June 25th: The Kings have officially extended a qualifying offer to Thompson, tweets Jones.
March 20th: The Kings will extend a qualifying offer to Jason Thompson at season's end, president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie tells Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (via Twitter).
Thompson, the 12th overall pick in 2008, is eligible for restricted free agency this offseason. If and when the Kings officially extend him a qualifying offer, he'll have the option to accept the one-year contract ($4.13MM) and become an unrestricted agent in the summer of 2013. It's more likely he'll explore his options in restricted free agency, with the Kings having the opportunity to match any multiyear offer he receives.
Thompson's play was one reason Sacramento felt comfortable buying out J.J. Hickson, Jones adds. Playing in every one of the Kings' 45 games this season, the 25-year-old big man has averaged 8.4 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and has a .527 FG% in 24.3 MPG.
The Kings played in more than 45 games this year.