SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Kings made a move to address their lack of wing depth Friday, bringing in a young forward with size, length and athleticism.
The Kings signed free agent KZ Okpala to a two-year contract, a league source told The Sacramento Bee, confirming a report from Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Okpala, 23, is a 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward who came out of Stanford as the 32nd overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft. He spent his first three seasons with the Miami Heat, who acquired him in a draft day trade with the Phoenix Suns.
Okpala is already familiar with Kings coach Mike Brown, assistant coaches Jordi Fernandez and Luke Loucks, and new teammate Chimezie Metu from their time together with the Nigerian national team. Brown coached the team at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Brown, who was recently hired as head coach in Sacramento after six years as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors, had high praise for Okpala when discussing his role with the Nigerian national team in July 2021.
“KZ is a remarkable talent, and these are high expectations, but the short time that I’ve had him, he could be a Defensive Player of the Year type candidate once he figures some things out to get consistent minutes on the floor,” Brown said. “His length, his athleticism, his size, his strength, his want to play defense and be great at it is off the charts, and I’ve been around some very good defenders. KZ, I’m excited that he’s here. We’re going to try to use him in a way that is a little bit unique. We’re going to use him similar to how we do Draymond Green a little bit in Golden State, where he’ll guard everybody at different times, but his potential on that side of the ball is remarkable.”
Okpala was born in Anaheim. He attended Esperanza High School, where he grew from a 5-foot-10 freshman to a 6-8 senior. He led Esperanza to its first state championship before going on to Stanford, where he spent two years before declaring for the draft.
Okpala posted modest numbers in limited action with the Heat, but he improved each year. He averaged 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per game last season, shooting 43.5% from the field and 34.6% from 3-point range.
Okpala has logged minutes at the small forward, power forward and center positions, but the bulk of his minutes have come at power forward, according to Basketball Reference. He joins a Sacramento frontcourt that includes Domantas Sabonis, Harrison Barnes, rookie Keegan Murray, Trey Lyles, Richaun Holmes, Alex Len and Metu.
