Kings cut veterans Kent Bazemore, Quinn Cook, add two Exhibit 10 players

Cut day is never fun.

The Sacramento Kings said goodbye to a pair of veterans Thursday morning when they waived both Kent Bazemore and Quinn Cook.

In his second stint in Sacramento, Bazemore was a bit of a surprise, although head coach Mike Brown has more depth than expected at the small forward position with the emergence of KZ Okpala.

Bazemore still has time to pick up with one of the other 29 teams in the league before the start of the 2022-23 season. He played well in his limited preseason minutes and should be viewed as a solid veteran player who brings a strong locker room influence.

Cook is in a slightly different situation than Bazemore. It appears that his contract with Sacramento came with an Exhibit 10 designation. That means that if Cook isn’t added to another NBA roster in the coming days, the team can allocate him to the Stockton Kings of the G League as a returning player.

If Cook decides to play in the G League this season, instead of searching for a contract overseas, he is eligible for a $50,000 bonus from the parent club if he stays in Stockton for 60 days.

Welcome to The Kings Beat, a subscriber based independent news source with more than a decade of experience covering the Sacramento Kings as credentialed media. If you are already a premium subscriber, thank you for jumping on board. If you aren't, please consider supporting independent content, such as this, with a premium subscription.

With Bazemore and Cook no longer part of the team, the Kings’ roster stood at 18, including two-way players Neemias Queta and Keon Ellis on Thursday morning, but the team was not done making moves.

With a week remaining before the start of the regular season, general manager Monte McNair has the option of signing additional players to Exhibit 10 contracts, waiving them and then sending them to the G League as one of the team’s four designated “affiliate players.”

That is exactly what the team did on Thursday when they signed Wes Iwundu and local product Jordan Ford. Iwundu is a former second round pick by the Orlando Magic who has averaged 4.4 points and 2.5 rebounds over 226 NBA games.

Ford was born in Sacramento and went to St. Mary's College in the Bay Area. He went undrafted in 2020, but he spent all of last season playing for Agua Caliente, the Lakers G League affiliate.

Both players will practice with the team, but their stay on the main roster is likely short lived. Signing players to Exhibit 10 contracts and then waiving them creates a pathway to building out the Stockton Kings roster. There is potential for the Kings to do this all over again in the coming days.

Ade Murkey, Jeriah Horne and Alex O'Connell have all been seen working out in Sacramento. There is potential for each of them to earn Exhibit 10 contracts by the time the Kings have to solidify their roster before opening night.

For now, the Kings' roster is back up to 20 players. They still need to make three cuts between now and October 19.