by Jonathan Santiago and James Ham
Royce White’s stay in Northern California has been extended. The Sacramento Kings announced today that they’ve re-signed White to a second 10-day contract after his first deal expired Saturday.
Though the Kings have inked White another contract, the 22-year-old forward is not playing tonight against the Washington Wizards. He did not participate in morning shootaround today and isn’t expected to make his Kings debut until Friday when the Kings host the San Antonio Spurs.
“He hasn’t practiced,” Kings head coach Michael Malone said before Tuesday’s match-up between the Kings and Wizards. “Obviously, we had an off day yesterday after a very long road trip. But we’ll have a chance to practice after tonight for two days, getting ready for San Antonio. And then obviously we’ll hopefully be able to get him into a game in the near future.”
White spent the duration of his last 10-day deal on assignment with the Reno Bighorns. During his four-game stint with the Kings’ D-League affiliate, White averaged 8.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 24.8 minutes per contest. He also shot 36.7 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from 3-point distance. White scored in double figures two times, including his final outing on Wednesday night against the Iowa Energy.
“It was enjoyable man,” White said of his assignment with the Bighorns. “The people here were great. They really provided an atmosphere for me – from the teammates to coaches and the organization here and the fans – where I could be comfortable and play my game.”
The Kings officially recalled White from the Bighorns on Thursday evening. He did not join the team for the final two contests of their seven-game road trip. Instead, White spent the last few days working out in Sacramento in preparation for their upcoming four-game home-stand, starting on Tuesday against the Washington Wizards.
Selected 16th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft, White has yet to play in a regular season NBA game. He has had a highly publicized battle with generalized anxiety disorder, which so far has derailed his aspirations of a professional career.
“This is just an opportunity to evaluate him as a basketball player,” Malone said of White. “From all the reports that I got from Pete D’Alessandro, who went up to Reno, (he) did everything that was asked of him, was a good teammate, did everything that we hoped that he would on the court. And the reality is when you haven’t played for as long as he hasn’t played, it’s gonna take a while to get back. But he’s been working hard, which is great, so I’m anxious to get a chance to work with him the next couple of days and see where this goes.”
Updated at 7:01 pm
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