Sacramento Kings terminate Chuck Hayes on medical grounds - NBA Update
Chuck Hayes isn’t a star player, but he was still pretty handy last season and finished with a career high average of 7.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, a performance good enough Sacramento Kings to be interested. The Kings
recently bought his right from his previous team Houston Rockets on a four years $21.3 million contract
The player though will not feature in a Kings jersey as his contract has been terminated by Sacramento. Hayes was diagnosed with a heart abnormality in an echo test, carried out by the team on all its players just few days ago.
The Kings therefore have decided to void Chuck’s contract before the season even started.
The development is devastating for Hayes, who spent the offseason working out in order to improve his game further and was anxiously waiting for the season to start, so that he could get back on the court and build on his good
work from the last season.
Particulars of his health condition have not been released yet, but Kings General Manager Geoff Petrie confirmed the cancellation of his contract. Petrie added that updating Hayes about this development was "one of the most heartbreaking
moments of my professional or personal life."
Hayes did not participate in the team’s preseason opener against Golden State Warriors last Saturday and he was not told about the medical complications at that time. Ignorant to his serious medical condition, the player was spotted
cracking jokes with team mates and enjoying the team’s scrimmage.
If further results spot any serious complications, he might have to say farewell to basketball forever. In any case, the player is now without a contract and will most likely have to sit out the season as he deals with the medical
issue.
Not only is this a setback for him, but for the Kings too.
The NBA season is starting in five days and now with him out of the team, Sacramento have a huge task of finding a player who can fill the defensive void left by Hayes. One possible option they have and probably would be looking
at is free agent Samuel Dalembert, who represented Sacramento last season.
Samuel is a decent player and had a pretty good showing last season, averaging of 8.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. The Kings have not yet spoken of any targets though.
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