Kent Bazemore provided depth, leadership and a strong locker room presence when he came to Sacramento in January 2020. The Kings will be looking for more of the same from the veteran swingman this season.
Bazemore, 33, has agreed to return to Sacramento on a one-year deal, a league source told The Sacramento Bee on Sunday, confirming a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Bazemore appeared in 25 games for the Kings in 2019-20, averaging 10.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 41.8% from the field and 38.4% from 3-point range. He is a career 35.6% 3-point shooter.
Bazemore is a 10-year NBA veteran who went undrafted out of Old Dominion in 2012. The 6-foot-4, 195-pound guard/forward was primarily used as a shooting guard early in his career, but he has logged most of his minutes at small forward over the past several seasons, according to Basketball Reference.
Minutes could be hard to come by in a backcourt featuring De’Aaron Fox, Davion Mitchell, Kevin Huerter, Malik Monk and Terence Davis, but Bazemore could give the Kings much-needed depth behind Harrison Barnes at the small forward spot.
In addition to the Kings, Bazemore has played for the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers. Bazemore’s first stint with Sacramento came during the 2019-20 season when the Kings acquired him, Anthony Tolliver and two future second-round draft picks in a deal that sent Trevor Ariza, Wenyen Gabriel and Caleb Swanigan to the Blazers.
Bazemore played for the Warriors in 2020-21 and the Lakers in 2021-22. He shared his excitement on social media after re-signing with the Kings on Sunday.
“OOOOOOHHHHHHHH BABBBYYYYY!” Bazemore tweeted. “Sacramentooooo! Y’all held me down last time around! Will be a fun ride this season! #SacTown”
