Veteran guard Matthew Dellavedova and forwards KZ Okpala and Chima Moneke have claimed the final three spots on the Kings‘ 15-man roster to open the regular season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Veteran wing Sam Merrill had also been vying for a regular season roster spot, but the Kings have opted to waive him, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee tweets.
The team also cut Jeriah Horne and Alex O’Connell, per James Ham of ESPN 1320 Sacramento (Twitter link), who says the plan is for both players to join the Stockton Kings, Sacramento’s G League affiliate.
Okpala earned some starts at power forward for Sacramento this preseason and always seemed like a safe bet to make the roster. Dellavedova, meanwhile, looked like a logical keeper after the team waived another veteran point guard, Quinn Cook. Moneke has spent the last several years playing in international leagues and will be getting his first shot in the NBA as a 26-year-old rookie.
Okpala and Moneke currently have partial guarantees worth $250K and will earn another $250K if they remain on the roster through Wednesday. Dellavedova is on a non-guaranteed contract and will also get $250K for sticking through Wednesday.
Merrill’s contract included a $150K partial guarantee. The Kings will be on the hook for that amount unless he’s claimed on waivers on Monday.
Good choices they went with. A guy who’s strictly a shooter like Merrill can quickly be replaced.