Sacramento Kings Waive Former Duke Star

Recently, the Sacramento Kings waived former Duke star DJ Steward.

The Sacramento Kings will begin their 2022-23 NBA regular season in just 34 days.

They will host the Portland Trail Blazers at home in California and try to end their 16-season playoff drought, which is currently the longest in the NBA. 

The roster has plenty of talent, and over the offseason, they made solid pickups such as Kevin Huerter, Malik Monk and Keegan Murray (fourth overall pick). 

In addition, they still have star point guard De'Aaron Fox and NBA Champion Harrison Barnes on the team.

Recently, they added former Duke star DJ Steward on an Exhibit 10 contract.

However, they have waived him (first reported by James Ham of TheKingsBeat.com, h/t Hoops Rumors). 

According to a league source, the Kings have officially waived DJ Steward.

— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) September 12, 2022

Steward had also been waived by the Kings in October of last season. 

The Kings have waived Matt Coleman and DJ Steward. pic.twitter.com/t358lLIDAm

— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) October 12, 2021

This past year, he played for the Kings' G League affiliate (the Stockton Kings) and averaged 14.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest in 30 regular season games. 

He went undrafted in 2021 after playing one season for the Duke Blue Devils.

During his freshman season, he averaged 13.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per contest in 24 games.

Coming out of high school, Steward was one of the most coveted recruits in the nation.

ESPN ranked him as a five-star recruit and the 25th best player in the class of 2020. 

He is from Chicago, Illinois, and still just 20-years-old, so there is no question that he has plenty of time to prove himself as a legitimate NBA player.