Bjelica Wants To Be Moved, Kings Hoping To Oblige

The Kings’ Nemanja Bjelica would like to be traded and the front office is continuing to explore the market for the veteran forward, according to Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee.

Bjelica’s situation has been one of the oddest in the league this season. Sacramento could have shed Bjelica’s $7.15MM salary in November but instead opted to guarantee the contract.

However, he’s clearly not in the team’s plans. He hasn’t played since January 9 and the team has looked into trade possibilities as far back as the draft in November.

There have been conflicting reasons for his absence, as Anderson notes. It was initially called a coach’s decision, then personal reasons and more recently, back spasms. However, he was not listed on the injury report on Wednesday, when Sacramento defeated Boston.

There never were personal issues for Bjelica, Anderson adds, other than his lack of playing time. Bjelica, 32, has appeared in 10 games this season, averaging 6.6 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 15.1 MPG.

He had his best season as a pro in 2019/20, starting 67 of 72 games at power forward for the Kings. The veteran stretch four established new career highs in PPG (11.5), RPG (6.4), APG (2.8) and 3PT% (.419).

He’ll be an unrestricted free agent after the season.

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