How did the Sacramento Kings' meeting with their own restricted free agent Tyreke Evans go on Monday? Cowbell Kingdom's James Ham has the report.
A source with knowledge of his situation says that Evans came away impressed by his meeting with the Kings, which included owner Vivek Ranadivé, general manager Pete D'Alessandro and coach Michael Malone. It believed that the 23-year-old swingman's overall preference is to remain in Sacramento.
It'd be hard not to be impressed by those guys! Of course, every free agent meeting always goes well based on reports. But I think it's important for everyone to remember that this is basically a brand new team in Sacramento. Evans has dealt with a lot of losing, a lot of drama, a lot of discomfort. Mr. V, Malone and Pete D. are able to show a clean break from the old regime. That's potentially huge.
Sam Amick heard similar things.
No clarity on whether they'd match offer from New Orleans, but Evans left encouraged by the message that was sent. He likes it in Sacto.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 2, 2013
As noted this morning, the Pelicans' offer of $44 million can't be that poisonous: there's just not a whole lot rival teams can do at this price point to muck things up. So the concern is more convincing Tyreke that Sacramento will make a better long-term basketball home, that the new regime is focused on turning the franchise around and making him a star piece of that.
One other note from the CK piece: it says Tyreke is looking for a four-year deal to become a free agent before his 28th birthday. Pretty smart move by his camp, one that also disarms Sacramento's best counter (which is the fifth year).