The Kings have lured a few notable veterans over the last few years by overpaying them.
They usually wind up unhappy in Sacramento, anyway.
The Kings gave Garrett Temple a contract that included an $8 million player option for next season. Yet, the 32-year-old merely fine player took until option-deadline day to exercise it.
Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated:
Kings guard Garrett Temple tells @TheUndefeated he will be opting in to his $8 million player option for next season.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) June 29, 2018
This is the choice I would’ve advised Temple to make. He’ll never earn nearly that high a salary again in his life. Make that money while he can, and get to a more favorable situation later.
Maybe the Kings will trade him. They’re extremely unlikely to win this year, anyway. But they also already dealt their first-round pick, giving them minimal incentive to tank. (They’ll have the lower of their own and the Bucks’ second-rounders.) If Temple has to spend the year mentoring the young super team while making $8 million, it could be worse.
The Kings project to have about $19 million in cap space to accept salary dumps and/or chase restricted free agents like Zach LaVine.
