As the Sacramento Kings lose Zach LaVine to a season-ending injury, some also viewed him to be a player on the move between now and the end of the offseason. The Kings will most likely not reach a buyout with LaVine, who had a tendon in his right pinky repaired.
LaVine could help mentor the young Kings amidst the final year of his contract, according to ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel per Clutch Scoops.
“Honestly, unless the Kings are willing to take on contracts that they don’t want, which they’ve signaled that’s not going to be the case, they want to have clean books moving forward,” Siegel said. “I don’t see any option other than they try to buy him out, maybe in the off-season, or just simply waive him and pay him $49 million.
“If you’re the Kings, why would you do that? If you’re going to pay him $49 million anyway, you might as well have him as the featured star on your roster to try to mentor some of these young guys.”
The final season of LaVine's five-year, $215.1 million deal for next is a player option, worth $48.9 million.
Zach LaVine undergoes season-ending surgery
After the Kings announced Domantas Sabonis' season-ending knee surgery, Zach LaVine met a similar fate amid his hand surgery. Sabonis went under the knife to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, as both he, and LaVine's regular season comes to an abrupt end.
The Kings, who are entering the All-Star break with a 12-44 record, are last in the Western Conference standings and have the fewest wins in the NBA.
