Source: Kings pass on Donte DiVincenzo's qualifying offer

Free agency is almost upon us. Before the Kings descend into complete chaos Thursday at 3 PM PST, they took care of some house cleaning Wednesday afternoon.

General manager Monte McNair had some difficult decisions to make with some of the members of his roster. There will be more in the coming days.

After a day of busy work, here is a look at where the Kings stand hours before NBA free agency officially opens up for business.

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Declined

In a surprise move, a league source confirmed to The Kings Beat that Sacramento chose not to extend a qualifying offer to shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo. The QO was set for $6.6 million, which would have given the Kings the option to match any offer sheet for the 25-year-old.

Acquired at the trade deadline last season in a three-team trade with the Pistons and Bucks, DiVincenzo played well in his 25 game audition with the Kings. The four-year pro averaged 10.3 points, 3.6 assists and 4.4 points in 26.6 minutes per game in Sacramento.

The move is a break for DiVincenzo and his camp. He heads into the offseason 100 percent healthy and without the encumbrance of being a restricted free agent. He’ll likely find work quickly and should land a contract with a starting salary at or around the mid-level exception, which is set at $10.3 million this season.

Despite the decision to turn down the qualifying offer, the Kings still own Larry Bird Rights on DiVincenzo, which allows them to re-sign him without regard to the salary cap. A cap hold of $14 million is still in place until DiVincenzo signs elsewhere or the Kings renounce his rights completely.

RELATED:  10 Free Agent guard options for Sacramento Kings

Guaranteed

Like DiVincenzo, the Kings had a decision to make on the contract of Chimezie Metu. The team had until today to either waive Metu or guarantee the final year of his contract for $1.9 million, and a league source confirmed to The Kings Beat that they chose the latter.

Metu earned his way onto the Kings roster in April of 2021 after signing a two-way contract early in the 2020-21 season. He played in 60 games last season with the Kings, including 20 starts, posting 8.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and .9 steals in 21.3 minutes per game.

The Kings have invested plenty of time in developing the 25-year-old big man and he has ties to new head coach Mike Brown from their time together with the Nigerian National team.

Team Option

As we reported here on The Kings Beat earlier this week, Sacramento has picked up a team option on veteran Trey Lyles. The 6-foot-9, 235 pound power forward averaged 10.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 21.3 minutes over the last 24 games of the season with the Kings.

Lyles, 26, was acquired along with Josh Jackson from the Pistons in the trade that sent Marvin Bagley to Detroit. He played very well down the stretch and is a bargain at just $2.6 million this season.

Qualifying Offer

While the Kings passed on DiVincenzo’s QO, they didn’t on second-year center Neemias Queta’s. According to a league source, Queta received a two-way qualifying offer, which allows the Kings to retain his rights heading into free agency.

The 22-year-old out of Portugal saw limited action with Sacramento last season, but he played well at the G League level, averaging 15.4 points, 8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 26.5 minutes per game.

Sacramento currently has plenty of depth at the five with Domantas Sabonis, Richaun Holmes and Alex Len all under contract for this season. They also have the start of a roster crunch, with 12 players either under contract or expected to sign soon in the case of first round pick Keegan Murray.

There is a chance for a major roster reshuffle in the coming days, which could open a regular roster spot for Queta. There is also a chance that the Kings struggle to make moves and he’s asked to come back on a two-way contract for a second straight year. Either way, he is a highly regarded young player who should have a future in Sacramento.

Mystery Man

McNair made a surprise move leading up the 2022 NBA Draft when he traded away a second round pick (No. 49) for EuroLeague star Aleksandar “Sasha” Vezenkov and cash considerations.

The 6-foot-9 forward earned All-EuroLeague first team honors last season playing for Olympiacos and there is a shot that he makes his way to Sacramento this season.

According to Christos Tsaltas, who covers the NBA from Greece, Vezenkov is in the middle of a three-year, $2.9 euro contract with NBA out clauses both this summer and next. Per Tsaltas, the buyout on that contract is just $750,000, which is below the Excluded International Player Payment Amount teams are allowed to pay for the 2022-23 season.

Whether Vezenkov chooses to come over from Greece this summer is unknown at this time, but the Kings scouted the 26-year-old more than once this season and he spoke on the possibility of a move to the NBA in a recent interview.

"I'm excited that my Draft rights are in a club that really wanted to have it,” Vesenkov told Maria Mitsoza of BGbasket. “I know the Kings scouted and followed me during the season. Not planning to play in Summer League. We will talk soon. Just glad that a team that knows me, has my rights."

McNair and his staff are clearly turning over every rock possible in their search for talent. Is it possible they found a diamond in the rough playing overseas?

Kings Beat Note

Our normal schedule of podcasts on Tuesday and Thursday has been thrown off this week due to "health and safety protocols." Hopefully I emerge from quarantine in the coming days and we can get back to recording. It should be a busy week in Kingsland!

We've added the Off the Record with the Kings Beat Happy Hour shirt to the mix at the merch shop! Here is a 15% off promo code for the merch shop: KBPOD