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - No game until 3/6.
Lawrence Olum - Kedah FA - Malaysia - No game until 2/28.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - No game this week.
Pablo Punyed - Stjarnan - Iceland - Scored a goal in Stjarnan's 1-1 draw with Valur.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Sporting's 1-1 draw with Belenenses.
Soony Saad - BCC Tero (loaned fromBEC Tero Sasana FC) - Thailand - Tied Rangsit JW 0-0
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/22
Yann Songo'o - Blackburn - England - Did not dress in either of Blackburn's games.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Lost 1-0 to Maziya 1-0 in the AFC Cup.
Milos Stojcev - FK Sarajevo - Bosnia - On break until 2/27
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/28.

Sporting KC a Number of Roster Moves

Sporting Kansas City made their first set of offseason moves today, declining options on six players, announcing four others out of contract, and mutually terminating the contract of Lawrence Olum.

The termination of Olum's contract paves the way for his move to Malaysia that came out yesterday. The move will allow Sporting to retain the Kenyan's MLS rights should he return to MLS.
Of the four players out of contract that Sporting is extending offers to, Aurelien Collin was already known. He's joined by the team's second homegrown player, Kevin Ellis, and forwards Jacob Peterson and Soony Saad. 

Collin's contract discussions have already been well documented. He's looking for a pay increase, and with his center back partner, Matt Besler, signing a Designated Player contract during the season, you can bet that Collin is looking for something similar or at least a max. salary. That's something that I'm not sure that KC is going to give to Collin. Unless the new CBA is going to bump the salary cap a lot, I can't see KC using that much cap on their two starting central defenders.

Kevin Elllis had a break out year for Kansas City. With all the injuries and call ups along the back line, Ellis played all four of the defensive positions along the back line, partnering Matt Besler, Collin, Erik Palmer-Brown, Chance Myers, and probably others I'm forgetting. A bump in salary for him would either see him moved to the senior roster year, or take KC's other HGP slot above the minimum. With his play this year, he deserves the bump.

Jacob Peterson was another player who saw play all over the field for KC this year due to injuries. While Peterson has the work ethic that Peter Vermes loves, he plays a position (wing forward) that KC desperately needs to upgrade this season. Peterson though did prove himself to be capable as a fill in as a wing back for KC. At this point I wonder if that may not be the position he'd fill for KC. He'd still be able to get forward in KC's system, but he'd open up the wing position for a winger who can provide more offensively. If the price is right I'd like to keep him around.

Saad saw a drop in playing time this year for KC, playing over 400 fewer minutes than he did last year. He has plenty of talent, but I don't think he fits that well in Vermes' system. I like him, I think he can be a good forward in this league, but he's struggled out on the wing for KC, and with Dom Dwyer in the middle he's not going to get much time there. Development in his wing play is certainly something that needs to improve, but I'm in no way against keeping Saad around.

All four players have received bona fide offers, so the team will retain their rights, should they make it through the expansion draft without being taken.

For the six players who didn't have their options picked up, most are not surprising at all. Probably the most surprising would be Toni Dovale, who had looked dangerous at times on the wing for KC. But at $180,000 per the players union numbers, he did not produce enough for Vermes to want to keep the Spaniard around.

Sporting will also be in the market for goalkeepers this weekend as both Eric Kronberg and Andy Gruenebaum had their options declined. Kronberg came into the season as the starter, but never really looked comfortable in there. His time was marred by some poor decision making, most famously in the playoff loss to New York when he hesitated coming off his line and Bradley Wright-Phillips scored the winner late. As for Gruenebaum, he did okay for Kansas City when he started in place of Kronberg, but his issue was the fact that he just couldn't stay healthy. Three different times this past season Gruenebaum missed time due to injuries.

Sal Zizzo is probably a more disappointing loss for his work off the field on the Benny Feilhaber Show. Which is probably the reason his option wasn't picked up. Zizzo played in 19 games for KC, and only recorded three assists. None since a 2-2 draw with Toronto in May, although he did have a goal in the CCL late in the season. I had figured with all the defensive injuries that Vermes would try Zizzo in one of the wingback positions, as he'd played there with the Portland Timbers before coming to KC, but he never did.

The last two players are the least surprising of the moves. Victor Munoz and Michael Kafari made a combined one competitive appearance for Kansas City. Munoz started Kansas City's US Open Cup win over Minnesota, but left after about 30 minutes with an injury (and looked incredibly poor up to that point). Both played in the second half of KC's loss to Manchester City in a friendly during the season though.

Kronberg, Gruenebaum, and Zizzo will all go into the re-entry draft in mid-December (1st stage December 12, 2nd stage December 18). Kafari and Munoz will be available in the waiver draft on December 10th. Dovale will apparently not be available in either and has his out-right release.

While those six are gone, and look unlikely to be re-signed, KC did pick up the options of five others, keeping Jon Kempin, CJ Sapong, Ike Opara, Dom Dwyer, and Seth Sinovic with KC, at least into the expansion draft.

With these moves it certainly appears that KC is set for a busy offseason.

What Happened and Where Do We Go From Here - Midfield

Part three of my look at what happened to Kansas City in the 2014 season and where to look at going forward is taking a look at Kansas City's midfield. While Sporting's midfield wasn't hit nearly as hard by injuries as the defense was, other factors led to Sporting's issues in midfield this season.

The biggest issue for Kansas City ended up coming early in the season. Sporting sold Oriol Rosell, the team's deep lying defensive midfielder to Sporting Portugal in June. Rosell played just seven games for Sporting in the 2014 season before the club approved the transfer. With his departure, Kansas City's passing seemed to go down field. Rosell set an MLS record for passes attempted, completed, and had a 96% passing accuracy in KC's 3-0 win over Montreal this season. Once KC sold him to Portugal, KC never really found a true replacement. The main player that filled in for Rosell was Lawrence Olum. The Kenyan is a decent player, but he's not Rosell and he couldn't fill the shoes that the Spaniard left. Peter Vermes also brought in long term target, Jorge Claros during the summer window. Claros did okay, but not great in his appearances for KC. But really, not many of Vermes' mid-season signings have really ever had much of an immediate impact on the team. Usually it's taken until the next year for those players to step up, play more, and really get into KC's system (see Rosell or Kei Kamara).

In front of whoever was manning the deep role was originally supposed to be Paulo Nagamura. The Brazilian performed well until summer when he again had an ankle injury that caused him to miss 10 games for Kansas City. Once he returned, KC's midfield improved, but he couldn't carry the team out of the slump that it was in for the second half of the season. With Nagamura out, Mikey Lopez, the team's lone Generation Adidas player started to get some more time. Lopez did well, but from the games he's played, the bite that KC has needed out of that position hasn't been present. KC's other midseason signing; Martin Steuble also got a run out in the box-to-box role in KC's system, but didn't have much of a role to play for KC.

Early on in the season, Nagamura had gotten spelled at times by the team's third round draft pick, Alex Martinez. The North Carolina State graduate didn't look out of place, playing in 10 league games, starting three of them, but he was waived by Kansas City in late June without much explanation. Part of the gap in KC's midfield in this role certainly wasn't helped by the illness/injury that caused Peterson Joseph to collapse in practice and not allow him to play again for the club.


In the attacking midfield spot, KC got its most consistent performance for the entire season, with Benny Feilhaber being the main creator out of the midfield for KC. And Feilhaber wasn't just in the attacking role. Throughout the season due to all the injuries and call ups, Feilhaber played all three of KC's midfield positions. His influence in the offense did decrease some as the season went on. Part of this certainly would seem to fall on the sale of Rosell. With Rosell gone and Olum/Claros not being able to fill his shoes, Feilhaber was dropping himself deeper into KC's midfield to collect the ball from the team's defensive midfielder or from center backs. This pushed Nagamura or the box-to-box midfielder into a more advanced role where they may not be as good at creating and/or finishing chances that are created for them. Feilhaber was arguably Kansas City's best player all around over the course of the entire season. In the instances when Feilhaber would drop into deeper roles, many times the attacking role would fall to Graham Zusi. Zusi does well in the center of midfield can work with both sides of the field. But in a way I think it limits his play. I think he does a better job out on the wing where he can look up and see the entire field with one look instead of scanning across the field. It's been his best position for the US national team and I think while good at central midfield is much better for Kansas City when he's out wide.

The team's other four midfielders had little impact on the team this season. Christian Duke spent most of the season on loan to the Oklahoma City Energy as well as dealing with some injury issues. Another midseason signing, Michael Kafari only ever appeared in the team's friendly against Manchester City. Victor Munoz made just one appearance for KC after being picked up on waivers from DC. Munoz started KC's US Open Cup win over Minnesota, but came off in the first half with an injury, although he looked out of his element in the game as well. The fourth, Jimmy Medranda was the most involved with the team this year, appearing in six games, starting one, but played just 137 minutes this season. Like Duke he spent time in OKC with the Energy.

Heading into 2015 there are plenty of changes that could be needed in KC's midfield. One change may well already be set to happen. The return of Roger Espinoza has been rumored for a little while now. Espinoza has returned to the lineup for Wigan Athletic, but with him out of contract this summer a return could still be in the cards. If Espinoza ends up not returning to Kansas City I think Sporting needs to look elsewhere to get a box-to-box midfielder. While Nagamura has done quite well for Kansas City since coming here, he turns 32 early next season. His injury issues over the past two summers have coincided with a drop in form for Kansas City. Espinoza would seem to be the perfect candidate to replace him, but if he can't then another replacement needs to be found because I'm not sure that Lopez is going to be able to play the position the way Vermes wants.

Another question heading into 2015 is the deep midfield position. As I mentioned earlier, the loss of Rosell was a big blow to KC neither Olum nor Claros were able to fill the role well enough. Many people are saying that a deep midfielder needs to be brought in as well. With the addition of Claros in the summer though I'm willing to give him time in 2015 to prove he deserves the role. As I said earlier, most of Vermes' midseason signings do not contribute much or enough in their first half a season in KC. As for Olum, he could very well be taken in the expansion draft if he's exposed. He's a cheap, veteran who has played in Orlando previously and would give them some experience in midfield, especially after defensive midfielder Yordany Alvarez retired.

As for the attacking midfield spot, Feilhaber should be under contract one more year and while he had an MVP year for KC, I'm not sure I'd make an attempt to re-sign him quite yet. It's a question of what he'll do next year in a contract year before you decide to throw money at him to stay.

With the rest of the midfielders, I expect there to be some turnover with some of the end of the bench guys, most will probably come in to preseason next year and have to fight for a roster spot.

Updated MLS Player Salaries

The MLS Players' Union today released their updated salaries for the 2014 season. The union usually does this two to three times a year. This year the second release was later in the season than most people expected it to be released.

With it there are some updates to Sporting KC's salaries from earlier in the year.

The biggest changes are for KC's two new designated players, Matt Besler and Graham Zusi. Both saw their base salaries jump to $600,000. Besler jumped from $200,000, Zusi from $365,000. Besler has the largest guaranteed compensation at $633,250 while Zusi is right behind him at $631,388.89.

Sporting's three new signings are also on the list. The lowest of which is midfielder, Michael Kafari making $36,504. Ahead of him is Honduran midfielder, Jorge Claros making $90,000. The highest of KC's midseason acquisitions was Swiss-Filipino midfielder, Martin Steuble who is making $120,000. It bit surprising considering the roles of the two players so far that Steuble is making more than Claros.

With the new salaries, Sporting KC now has the 11th highest payroll in MLS, moving up two spots from where they were when the first salaries came out this year. And according to the numbers, Besler is the 21st highest paid player in the league, Zusi the 22nd.

Sporting KC Sign Midfielder Michael Kafari

Sporting KC fans have been waiting for reinforcements to be announced this summer to assist Sporting down the stretch this season. Today Sporting KC announced their first addition, Michael Kafari. Kafari is a 22 year old midfielder originally from Ghana. He graduated from the University of New Mexico and was taken by the Vancouver Whitecaps in the third round of the Superdraft. Kafari then went on to sign with the Whitecaps' USL Pro affiliate, the Charleston Battery. 

He made his debut for the Battery in their shootout loss to the Orlando City U23 team in the US Open Cup.

On the surface Kafari appears to be a signing for the future, a talent that likely is not going to be much of a contributor this year, but could be one for the future.  Basically Peter Vermes' typical summer signings, following in the veins of Lawrence Olum, Peterson Joseph, and Oriol Rosell, all players who signed mid-season, didn't contribute a lot but then did going forward. Of course he could also turn out more like Brendan Ruiz who was waived after the season ended last year. I don't know enough about him to make a great analysis, but it wouldn't surprise me if he ended up on loan to OKC or Orlando this year.

Probably not the type of talent that most fans were wanting with a summer signing, but this isn't going to be KC's only signing either.