One of the few bright spots on the Sacramento Kings’ summer league team has accepted an invite to training camp.
Former Alabama forward Tony Mitchell will join the Kings when they tip off action in Colorado Springs in two weeks. His agent, Todd Ramasar of BDA Sports, confirmed the move in an email with Cowbell Kingdom.
The 6-foot-6 wing, who went undrafted in June, made a positive impression on Kings’ brass in Las Vegas. In five games, the athletic forward averaged 11.4 points, 2.4 assists and shot 40 percent from 3-point territory.
“He was probably my most consistent player,” said Kings assistant coach Alex English back in July of Mitchell, who started three summer league contests. “He played on both ends and he had an injury he was nursing. But he came out and played hard the whole time.”
Mitchell may have a shot to make the roster. The Kings enter this season with the same questions surrounding the wing position that have plagued them in recent years. Outside of their acquisition of James Johnson from the Toronto Raptors, the Kings made no wholesale changes at small forward.
If Mitchell makes it out of training camp, the Kings could sever ties with Tyler Honeycutt, who missed summer league due to a stress fracture in his right foot. Sources have indicated to Cowbell Kingdom that the sophomore forward is not guaranteed a spot on this year’s team. Questionable work-ethic and discipline are reasons for Honeycutt’s murky future with the Kings.
Mitchell left for the NBA following an unceremonious end to his junior year at Alabama. After starting all but one game, the 23-year-old forward was suspended indefinitely, then later dismissed from the Crimson Tide for conduct detrimental to the team in February.
“It was just me being over-competitive,” Mitchell told the New York post back in May. “I hate losing, and losing got to me. I wanted my team to do better, and it cost us in the end. I apologize for what I did.”
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