Cousins and Jimmer, Kings for a while. (Getty Images) |
From a Kings press release:
The Sacramento Kings today exercised the 2013-14 contract options of center DeMarcus Cousins and guard Jimmer Fredette, according to Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie. “We’re looking forward to seeing DeMarcus and Jimmer play this year and continue to grow, improve and help this team be successful,” said Petrie.
No real shock here. Cousins is going to get the designated-player extension; they're just putting it back a year which is what everyone does. Why not get him a year at the rookie rate extra?
Jimmer is an interesting one. They clearly want another year to explore his potential and see what he turns into. You wonder if it might have been better to go ahead and get him under restricted free agency sooner so you could lock him up cheap if you believe in him. There are only two ways this works out. He is the player he was last year, in which case you don't want an extra year of him, or he blossoms and you want him at a cheaper rate.
But they're low-risk moves. We'll just have to see how the Kings handle them as they try to dig out of the basement.