Kings sign Jeriah Horne, Alex O’Connell to Exhibit 10 contracts

The Sacramento Kings have signed forward Jeriah Horne and guard Alex O’Connell to Exhibit 10 contracts, according G.M. Monte McNair. These are nonguaranteed deals.

Of course, the players inked deals right after the team waived Jordan Ford and Wesley Iwundu. Guard Sam Merrill signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Sacramento in August.

Ford and Iwundu are expected to play with the Stockton Kings, the team’s NBA G League affiliate, in the 2022-23 season. The Kings have already acquired both players’ G League returning rights.

Per multiple NBA betting sites, the Sacramento Kings have the ninth-lowest odds of winning a championship in 2023. However, a few sportsbooks are counting on them ending their 16-year playoff drought this season.

According to a league source, the Kings have waived Jordan Ford and Wes Iwundu. They have signed Jeriah Horne and Alex O'Connell to Exhibit 10 contracts, creating a pathway to the Stockton Kings. Horne and O'Connell are at shootaround and will suit up vs. the Lakers tonight.

— Jason Anderson (@JandersonSacBee) October 14, 2022

Anyway, Horne went undrafted out of Tulsa. In 155 career games played in the NCAA, the Kansas native averaged 10.6 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist per game through five seasons.

During his freshman 2016-17 season with Nebraska, in 29 appearances off the bench, Horne logged 4.3 points and 1.9 boards per contest.

Prior to the 2017-18 season, the forward transferred to Tulsa. Due to NCAA transfer rules, the 6’7″ wing sat out the entire season.

For the 2018-19 season, in 32 games played, Horne recorded 10.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1 assist per game. Plus, he shot 43.9% from the field and 37.4% from downtown.

Kings sign forward Jeriah Horne and guard Alex O’Connell to Exhibit 10 contracts

Moreover, in the 2020-21 season with Colorado, the wing averaged 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds. Not to mention, he shot 45.6% from the floor and 39.7% from 3-point range.

In the 2021-22 season, Horne posted career-high numbers. He logged 16.1 points, 6.9 boards, 1.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per contest in 31 games.

He finished his career as the 49th leading single-season scorer in school history. With a total of 1,166 career points in three seasons, Horne tied Eric Coley for 25th place on the school’s all-time scoring list.

As for Alex O’Connell, the 6’6″ guard averaged 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds through 160 career games in the NCAA. He went undrafted out of Creighton. With the Stockton Kings, he has a fair chance of succeeding.

In his junior 2019-20 season with Duke, the Georgia native logged 5.2 points and 2.2 boards per game in 29 appearances.

Following O’Connell’s transfer to Creighton, he underperformed offensively with the Bluejays. While recording a career-low 9.7 MPG, the guard averaged 3.4 points and 2.2 rebounds in 24 games off the bench.

Equally important, as a fifth-year senior, O’Connell averaged career highs of 11.8 points, 5.3 boards, and 2.1 assists per contest during the 2021-22 season.

He finished sixth in the Big East for made 3-pointers (66) and 17th for made field goals (146).

On the RSCI Top 100 list in 2017, the guard ranked 69th overall.

Furthermore, both Jeriah Horne and Alex O’Connell will probably be waived by the Kings in the coming days. Sacramento has 20 players on its roster right now.

For the NBA regular season, a maximum of 15 standard contracts and two other deals via two-way contracts are permitted for each team.

If a player signed to an Exhibit 10 contract gets waived and spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate, a $50,000 bonus is issued.