Kings guarantee Nemanja Bjelica's 2020-21 salary

The Kings opted not to waive Nemanja Bjelica before his salary guarantee deadline today, locking in his $7.15M cap hit for the 2020-21 season, reports James Ham of NBC Sports California (via Twitter).

Bjelica, 32, had his best season as a pro in 2019-20, starting 67 of 72 games at power forward for the Kings. The veteran stretch four established new career highs in PPG (11.5), RPG (6.4), APG (2.8), 3PT% (.419), and several other categories, and Sacramento was better with him on the court than off it.

With free agency around the corner, the Kings could have some moves up their sleeves that would shake up their depth chart and affect Bjelica’s playing time — he could even end up on the move in a trade himself. For now though, he appears to be on track to reclaim his role as a regular rotation player in Sacramento, even with a healthy Marvin Bagley back in the mix.

Bjelica will be an unrestricted free agent in 2021.