As soon as the Sacramento Kings lost Zach LaVine to a season-ending injury, some even considered him a player to move forward between now and the end of the offseason. The Kings likely won’t reach a deal with LaVine, who had a tendon repair in his right pinky.
Per ClutchScoops’ Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, LaVine could help mentor the young Kings during the final year of his contract.
“To be honest, unless the Kings are willing to take on contracts they don’t want, which they’ve indicated isn’t going to happen, they want to pursue clean books,” Siegel said. “I don’t see any option other than to try to buy him out, maybe in the off-season, or just waive him and pay him $49 million.
“If you’re the Kings, why would you do that? If you’re going to pay him $49 million anyway, you might as well add him as a featured star on your roster to mentor some of these young guys.”
In the final season of LaVine’s five-year, $215.1 million deal for the next one, there is a player option worth $48.9 million.
Zach LaVine undergoes season-ending surgery
After the Kings announced Domantas Sabonis would have season-ending knee surgery, Zach LaVine suffered a similar situation during his hand surgery. Sabonis went under the knife to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, as both his and LaVine’s regular seasons ended abruptly.
The Kings, who enter the All-Star break with a 12-44 record, are in last place in the Western Conference standings and have the fewest wins in the NBA.
#Zach #LaVine #longer #tradable #asset #buyout #discussion
