A little more than a week ago the Sacramento Kings waived power forward Eric Moreland so that his contract didn't become guaranteed. The Kings do like Moreland and the way he plays and because of that it appears that Vlade Divac wants to bring him back, according to Aaron Bruski of NBC Sports.
Divac, the Kings vice president of basketball operations, was doing a radio interview when he reportedly claimed that the Kings are looking into bringing Moreland back for training camp. Moreland signed a three year deal with the Kings before last season and made a little more than $500,000 in 2014-15 but that was set to jump up to about $850,000 this year if Moreland was still on the roster on August 1st.
The Kings waived Moreland to ensure that his contract didn't become guaranteed and will now look to sign him to a deal that will likely only be partially guaranteed. The reason for this maneuver by the Kings is so that they can potentially bring Moreland into camp and have him compete for a roster spot and not let the money influence their decision on whether he makes the team. Cutting Moreland was a risk though as there are reportedly other teams interested in bringing Moreland into camp so the Kings can potentially lose a young player they were high on.
Moreland is a 6 foot-10 power forward out of Oregon State who went undrafted but his size, rebounding and ability to block shots has attracted teams to him. Moreland has never been much of a scorer, at least to this point, in his career but there is always a place in the league for guys with his size.
The Kings can really use Moreland back as they are a little thin at the power forward spot. Quincy Acy is the only true power forward currently on the roster but the Kings do have Willie Cauley-Stein and Kosta Koufos who they can play alongside DeMarcus Cousins in the frontcourt. If Moreland were to come back to the Kings he would be their 16th player and would still have a good shot of making the team as one of their current players, Duje Dukan, is likely to be sent to their D-League affiliate.
