Report: Kings in talks to retain MVP candidate

He’s arguably been the competition’s best player this season, and now it looks like Kendric Davis could be back for a second season in Sydney.

According to ESPN’s Olgun Uluc on The Marketplace, presented by Paywise, the Kings and Davis’ representative have begun preliminary discussions about extending the American’s time in the Harbour City.

“A conversation that has taken place [recently] is that the Sydney Kings, led by new GM James Newman, have engaged with Kendric Davis' representatives on a potential extension,” Uluc said on The Marketplace, presented by Paywise.

“These discussions are very early, but Kendric has really enjoyed his time in Sydney.

“He loves Brian Goorjian, he loves his teammates, and obviously, they're winning and playing really good basketball.

“The Kings would obviously like to keep him, as he is an MVP candidate and some would say he's the MVP, so that price is obviously gonna be incredibly steep.”

While Uluc says the stability and infrastructure in Sydney have been great for Davis, who is averaging 24 points, 6.5 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game.

“The stability has demonstrably been helpful for Kendric, as he's [back] playing his best basketball,” Uluc said.

“The problem is he's a young player at 26, so there is a lot of money out there.

“Do you want to maximise your prime, and that begins with the NBA, which still remains the goal for Kendric Davis? He wants to get that crack at the NBA, and if he’s able to forge a fruitful career over there, that’s great.

“But if that doesn't happen and he gets that closure, there are opportunities around the basketball world that do exist for him.

“If those aren't the ones that he wants to go down, then I don't see him on another team outside the Sydney Kings.

“The Kings would have to pay up for him, meaning they’d be in a situation where they'd basically have two $1 million players on their roster in Xavier Cooks and Davis.”

NBL commentator Pete Hooley believes this re-signing hugely benefits both sides if Davis doesn’t land a deal back in the United States.

“He did make the comment earlier in the year about if he wasn't in the NBA next year, he'd wanna return to Sydney, and you can see that [with his actions],” Hooley said.

“This is a guy who's going to be contending for an MVP every single year, [especially with his] new maturity.

“You have to give a whole bunch of credit to the Kings from the top down, who, during the early stages of the signing process, had conversations about what he can be and [their commitment to trying help him reach that]. They’ve now delivered on that.

“[If you’re Davis], why would you not want to repay that and say, ‘let's run it back again’.

“At some point, I believe he will get that NBA opportunity and grab it with both hands due to his talent, but until then, he knows he’s in a great spot, which can help him reach his goals.”

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Another who believes Davis could play in the US is Kings team Torrey Craig, who made 538 appearances in the NBA with Denver, Phoenix, Chicago, Indiana, Milwaukee and Boston.

“If a position opens up that needs what KD brings, he could play [in the NBA], but it all depends on what team needs,” Craig said.

“That's what I had to learn throughout my journey. It's not about whether you can play in the NBA; it's about what they need from you.

“Before I got to the NBA, I was a scorer throughout college and a little bit overseas, but when I got to the NBA, I had to switch my roles. They didn't need me to score because they had guys who could do that, but they needed me to defend, they needed me to rebound, they needed me to do kind of dirty work, they needed me to be an enforcer and a screener.

“That's how I kind of carved my way into the league and was there so long.

“It's all about what the team needs and if you're willing to change. If he can, he can 100 per cent play in the NBA.”

Davis and his Kings travel to Wollongong on Friday night to face the Hawks, from 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.