The Sacramento Kings are going all-in on Wes Matthews, offering him a four-year, $65 million contract despite his Achilles injury, according to ESPN's Marc Stein. Despite the significant offer, however, Stein reports Matthews told the Kings he was "unlikely" to take the offer.
Wes Matthews reportedly ‘unlikely’ to take Kings $65 million offer
Sacramento is going all-in to bring in Matthews, but it doesn’t appear to be working.
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Matthews is also being pursued by the Mavericks, who are considered the favorites, and the Raptors. However, even though Matthews is only four months into his rehab for an Achilles injury he suffered towards the end of the 2015 season, the Kings are strongly motivated to sign him even if it means overpaying.
In some ways, their hands are forced: earlier on Thursday, Sacramento dealt players and draft picks just to free up cap space to sign someone this offseason. Rajon Rondo, another Kings target, is still on the market, but Monta Ellis accepted a four-year deal with the Pacers.
Matthews is a classic 3-and-D shooting guard when healthy, providing plenty of outside shotmaking and some physical one-on-one play against whomever he’s matched up against. However, Achilles injuries are notoriously terrible for NBA players and there’s a chance he simply may not have the same explosiveness or lateral movement even when he’s ready to play.
Entering free agency, Matthews said he wanted $15 million, a number that was considered much too high by most people around the league. But apparently not by the Kings.
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