The Sacramento Kings won’t tender a $6,602,272 qualifying offer to fourth-year guard Donte DiVincenzo, making him an unrestricted free agent, a league source tells James Ham of ESPN 1320 and The Kings Beat.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirms the news, stating that DiVincenzo is expected to draw “significant interest” as a free agent. Sacramento remains interested in re-signing DiVincenzo despite declining the QO, according to Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 (KTXL).
The 25-year-old had a down season in 2021-22 after returning from ankle surgery last June. He struggled to find his footing in 17 games (20.1 MPG) with the Bucks, averaging 7.2 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 1.7 APG on .331/.284/.852 shooting before being traded to the Kings at the deadline in February.
He played better in 25 games (26.6 MPG) for Sacramento, averaging 10.3 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.6 APG and 1.5 SPG on .362/.368/.839 shooting. While his field goal percentage seems alarmingly low, the majority of his shot attempts came from deep.
It’s a puzzling move for the Kings, because declining the QO means they can’t match any offer given to DiVincenzo. DiVincenzo had reportedly grown frustrated with the team a couple of months ago, believing the Kings were attempting to lower the value of his QO by not starting him.
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