The Kings and Jason Thompson were unable to agree to a contract extension before the January 25th deadline, which will allow him to become a restricted free agent this summer.

"That was on my mind, but it wasn't on my mind," he said. "It was just about playing consistently."

Thompson has played his way into becoming someone the Kings are hoping to keep. The team's decision to waive J.J. Hickson on Monday spoke to that commitment.

"At some point, if you go back to the beginning of the season, we were going to have to make a decision on both of those players in regards to a qualifying offer or not to give them a qualifying offer," Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie said.

"We felt we were going to qualify Jason, and his play continues to be in the home improvement aisle."