The big ragu doesn’t think he’s been allowed to cook in Sacramento.
The offseason hasn’t even started yet and there’s already drama surrounding the Sacramento Kings and their internal free agents.
During a recent appearance on the Kings Pulse podcast, James Ham, the Kings insider for ESPN 1320, reported that Donte Divincenzo and his camp are woeful of how his short tenure with the Kings has gone.
“DiVincenzo and his group are not at all happy with the Sacramento Kings. They believe that the Kings, very specifically, did not start him down the stretch of the season to limit his value in free agency …
“His team believes he’ll be able to get the MLE from somebody.”
Although he could have absolutely been receiving more minutes in recent weeks with Fox being shut down, Divincenzo has actually been getting a lot of playing time.
Since joining the Kings, he has averaged 26.5 minutes per game, the most minutes he’s averaged since the 2019-20 season, when he averaged 27.5 minutes per game for the Milwaukee Bucks. Another intriguing fact is that over the Kings’ last 10 games, Divincenzo has averaged 29.2 minute, including a lot of crunch time action.
So is he really unhappy with his minutes, or is he just using it as an excuse to force his way out of Sacramento?
This wouldn’t be anything new for Kings fans, as they often see players they like want out of the Kings. Divincenzo came to the Kings from a franchise in the Milwaukee Bucks that is fresh off of a championship that they earned by treating its players happy and making them feel valued. The exact opposite of the Kings who are likely one of the most poorly run franchises in American professional sports.
As a player of his caliber and pedigree, unless I was certain of what my role would be on the team, I may be a little unhappy too. By no means is Divincenzo a star player. But lackluster teams such as the Kings don’t have the luxury of being too picky with their roster.
It would be very wise for the Kings to try and repair this relationship before it is too late and Divincenzo brings his skillset elsewhere.