9:00pm: The signing is now official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.
4:39pm: The Kings are set to sign free agent shooting guard Sam Merrill, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Tony Jones of The Athletic reveals (via Twitter) that Merrill is signing a non-guaranteed two-year contract, meaning Merrill will be competing to join the team’s eventual 15-man roster in training camp. Sacramento currently has just 12 players inked to fully guaranteed deals, per our roster tracker.
Earlier this summer, Chima Moneke and Matthew Dellavedova were both also signed to non-guaranteed deals with a chance to make the opening night roster. Moneke’s contract includes a $250K partial guarantee.
The 6’4″ Merrill was selected with the final pick in the 2020 NBA draft out of Utah State by the Pelicans, then was dealt to the Bucks. He played in 30 games for the eventual champs, averaging 3.0 PPG and 1.0 RPG in 7.8 MPG during the regular season. During that rookie season, Merrill connected on 44.4% of his field goal attempts and 44.7% of his 1.6 triples a night.
The Bucks traded him to the Grizzlies during the 2021 offseason. He appeared in just six games for Memphis, averaging 9.7 MPG. The 26-year-old averaged 22.5 PPG, 5.5 APG and 5.5 RPG in two contests for the Grizzlies’ NBAGL affiliate, the Memphis Hustle.
Adding Merrill gives the Kings another potential long-distance shooting option as the team continues to retool its roster around its core of De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray and Davion Mitchell.
Are Bazemore and Cook on non guaranteed as well?
They likely will be — those signings aren’t official yet (same with KZ Okpala), so we don’t know the exact details.
Sheeesh. A lot of competition for that third-string PG spot. Lol why Sacramento?
He can also play at shooting guard, and could battle with Baze & TD to make the roster. Although I doubt he’ll beat them out, teams just do this to heighten the training camp competition. Rosters can be up to 20 until the season starts.
Merrill is a John Stockton clone. He’s more athletic than he looks and can shoot lights out.
Misleading info on Memphis, he was injured and released before getting a real shot there.