The Sacramento Kings Have Signed A New Player
According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, free agent guard Sam Merrill has agreed to a deal with the Sacramento Kings, allowing him to compete for a spot on the team’s 15-man roster for the 2022-23 season.
Merrill, 26, was drafted with the 60th and final overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and he ended up playing in 30 games his rookie season, averaging 3.0 points and 1.0 rebounds on 44.7% shooting from three-point range.
The Bucks went on to win the NBA Finals that season, making Merrill an NBA champion after just one season in the league.
After being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in a deal for Grayson Allen last offseason, Merrill played in just six games during the 2021-22 season before being waived by Memphis in January.
Playing in two G League games with the Memphis Hustle this past season, the Grizzlies’ G League affiliates, Sam Merrill averaged 22.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and shot 46.7% from three-point range.
Known as a three-point shooting threat coming out of Utah State in 2020, Merrill is likely a coveted G League player by the Sacramento Kings. While the specifics of his contract have not been released, Tony Jones of The Athletic reported that this agreement between Merrill and the Kings is a two-year deal with a partial-guarantee, meaning he will need to make Sacramento’s 15-man roster.
Including KZ Okpala and Kent Bazemore, who have yet to officially sign their contracts with the team, the Kings have 14 players with “guaranteed contracts” for the 2022-23 season and both of their two-way spots are filled by undrafted rookie Keon Ellis and last year’s second-round pick in Neemias Queta.
Given that Okpala and Bazemore could have non-guaranteed or partial-guaranteed clauses in their contracts, the Kings still have three more spots on their roster to fill out that will be up for grabs, at the moment, between Okpala, Bazemore, Merrill, veteran Matthew Dellavedvoa, Chima Moneke and recently signed Quinn Cook.
Given that he is a real three-point shooting threat and a young talent that has recently played for two playoff contending teams, Sam Merrill could be exactly the type of “end-of-bench” talent that head coach Mike Brown and the Sacramento Kings are looking for. Merrill’s performance in training camp will determine whether or not he will make the 15-man roster for the upcoming season.
