The Kings certainly aren't acting like a team trying to trade Tyreke Evans.
Unlike last season when Evans spent much of the summer in Southern California working out, Evans has been in Sacramento working out with basketball president Geoff Petrie and other Kings staff.
Rumors persist involving Evans being traded, the latest being another proposed deal sending him to Houston that no one in our outside of the Kings has validated the proposed deal.
So, Evans is still a King that is working out with his boss.
Petrie is the man that would be trading Evans. Not that Petrie still couldn't decide to move Evans, but his personal involvement with Evans indicates he is invested in seeing Evans progress.
A lot of the work is on Evans' jump shot and working on the midrange game (jumpers, pull-up shots, floaters) that has been slow to develop in Evans' first three seasons.
I'm also told Evans is in good shape (no extended vacationing) and that he's making progress with his jump shot.
Of course, none of these developments matter in June, but it is progress.
Evans finished the season at small forward, but was never fully comfortable playing off the ball.
Privately, some within the Kings believe the move to small forward was a necessary step for Evans to reach his full potential.
The fact is Evans cannot play with the ball all the time. And in order to enhance Evans' view of the game, coach Keith Smart wanted Evans to see the game from a new perspective.
There were times where Evans was clearly unhappy about the move (almost always after he had a bad game).
How he handles it going forward will decide his future with the Kings, assuming he's not traded.
Evans is eligible for a contract extension but the Kings won't sign him to one, preferring to let this season play out.
And even after some struggles the last two seasons I'm told there are still as many as 11 teams that expressed interest in Evans, so he does have value.
For now, Evans will play his fourth season out as a King.
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