The Sacramento Kings finalized their roster on Saturday, waiving guard Sam Merrill as their final cut. KZ Okpala, Chima Moneke, and Matthew Dellavedova made the final roster. ESPN’s Adrian Wojranowski was first with the news, and James Ham confirmed.
Forwards KZ Okpala and Chima Moneke and guard Matthew Dellavedova have secured the Sacramento Kings’ final roster spots to open the season, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 15, 2022
League source confirms that KZ Okpala, Chima Moneke and Matthew Dellavedova have made the Kings roster. Sam Merrill is the final cut.
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) October 15, 2022
KZ Okpala is no surprise after a strong preseason that saw him start 3 of 4 games. Moneke was featured heavily in the rotation in the last two preseason games, and it seemed likely that he was making the roster. It is the first time the UC Davis alum has made an NBA roster.
Merrill isn’t a shock, but there was still some chatter that the Kings liked what he’d done in camp. Merrill is known for his shooting, but didn’t produce much in his limited minutes in the preseason. Keith Smith notes that because of the contract structure the Kings gave Merrill, he will not be eligible to join the Stockton Kings:
The Sacramento Kings have waived Sam Merrill, a league source tells @spotrac.
Sacramento will have $150K in dead money on their books for the season for Merrill. Because Merrill got more than $50K guaranteed, he's not eligible to play for Sacramento's G League team in Stockton.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) October 15, 2022
Congratulations to KZ, Chima, and Delly!
The Kings open their season against the Trail Blazers on Wednesday.
The more I watched this team in preseason the more I agreed with Brenden Nunes. Metu just doesn’t fit with this team. He doesn’t play a team oriented game and doesn’t have much basketball IQ. Probably would have been better off cutting him.
Pretty much what I expected. I had it down to Merrill, Delly, or possibly Metu (but his contract is guaranteed). Delly made the most sense to keep as both Merrill and Metu are buried to the 4th spots in their positional categories. I’m not sure how Merrill could have cracked the rotation with so many guards ahead of him.
In the end, we are talking about the last spot on the roster that’s only gonna get used in emergency situations.
I would have kept Merrill over Dellavedova, but cutting Metu probably made the most sense. Bur for contract reasons, you keep Metu.
That said, it’s the 15th spot and there’s not likely to be that many minutes for Delly either way.
Nice to have the roster set and Opening Night almost here!!!!
No surprises, there.
Metu looks out of sorts however he is on a team that wants to help him improve for both Sacramento (and his guarantee)and Nigerian National (and coaches Brown, Fernandez amd Louckes and teammates Okpala and Moneke).
Utah cut Jared Butler. Think he would be good. Reunite him with Davion. Of course they would have to waive another player to get him, so probably won’t happen
Woah. I didn’t watch him in Utah but was a big fan of him in the draft 2 years ago. Hard-nosed, defensive guard. Can play some point in a pinch. Young, with upside. I’d take that over Delly.
But only a year into a rookie contract on a team bereft of talent? And his rookie stats aren’t bad. Seems like a surprising cut. There must be more we don’t know.
I agree, it seems weird to cut him, but looking at their roster and salary situation, it does kind of make sense. Who else would you cut of the guaranteed deals to make it to 15? I’m guessing it came down to Butler or Bolmaro.
Yeah you’re right. I’d like to see the Kings pounce on him if possible. Seems like a quality guy to keep stashed away, especially with the Davion connection.
Agreed. If I had my druthers, I’d cut Metu and sign Butler. Metu is not long term as he’s a UFA next summer, and is not going to move the W/L needle. Why not sign Butler to a 2 year deal on the cheap with a year two TO?
That being said, it’s not going to happen because it seems Metu, Moneke and KZ are all Brown guys from his Nigerian connection.
I understand that it was cheaper to cut Merrill, but fwiw I’m not sure what Chimezie Metu is bringing to this roster these days
His contract could help match salary if the Kings swing a trade this season. I think that he along with Barnes, Holmes, Davis, and Lyles will all be prime trade bait this season. I could see some combo of that group hauling a high quality discontented player to fill the 3/4 position
Here’s to the Raptors somehow pissing off O.G. Anunoby!
It’s pretty sad if it came down to something as insignificant as $1.9M guaranteed to Metu, especially when the team down HWY80 seems to have no problem spending. The Kings will have one player making over $20 next year (Fox), while the Warriors will have 5 making over $20M, and 3 of them will be making over $30M
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1581397645213323264
To put this in perspective, the Kings are spending $132M this year in salary, and that is over the cap! The Warriors are willing to pay triple that to fill their roster. The luxury tax system is broken if this is allowed to continue. IMO, there needs to be a hard ceiling cap at some point beyond the tax line.
yes . Hard cap.
Luxury tax is simply another business decision for many teams.
I don’t get all the Metu hate. Enlighten me.
It’s not really hate. I like the guy and think he may be able to hang around in the NBA somewhere else.
He just doesn’t fit into the team. Not a good defender, can’t reliably hit 3s, sometimes makes errant decisions. He just doesn’t really excel in any one area and can’t make himself a useful role player in our rotation.
On this team, he should be 4th of the depth chart at PF. Your rankings may vary between Murray, Barnes and Lyles ahead of him, but he’s a 4th stringer now. Same for the center position. He’s got Sabonis, Holmes, and Len ahead of him there.
Merrill, although also being buried on the guard depth chart behind Huerter, Monk, and TD, at least brings shooting to the game. Metu simply brings a lively body.
For me it comes down to what is more valuable in today’s NBA? A guard who can shoot, or a bouncy PF who can’t?
Not horrible but not good either. One of the remaining great potentials that this team has lived on for a decade.
Time to move beyond eternal potential.
I see why someone is a such a huge fan of Ham. Ham copy and pastes everything Woj writes.
What prompted this comment? As someone who follows both, I see almost no overlap.
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