There has been a decent amount of news this week surrounding the Kings, including Sacramento waiving DeMar DeRozan, signing Precious Achuwa and Daquan Plowden, Bobby Jackson’s looming departure from the coaching staff and the conclusion of the California Classic pivoting into the start of the Las Vegas Summer League.
Below are some excerpts from the press conference.
DeMar DeRozan buyout/departure
“I’ve been in the league 26 years, and he has been— he was one of my favorite players to work with … his professionalism, his leadership, the way he went about preparing for his job each and every day, exemplary. … We were trying to figure out ways how we could keep him. But as we all know, one of the things in this league, there is a financial component to this job. And so unfortunately, we weren’t able to figure out or do anything that would allow us to keep him from that standpoint. But I’m gonna miss him, I’ll be honest with you.”
Precious Achiuwa and Daquan Plowden signings
- On Precious: “That was very important to us because he had options, could have gone elsewhere, but he wanted to be here… He quickly established himself the way he competed each and every night at both ends of the floor.”
- On Plowden: “He should be an example to a number of players that are aspiring to be in the NBA… was one of the top performers in the G League. Anytime we had him play with the Kings, he brought effort and energy. Having people like that that play hard every day, that compete, that will defend, that are about the team, you can’t have enough of those guys. And so in my job, when you’re able to reward somebody like that, that’s very rewarding because that young man has worked extremely hard to get here, and we’re so happy that we can have him back on this team.”
Bobby Jackson’s departure
“Bobby will be with us through the summer until obviously he transitions out at the end of the summer. But Bobby obviously is a Kings legend… great guy, wish him nothing but the best, and it was a pleasure getting a chance to work with him.”
Zach LaVine’s future with the Kings
“Zach and I have been in communication since the season is over. We have a very good relationship and good understanding. Zach is still an excellent basketball player. He knows what’s expected of him coming back here this year. I’m very clear with him on that. He’ll be the first to tell you that, and I think he’s ready to come back and embrace that and perform to the best of his ability this year. So we can use a lot of the things that Zach LaVine is able to do on the basketball floor. So I’m looking forward to him taking a step forward with us this year and how we want to play the game.”
On Russell Westbrook
“Russ has always been a favorite of mine, as you know that. You know, Russell Westbrook probably outplayed a minimum contract, which is all we have right now. So that’s all I have really to say about him right now.”
The Kings kick off the NBA Las Vegas Summer League Thursday against the Los Angeles Clippers at 8 p.m. Maxime Raynaud is set to join the team in Vegas. He missed the California Classic because he was playing on the French team.
Had Perry never overpaid Dennis, traded Dennis and Keon for Hunter, then Kings would have had the cap space to retain DDR and then some. Perry quite literally took an overpriced MLE contract and an expiring contract and turned into $25M guaranteed to Hunter this coming season. Perry made this bed.
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