Exclusive: Why Tyreke Evans won’t sign with Kings during NBA’s current COVID-19 outbreak
Former Kings guard and NBA Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans has garnered attention in recent weeks as he seeks reinstatement from his 2019 drug ban.
Evans has been the topic of increasing conversation in Sacramento this week with the NBA implementing new roster provisions that require the Kings to sign replacement players due to their ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. Evans would conceivably come with the added benefit of improving the team’s wing depth, but a return to the Kings or any NBA team is not yet possible, a source with knowledge of the situation told The Sacramento Bee.
Evans, 32, has not been cleared to return to the NBA and still faces a lengthy process before he can be reinstated, the source said, suggesting Evans will not be available as teams scramble to sign replacement players during the league’s current outbreak. Evans became eligible for reinstatement earlier this year, but a player can only be reinstated with the approval of the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association.
Under the collective bargaining agreement, a player banned for drugs must meet certain treatment and rehabilitation requirements before he can be reinstated. For example, a player expelled for a drug of abuse must undergo weekly drug testing without testing positive for 12 months prior to the submission of his application for reinstatement.
It’s not clear where Evans is in this process, but he would be an intriguing option for some teams if he were to make a comeback. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound guard averaged 15.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.8 assists over 10 seasons in the NBA.
The Kings selected Evans with the No. 4 pick in the 2009 NBA draft. He was named Rookie of the Year after averaging 20.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists, joining Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only rookies to average at least 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
Evans spent four seasons with the Kings before going to the New Orleans Pelicans in a three-team trade that brought Greivis Vasquez to Sacramento and sent Robin Lopez to the Portland Trail Blazers. Evans returned to Sacramento in the 2017 trade that sent DeMarcus Cousins and Omri Casspi to New Orleans in exchange for Evans, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway and two draft picks.
Evans averaged 19.4 points while shooting 45.2% from the field and 39.9% from 3-point range with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2017-18, but his numbers dipped dramatically the following year with the Indiana Pacers.
Evans averaged 10.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting 38.9% from the field and 25.6% from beyond the arc. Evans scored a career playoff-high 21 points in a season-ending loss to the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs on April 21, 2019. Less than a month later, the NBA issued a statement announcing Evans had been banned from the league and would be eligible to apply for reinstatement in two years.
This could have been an opportune time for Evans to stage a comeback. With more than 80 players in health and safety protocols, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have approved new roster provisions that will allow — and in some cases require — teams to sign replacement players. More than 40 players had signed 10-day contracts under hardship exemptions as of Tuesday night, including the likes of Isaiah Thomas, Lance Stephenson, CJ Miles and Nik Stauskas.
The Kings have signed Justin Robinson and will soon announce the signings of Emmanuel Mudiay and Ade Murkey, sources told The Bee. Those signings were required to meet the minimum requirement of 13 active players with De’Aaron Fox, Davion Mitchell, Terence Davis, Louis King, Marvin Bagley III, Alex Len and Neemias Queta out due to NBA health and safety protocols.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported teams will be permitted to sign one replacement player for reach roster player who tests positive, adding that hardship signings will not impact the team’s salary cap or luxury tax figures. The new roster rules went into effect Sunday night and will remain in place until Jan. 19, at which point the NBA will provide further guidance.
Sources said Mudiay and Murkey will be available when the Kings play the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday at Golden 1 Center. Sources said the Kings are optimistic center Richaun Holmes will be available after missing the past seven games with a right eye laceration. With the return of Holmes and the additions of Mudiay and Murkey, the Kings expect to have 13 players in uniform against the Clippers.
This story was originally published December 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
