Sacramento Kings keeping former Alabama guard at bargain price
The Sacramento Kings have picked up their team option on the contract of Keon Ellis, setting up the Alabama guard to be one of the biggest bargains in the NBA during the 2025-26 season.
Sunday was the deadline for Sacramento’s decision on Ellis’ contract, and while the Kings have not announced the move to keep the guard, the Sacramento Bee, NBC Sports California and kingsbeat.com reported the team exercised its option.
In his third NBA season, Ellis averaged 8.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals in 80 games. He averaged a career-best 24.4 minutes per game and started 28 times. Ellis ranked eighth in the NBA in 3-point shooting rate at 43.3 percent and had almost twice as any steals as any other Sacramento player with 121 in the 2024-25 season.
The team option ties Ellis to Sacramento for a salary of $2.302 million for the 2025-26 season. Among players currently under contract for the coming campaign, Ellis’ pay ranks 311th.
If the Kings had not picked up their option, Ellis would have become a restricted free agent. That would have allowed him to negotiate with other teams, but Sacramento would retain the ability to match the best contract offer and keep Ellis.
An undrafted player in 2022 after two seasons at Alabama, Ellis signed with the Kings and spent most of his rookie season with the Stockton Kings, Sacramento’s NBA Gatorade League affiliate. He played 71 minutes in the NBA in the 2022-23 campaign.
In this second season, Ellis didn’t play a game for Stockton even though he began the campaign playing on a two-way contract, which allowed Sacramento to move him back and forth between the NBA and the G League.
Ellis averaged 5.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 57 games in the 2023-24 season.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.