Sacramento Kings Waive Center - Open Up Roster Spot and Salary Space

The Sacramento Kings announce roster moves ahead of guaranteed contract decision dates.

Nov 16, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings center Orlando Robinson (left) dribbles against Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (right) during the first quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

With the date for guaranteed roster spots on the horizon, the Sacramento Kings announced today that they waived backup center Orlando Robinson while guaranteeing the contracts for Jae Crowder and Doug McDermott for the rest of the season.

The Sacramento Kings are waiving center Orlando Robinson, sources tell ESPN. Veteran forwards Jae Crowder and Doug McDermott will have their contracts guaranteed for the remainder of the season. This move also opens up a roster spot for the Kings.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 7, 2025

Robinson, whose contract was set to become guaranteed on January 10th, appeared in nine games for the Kings, averaging 2.1 points and 1.6 rebounds per contest. He never got much of a chance to crack the rotation, especially with the emergence of undrafted rookie Isaac Jones.

Between the two young bigs and veteran Alex Len, a logjam was created at the backup center position, with Robinson falling to the bottom of the rotation.

By waiving him, the Kings not only created a roster spot but also freed up some cap space, which could be key leading up to the trade deadline.

The Kings are capped at the first tax apron, meaning they can't go over $178,132,000. Robinson leaves behind $959,779 in dead cap space, about half of his $2.09 million contract. Sacramento essentially gave themselves an extra million dollars to work with in the coming month before the trade deadline.

Sacramento is now $3.2M below the luxury tax and $7M below the first apron.

There is a $959,779 cap hit on the Orlando Robinson waiver.

14 teams now have an open roster spot.

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) January 7, 2025

The move creates more flexibility for the Kings, something General Manager Monte McNair preaches going into seasons and deadlines. They can now do a 2-for-1 trade in which they send out one player for two, sign a player on the buyout market, or convert one of their two-way contracts to a standard contract, which they've done in the past with Keon Ellis.

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