A few quick pieces of news and notes dropped over the last day or so as we prepare for NBA free agency to begin on Thursday.
Kings pick up Trey Lyles’ option
As expected, based on reporting from James Ham, the Sacramento Kings picked up Trey Lyles’ contract option for the final year of his contract. Keith Smith confirmed that the Kings did indeed exercise the option.
According to a league source, the Sacramento Kings are expected to pick up the $2.6 million team option on Trey Lyles today.
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) June 28, 2022
As was expected, the Kings picked up the TO for Lyles. https://t.co/ntzjJZ9EsZ
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 29, 2022
Lyles was productive for the Kings after being acquired at the trade deadline, and at such a small cap number it was a no-brainer to keep him.
Kings tender Qualifying Offer to Neemias Queta
Keith Smith also reported that the Kings gave the Qualifying Offer to Neemias Queta, making him a restricted free agent.
The Sacramento Kings tendered a Two-Way qualifying offer to Neemias Queta to make him a restricted free agent on July 1, a league source tells @spotrac.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 29, 2022
According to Spotrac, Queta’s qualifying over is just over $1.5 million. This means the Kings have a cap hold matching that qualifying offer. The Kings and Queta can negotiate a new contract, Queta can accept the QO and then become an unrestricted free agent next summer, or Queta can seek an offer sheet from another team and the Kings would have the right to match the offer.
The Kings also have the option to pull the QO at any time if they need to relieve themselves of the cap hold.
Chimezie Metu’s contract guarantee deadline is today
A final Kings note from Smith, Chimezie Metu’s contract becomes fully guaranteed today if not waived.
Chimezie Metu's deal with the Sacramento Kings will become fully guaranteed at $1.9M if he's not waived today.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 29, 2022
I’d expect the Kings to keep Metu. As Tim noted earlier this week, the Kings will not be operating as a cap space team this season, so waiving Metu wouldn’t create cap space, it would simply create a roster spot. The Kings will have a lot of work to do to create roster balance before the start of the season, but $1.9M is reasonable for Metu’s production, and it’s a moveable contract that could be included in trades for salary matching purposes.
Welcome back Trey. Hopefully you pick up where you left off.
Love those moves.
Metu, Lyles definitely deserve to stay.
and I want to see more playing time from Queta.
I don’t mind Metu as an “in case of emergency”, but I’m really hoping he’s not going to get a lot of minutes this year.
I see 3 contracts to attach to trades.
None of them move the needle in the winning direction. Need bodies though, so I hope they perform well.
In case you want to feel old, Peja’s son is a baller.
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/6/29/23185640/andrej-stojakovic-nba
Let’s just cut the shit and make him our Director of Scouting.
Thanks. Now I have to clean up water off my keyboard.
I’d just like to say that I fully expected the Kings to pick up Lyles’ option, and well-before Ham made any noise about it.
Both moves make good sense, and I guess we’re just going to have to try and get used to that sort of thing.
I promise to try hard to get used to the Kings finding inexpensive bodies to fill their uniforms on their race for 34 wins.
Smart! Since we aren’t likely to acquire top-level players, it makes sense to not really worry about the details when it comes to the rest of the roster.
GM 3.0-level stuff, this.
We’re like a couple of dishwashers who work at a world-class restaurant, trading our Happy Meal sauces back and forth in the alley while on break.
A lot more women in this alley than there were this time last week. Seems very bad.
If he plays like last season, Lyles is a great value as a back-up.
Kessler Edwards!
Cam Reddish! Especially if the Knicks need additional space to sign Brunson. I hope Monte kicks the tires and try to get Reddish on the cheap.
The talent is in there. Which team/coach will get him to figure it out. Maybe he can be the Wiggins type of player that changes teams and finds the untapped potential.
The most important element of Queta’s QO is that it is a TWC QO. I don’t think the Kings have much intention of signing Queta to a 2 year minimum deal, and since you need to either have cap room or the MLE to sign Queta to a 3/4 yr deal, I don’t see them offering anything but another TWC.
We’ll see, but I’ve believed that all along with Queta.
Metu and Lyles announcements (along with DDVs QO whenever that gets announced) are not especially surprising. Pretty SOP for a NBA FO.
https://twitter.com/James_HamNBA/status/1542251476298256384?s=20&t=9US8xOfhz4Qn3b9EuAvSTQ
Huh?
remember that this came out on multiple sites in early April:
Divencenzo and his camp unhappy with his playing time in Sacramento
Maybe this is a parting of the ways over that, maybe, Free Agency will bring his upgraded replacement. Those who understand holds/QOs can explain that by not extending an offer, Sacramento can offer him more cash as a UFA.
My guess is that DD and his camp wanted to test the open market now and Sac agreed to let him do that.
Hellllllo 33 wins!
DDV might have made a 1-2 win difference. Might.
Badge Legend