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).
Now we goin to the ship
This is a weird fit for him just b/c they have 3 or 4 people ahead of him at his position…I would think theyd be looking for 1 more piece at the 2/3 spots/keeping Jeremy Lamb. I could see Keon Ellis getting some time in those spots though off the bench
I still believe in this guy, but I would have liked to see him in a spot where he could fit/be used. Actually, he was 1 of the few remaining names on the dwindling list of available 4s for the Heat in FA, outside of summer league guys. He played really well for the Heat in certain matchups, when used correctly, especially against Milwaukee. He just needs to find the offense a little more consistently
I think he could be used at SF, just like Barnes or Murray…and Harkless used to be. Same height basically & same body types. Okpala is a pretty good defender & very switchable. Being so familiar with Coach Brown is a bonus. But I agree, he needs more in the scoring department & offense needs some work.
I really think they need to move Murray to the SF, sabonis to PF, trade Barnes and Holmes for a Good young center and maybe a starting caliber SG.
Sign Giles