- James Ham of The Kings Beat examines the Kings‘ options at small forward heading into training camp. Harrison Barnes will likely see most of the minutes, though his expiring contract makes him a trade candidate. Ham doesn’t expect newcomers Kent Bazemore, KZ Okpala and Chima Moneke to all make the roster.
SEPTEMBER 14: The signing is now official, the Kings announced in a press release.
JULY 15: The Kings have reached a two-year agreement with free agent forward KZ Okpala, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. The deal was confirmed by Okpala’s agent, Aaron Mintz of CAA.
Okpala spent the past three seasons with the Heat, playing a combined 63 games. He got into 21 games last season, averaging 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per night, before being traded to the Thunder at the February deadline. Oklahoma City waived him two days later and he has been out of the league since then.
The 23-year-old has experience playing for new Sacramento coach Mike Brown as part of the Nigerian national team, Haynes notes (Twitter link).
- It has been over a month since Quinn Cook agreed to sign with the Kings and nearly two months since the team reached an agreement with KZ Okpala, and neither deal is official yet. According to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link), both Cook and Okpala are still expected to be in camp with the team, but roster situations are fluid at this time of year, Anderson notes, so it’s possible that could change.
Bill Russell‘s No. 6 will be retired throughout the league and another Hall of Famer, Alonzo Mourning, said it was much-deserved honor, Marc J. Spears of Andscape writes.
“We still need to celebrate his name, because he paved the way during a time where he had to deal with so many different obstacles,” Mourning said. “Not just on the court, but off the court. He paved the way for all of us.”
Mourning and Jerry West were on stage at the Hall of Fame’s annual ceremony over the weekend to honor Russell before the Class of 2022 was inducted.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- Pistons center Nerlens Noel‘s lawsuit against agent Rich Paul is headed to arbitration, Michael McCann of Sportico reports in a subscribers-only article. Noel sued Paul last August, alleging that the agent’s negotiating tactics during 2017 cost him a four-year, $70MM extension with Dallas.
- USA Basketball wound up with the bronze medal in the AmeriCup by defeating Canada 84-80 (Twitter link). Former NBA forward Gary Clark led the way with 18 points. Argentina, having defeated Team USA in the semifinals, earned the gold medal with a victory over Brazil.
- The G League Lakeland Magic acquired the returning player rights to forward Robert Baker from the Stockton Kings in exchange for a 2022 second-round pick, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. Baker, 24, appeared in 26 games with the Stockton Kings last season and one Summer League game with the Thunder.
5:52pm: Steward has officially been waived, per NBA.com’s transactions log.
4:05pm: The Kings are waiving DJ Steward, a source tells James Ham of ESPN 1320 and TheKingsBeat.com (Twitter links).
According to Ham, if Steward doesn’t sign with another team, Sacramento is hopeful that he will rejoin the team’s G League affiliate in Stockton, who hold his returning player rights. His new deal, which he just inked last week, included a small partial guarantee for $50K.
A former McDonald’s All American, Steward spent his lone college season with Duke before going undrafted in 2021. He signed a training camp deal with the Kings last year but was waived before the start of the 2021/22 season.
Steward spent all of last season with the Stockton Kings, appearing in 30 regular season games (21 starts, 29.2 MPG) with averages of 14.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 3.4 APG and 1.0 SPG on .463/.331/.884 shooting. The 6’2″ guard also played 12 games (four starts, 21.9 MPG) with Stockton during the Showcase Cup last fall, averaging 12.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 2.2 APG and 1.1 SPG on .394/.383/.923 shooting.
The Kings have one of the more unique roster situations right now because they only have 12 players on guaranteed contracts, have reportedly reached agreements with four others — Kent Bazemore, Quinn Cook, KZ Okpala and Jeriah Horne — that have yet to become official, plus three players with relatively small partial guarantees in Matthew Dellavedova, Chima Moneke and Sam Merrill.
It appears as though they’ll have a true training camp competition to determine the last few spots on the standard roster, with both two-way spots currently filled by Keon Ellis and Neemias Queta.
The 2022/23 NBA regular season will tip off next month, so it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and to continue an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.
With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites – including Bovada, BetOnline, and Betway – we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.
In 2021/22, our voters went 16-14 on their over/under picks. Can you top that in ’22/23?
We’ll keep our series going today with the Pacific division…
Golden State Warriors
- 2021/22 record: 53-29
- Over/under for 2022/23: 53.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Donte DiVincenzo, JaMychal Green, Patrick Baldwin, Ryan Rollins
- Lost: Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr., Juan Toscano-Anderson, Nemanja Bjelica, Damion Lee
- Note: Andre Iguodala continues to weigh whether to re-sign with the Warriors or retire.
Phoenix Suns
- 2021/22 record: 64-18
- Over/under for 2022/23: 53.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Josh Okogie, Damion Lee, Jock Landale
- Lost: JaVale McGee, Aaron Holiday, Elfrid Payton, Ish Wainright
Los Angeles Clippers
- 2021/22 record: 42-40
- Over/under for 2022/23: 52.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: John Wall
- Lost: Isaiah Hartenstein, Rodney Hood
- Note: The Clippers will also have Kawhi Leonard back after he missed the entire 2021/22 season due to a torn ACL.
Los Angeles Lakers
- 2021/22 record: 33-49
- Over/under for 2022/23: 45.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
Sacramento Kings
- 2021/22 record: 30-52
- Over/under for 2022/23: 34.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Keegan Murray, Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter, Sam Merrill, Matthew Dellavedova, Chima Moneke, DJ Steward
- Note: Merrill, Dellavedova, Moneke, and Steward have partially guaranteed salaries — not all of them will make the Kings’ regular season roster. KZ Okpala, Quinn Cook, and Kent Bazemore are also expected to be signed to compete for 15-man roster spots.
- Lost: Donte DiVincenzo, Justin Holiday, Maurice Harkless, Jeremy Lamb, Damian Jones, Josh Jackson
- Added: Keegan Murray, Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter, Sam Merrill, Matthew Dellavedova, Chima Moneke, DJ Steward
Previous voting results:
- Milwaukee Bucks (52.5 wins): Over (75.5%)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (47.5 wins): Over (73.4%)
- Chicago Bulls (44.5 wins): Over (51.6%)
- Detroit Pistons (28.5 wins): Over (51.6%)
- Indiana Pacers (23.5 wins): Under (62.8%)
- Miami Heat (50.5 wins): Under (56.6%)
- Atlanta Hawks (46.5 wins): Over (53.6%)
- Charlotte Hornets (36.5 wins): Under (63.0%)
- Washington Wizards (35.5 wins): Under (50.8%)
- Orlando Magic (26.5 wins): Over (55.3%)
- Memphis Grizzlies (49.5 wins): Over (68.7%)
- Dallas Mavericks (48.5 wins): Over (63.7%)
- New Orleans Pelicans (44.5 wins): Over (61.2%)
- Houston Rockets (24.5 wins): Under (61.8%)
- San Antonio Spurs (23.5 wins): Under (67.5%)
- James Ham of TheKingsBeat.com examines whether head coach Mike Brown can fix the Kings’ defensive woes. Sacramento had the fourth-worst defensive rating last season, finishing with just a 30-52 record. Brown was hired as head coach of the team in May.
Kings rookie Keegan Murray, the No. 4 overall pick of the 2022 draft, has been “cleared to resume all basketball activities” after undergoing right wrist surgery in July, a league source tells James Ham of ESPN 1320 (Twitter link).
Three weeks ago, Ham reported that Murray was progressing well in his recovery and was shooting again with both hands. Ham was also the first to report that Murray had surgery, characterizing it as a “minor” procedure and that Murray was expected to recovery quickly. Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 KTXL later stated that the team expected Murray to be ready for training camp, and that certainly appears to be the case.
It’s great news for both the Kings and Murray, as he flashed tantalizing two-way potential during Summer League action, winning MVP in Las Vegas. He averaged 23.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals on .500/.400/.808 shooting in his four Vegas games.
Murray also had a great run at the California Classic Summer League in San Francisco. He averaged 19.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals on .511/.438/1.000 shooting in three games, per RealGM.
The 22-year-old had a relatively quiet freshman season for Iowa, averaging 7.2 points and 5.2 rebounds on .506/.296/.755 shooting in 31 games (18.0 minutes). However, Murray emerged as one of the best college players in the country during the 2021/22 season, winning numerous awards after averaging 23.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.9 blocks on .554/.398/.747 shooting.
The 6’8″ forward is expected to play a major role for a Kings team that badly wants to end its 16-year playoff drought. Sacramento finished last season with a 30-52 record, 12th in the Western Conference.
DJ Steward‘s new deal with the Kings is a one-year, minimum-salary contract, but it doesn’t include Exhibit 10 language, Hoops Rumors has learned. It’s a standard contract that features a small partial guarantee worth $50K.
If Steward is eventually waived, he would still be eligible to play for the Stockton Kings, Sacramento’s G League affiliate, since his guarantee doesn’t exceed $50K. So the most tangible difference between Steward’s deal and an Exhibit 10 contract is that Sacramento won’t have the option of converting it into a two-way contract. The former Duke guard isn’t ineligible to sign a two-way deal with the Kings, but he would have to pass through waivers first.
The Kings have brought back free agent guard DJ Steward, signing him to a new contract, per Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee.
Last year, Steward also joined Sacramento on a training camp deal, but he was waived by the club ahead of opening night. The 6’2″ guard, who went undrafted out of Duke in 2021, ultimately joined Sacramento’s NBAGL affiliate, the Stockton Kings.
Over the course of 30 regular season games (21 starts) with Stockton, he averaged 14.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 3.4 APG. The 20-year-old posted shooting splits of .463/.331/.884 while in the G League last season.
Sacramento currently has 12 players inked to guaranteed spots on its 15-man standard roster. Three others are signed to non-guaranteed deals, and the team has reportedly reached agreements with KZ Okpala, Quinn Cook, and Kent Bazemore. Shooting guard Keon Ellis and center Neemias Queta occupy the club’s two-way player slots.
According to Anderson, it’s not clear if Steward will join the Kings for training camp or if his new deal is just an Exhibit 10 contract designed to get him a bonus if and when he returns to Stockton. Given all of Sacramento’s other reported signings, the latter scenario seems more likely.