The Sacramento Kings have signed forward Jeriah Horne and guard Alex O’Connell to showcase 10 contracts, according to general manager Monte McNair. These are non-guaranteed offers.
Of course, the players signed deals right after the team waived Jordan Ford and Wesley Iwundu. Guard Sam Merrill signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Sacramento in August.
Ford and Iwundu are expected to play for the Stockton Kings, the team’s NBA G League affiliate, in the 2022-23 season. The Kings have already acquired the G League return rights from both players.
According to multiple NBA betting sites, the Sacramento Kings have the ninth-lowest odds of winning a championship in 2023. However, some sportsbooks are counting on them to end their 16-year playoff drought this season.
According to a league source, the Kings have waived Jordan Ford and Wes Iwundu. They have signed Jeriah Horne and Alex O’Connell to showcase 10 contracts, creating a path to the Stockton Kings. Horne and O’Connell are at shooting practice and will face the Lakers tonight.
—Jason Anderson (@JandersonSacBee) October 14, 2022
Still, Horne was undrafted out of Tulsa. In 155 career games played in the NCAA, the Kansas native averaged 10.6 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist per game over five seasons.
During his 2016-17 freshman season with Nebraska, in 29 appearances off the bench, Horne posted 4.3 points and 1.9 boards per contest.
Before the 2017-18 season, the forward transferred to Tulsa. Due to NCAA transfer rules, the 6’7″ wing sat out the entire season.
For the 2018-19 season, in 32 games played, Horne registered 10.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1 assist per game. Additionally, he shot 43.9% from the field and 37.4% from center.
Kings sign forward Jeriah Horne and guard Alex O’Connell to showcase 10 contracts
Also, in the 2020-21 season with Colorado, the winger averaged 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds. Not to mention that he shot 45.6% from the ground and 39.7% from 3-point range.
In the 2021-22 season, Horne posted the highest numbers of his career. He posted 16.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game in 31 games.
He finished his career as the 49th leading scorer in a single season in school history. With a total of 1,166 career points from him over three seasons, Horne tied Eric Coley for 25th on the school’s all-time scoring list.
As for Alex O’Connell, the 6’6″ guard averaged 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 160 career NCAA games.
He was not recruited from Creighton. With the Stockton Kings, he has a good chance of success.
In his 2019-20 junior season with Duke, the Georgia native posted 5.2 points and 2.2 boards per game in 29 appearances.
Following O’Connell’s transfer to Creighton, he underperformed offensively with the Bluejays. While he posted a career-low 9.7 MPG for him, the guard averaged 3.4 points and 2.2 rebounds in 24 games off the bench.
Equally important, as a fifth-year senior, O’Connell averaged career highs of 11.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per contest during the 2021-22 season.
He finished sixth in the Big East in 3-pointers (66) and 17th in shooting from the field (146).
On the RSCI Top 100 list in 2017, the guard was ranked 69th overall.
Also, both Jeriah Horne and Alex O’Connell will likely be released by the Kings in the coming days. Sacramento has 20 players on its roster right now.
For the NBA regular season, a maximum of 15 standard contracts and two other deals through two-way contracts are allowed for each team.
If a player who signed an Exhibit 10 contract is waived and spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate, a $50,000 bonus is issued.
