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Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweeted out on Sunday that the Sacramento Kings are waiving forward Jamel Artis.
Sacramento is waiving forward Jamel Artis, league source tells ESPN. He played 15 games for Orlando last season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 7, 2018
Artis signed a two-year, partially guaranteed training camp deal with the Kings back in June, but was ultimately not able to make the cut.
The Kings are loaded at both guard spots with a mix of young prospects like De'Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Bojan Bogdanovic and Frank Mason III, and veterans Iman Shumpert, Yogi Ferrell, and Ben McLemore.
They are, however, pretty thin at small forward, with only rookie Justin Jackson under contract. It certainly looked like the Kings could have used him there, but obviously opted to just roll with their other back court options.
As noted by Wojnarowski, the 6-foot-7 swing man out of Pittsburgh played 15 games with the Orlando Magic last season, where he averaged 5.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in roughly 18 minutes per contest.
Artis spent majority of the last season with Orlando's G-League affiliate, the Lakeland Magic. He showed some upside in his stint down in the developmental league and caught the eyes of some scouts with his all-around play. In 46 games, he averaged a steady 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.2 steals, and shot 46 percent from the field.
The Kings were banking on his solid play in the G-League when they previously signed him to deal, but it looks like they were unimpressed with his performance in training camp.
Artis now has to go back in the lab to refine his game and get better. He might perhaps head back into the G-League to get more reps in and showcase his abilities. But only time will tell if he can get another shot in the NBA.
