The Kings would like to re-sign the recently waived Eric Moreland, as vice president of basketball and franchise operations Vlade Divac said Wednesday in an appearance on The Grant Napear Show on CBS Sports 1140 in Sacramento, notes Aaron Bruski of NBCSports.com (Twitter link). The Kings released the one-year veteran last week, shortly before his minimum salary for the season ahead would have become fully guaranteed. Thus, it seems that Divac and company have wanted the chance to evaluate Moreland in camp, and perhaps beyond, before committing to paying him for the entire season.
Teams and players can renegotiate guarantee dates, as happened recently with the Heat and James Ennis and the Timberwolves and Lorenzo Brown, and perhaps such an adjustment could have forestalled Moreland’s release. However, since Moreland cleared waivers, he’s free to negotiate with other teams to see if anyone else is at least willing to give him a partial commitment. Nuggets executive Pete D’Alessandro was GM of the Kings when they signed Moreland last year, and Denver coach Michael Malone was Moreland’s first NBA boss, though the early word was that Moreland wouldn’t be heading to the Mile High City.
The 23-year-old big man hasn’t had much of an opportunity to showcase his skills at the NBA level, since a labral tear in his left shoulder ended his rookie year prematurely after he’d made it into only three games this past season. His calling card is rebounding, as he averaged double-figures in boards during his final two college seasons and pulled down 12.7 rebounds in 28.7 minutes per game in seven contests for Sacramento’s D-League affiliate before his injury.
The Kings have 14 guaranteed contracts, plus David Stockton, whose salary is non-guaranteed. They also reportedly have Hedo Turkoglu on their radar.