Sacramento Kings Offseason: Jason Thompson To Receive Qualifying Offer

The Sacramento Kings have gotten moving on their offseason plans, and one of those is retaining power forward Jason Thompson. Thompson started to fit into a solid cleanup role last year as the power forward who feasted on offensive rebounds and easy putbacks, and became an efficient second cog with DeMarcus Cousins on the inside. The Kings definitely want to keep him.

General manager Geoff Petrie agrees that keeping Thompson is in line with the team's overall future plans. Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee has this to report.

Looking at your own free agents, how do you go about evaluating where they fit?

Jason (Thompson), once he became a starter, showed he's a good complement to DeMarcus, (and) doesn't necessarily need the ball to score. He's going to run the floor, he gives you another passer out there as a big guy, and he started finishing better this year. … So he's somebody we will definitely give the qualifying offer to and look to re-sign.

The Kings giving Thompson a qualifying offer would make him a restricted free agent. That means that whatever team decides to offer him a contract, Sacramento will have the opportunity to match any offer that's made for him.

Qualifying offers in the NBA can only come in certain circumstances, and Thompson qualifies by being a fourth year player and a first round draft pick.

To talk about Thompson with Kings fans, head on over to Sactown Royalty.

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