Report: Kings, Buddy Hield Remain at Odds After Four-Year, $90 Million Offer

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Fourth-year sharpshooter Buddy Hield and the Sacramento Kings continue to remain at odds ahead of Monday’s deadline for rookie-scale extensions.

According to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, Hield turned down a four-year, $90 million contract extension from the Kings. He and his agent, Brandon Rosenthal, are reportedly seeking a deal in the $110 million range, which is closer to the five-year, $170 million max extensions already signed by fellow 2016 draftees Ben Simmons and Jamal Murray.

In an interview with the Sacramento Bee published on Friday, Hield, the No. 6 pick in that draft, expressed frustration with the lack of progress in the negotiations while reiterating his desire to make a long-term commitment to the team. Hield becomes a restricted free agent if Monday’s deadline passes without a deal in place, and the sharpshooter may be one of the best names on the market in what appears to be a weaker 2020 free agency class. The Kings will have the right to match any offer should Hield test the waters as an RFA.

The Kings demonstrated a willingness to open the checkbook during the offseason, resigning forward Harrison Barnes to a four-year, $85 million deal in the offseason while offering Serbian wing Bogdan Bogdanovic a four-year, $51.4 million max extension. But Sacramento will need to resign star point guard De’Aaron Fox, who will be expected a max rookie-scale extension this coming offseason. They must also consider promising big Marvin Bagley III, who becomes eligible for an extension during the summer of 2021. Those current and future commitments mean Hield must take a slight pay cut (he is valued at $110 million over five years according to FiveThirtyEight), but the disagreement between team and player appears to be on how steep that cut will be.

Hield was the Kings’ leading scorer last season and the seventh-best three-pointer shooter in the league. He played in all 82 games, averaging 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 42.7 percent from three and 88.6 percent from the line as part of the Kings’ solid young core that also includes Fox, Bogdanovic and Bagley III. It was a breakout year for the Oklahoma product, who began his career in New Orleans before arriving in Sacramento midway through his rookie year as part of the DeMarcus Cousins trade.

The Monday deadline is for teams to extend their 2016 first-round draft picks, who are all entering the final year of their rookie-scale deals. Players who do not agree to extensions will become restricted free agents next summer, meaning their current team can match any offer on the table from another team.