Knicks, Warriors wanted to sign Kings’ Eric Moreland
By Bryan Rose
While Eric Moreland was a nice collegiate player for Oregon State, he didn’t impress NBA teams enough to garner a spot in the 2014 NBA Draft as Moreland was not one of the sixty players selected.
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There wasn’t even much interest in Eric Moreland after the draft though the Sacramento Kings, seeing his potential offered him a spot on their Summer League team. Needless to say it was a fantastic decision as Moreland proved himself to be one of the better talents in either the Las Vegas or Orlando summer league tournaments and teams took notice.
According to RealGM, Moreland was courted by both the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors, two teams who are said to be seeking additional big man.
However, either believing he had a better shot to make the Sacramento Kings roster or wanting to thank them for giving him a chance, Moreland ended up picking Sacramento over both the Knicks and Warriors.
Sacramento’s deal with Moreland was for the minimum so it’s not as if the Kings offered the forward additional money.
It seems likely that the former Oregon State product would have been able to net some significant floor time with both the Knicks and Warriors considering their lack of size in the interior, though Moreland says he’s more of a lengthy small forward than a true big man and he may prefer to play a ‘smaller’ style of ball, something he can do with the Kings.
Eric Moreland proved himself to be a ferocious defender during summer league, swatting shots and playing gritty defense throughout the two-week tournament.