Donte DiVincenzo believes Kings are intentionally lowering his free-agent value

"DiVincenzo and his group, his team, are not at all happy with the Sacramento Kings," Ham said. "They believe that the Kings, very specifically, did not start him down the stretch of the season to limit his value in free agency."

DiVincenzo is in the final year of his 4-year, $13 million rookie contract. He'll be a restricted free agent at the end of the year. 

DiVincenzo missed the first 34 games of the season, recovering from a torn ligament in his left foot suffered in the playoffs last season when he was with the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Overall, DiVincenzo is averaging nearly 27 minutes per game for the Kings, three more than the 23.2 MP he averaged in four seasons with the Bucks. However, in 23 games with Sacramento this season, DiVincenzo has started only once. 

Ham says DiVincenzo believes teams will be in the market to use their mid-level exceptions on him when the time comes. And by not starting him, the Kings are lowering the price of a possible bidding war. 

"His team believes that he'll be able to get an MLE from somebody, and the Kings are probably hoping he won't, and they can go a little bit lower, but again, what are we creating here?" Ham said. "We're creating a situation where you have an unhappy player who might be forced to take an unhappy contract, and he might not, realistically, be onboard. 

"We could see a situation where DiVincenzo makes it widely known that he does not want to return to the Sacramento Kings, and to be honest with you, that's a hundred percent on the Kings."

For the Kings this season, DiVincenzo is averaging ten points per game, 4.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.5 steals.