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2022 Free Agents - Chimezie Metu

Summary
During his first two seasons in the league, Metu never got real minutes with the Spurs, playing in less than 100 minutes of non-garbage time each season, according to Cleaning the Glass. However, Metu has gotten legitimate minutes with the Kings -particularly in '21-'22, as he averaged just over 20 minutes per game and even started 20 games.

Since the Kings had approximately seventeen centers on the roster, Metu played most of his minutes at power forward in '21-'22. Metu has some ability to stretch the floor, but has only hit 30% from three on just under 200 attempts. He likely needs to shoot better than that to play the four, particularly if he's playing with a non-shooting center. Metu finishes pretty well at the rim, and has enough athleticism to be a lob threat either in transition or as the roll man. He shoots decently from midrange but likely not well enough to justify his number of attempts, and combining that with his struggles from outside leads to below-average efficiency numbers overall.

Even though he's likely best served to play center, Metu is a little undersized for that position at 6'10", and hasn't shown to be an effective rim protector yet. I'm not sure Metu should be in the rotation of a good team, but I think he's shown some value this season and the Kings seem to like him, so I expect him to be able to stick around a bit longer, and wouldn't expect him to be waived this summer.
 
Cap Considerations
Metu's $1.9 million salary for 2022-2023 is non-guaranteed, and if he is waived he will become an unrestricted free agent and the Kings will have no form of Bird rights on him. If he is waived, any team could claim him off waivers since his contract fits within the minimum salary exception.

If Metu becomes a free agent, other teams will have multiple ways to sign him as even teams without cap space could use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. If Metu is waived and clears waivers, his value will have dropped low enough that he would likely only have offers for the minimum.

Potential Teams: Kings, Suns, Trailblazers, Bulls, Heat

Predicted Contract: Not waived: $1.9 million
If waived: 1-year, $1.9 million ($1.8 million cap hit) with the

Actual Contract: Not waived: $1.9 million
As expected, the Kings did not waive Metu and he made it past his guarantee date. The Kings have a lot of bigs, but Metu is solid enough to hold onto on his minimum contract.

Last updated: 6/29/2022

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