In a trade of the most unorthodox kind, the Kings rescinded their qualifying offer to restricted free-agent forward Darius Songaila on Wednesday and received good karma in return.

 

It can't shoot, can't rebound and can't dive for a loose ball the way Songaila can, but his agent insists it's the very sort of move that makes Geoff Petrie such a favorite in these circles.

 

By letting Songaila go, the Kings executive did the third-year player a favor, giving him the freedom to a sign a one-year contract as an unrestricted free agent with the Chicago Bulls that should be finalized today and, more importantly, to avoid signing a long-term deal for below Songaila's market value.

 

"Geoff is a guy of great integrity, and I think he felt badly about the way the whole thing played out," agent Mark Bartelstein said. "That's why I enjoy working with the Kings, why I'm able to get a lot of deals done with them because Geoff operates in that kind of manner."

 

....

 

While restricted free agents must sign multiyear deals, Songaila now can call this the mulligan of his free-agency periods, with all indications he'll do it all over again next summer in search of a bigger deal. After nearly a month trying to finalize Songaila's move to Chicago, Bartelstein said his client likely will sign a contract today that reportedly is for $2.2 million this season and has a player option for the second season. The 6-foot-8 Songaila averaged 20.6 minutes, 7.5 points, and 4.2 rebounds with the Kings last season, starting 21 games.

 

"I think Geoff acknowledged that it wasn't going to be fair to Darius to A, make him take a deal below market value, or B, make him come back and play in a role (with the Kings) that isn't the kind of role he should have in this league because they have a glut of power forwards right now," Bartelstein said. "If they didn't rescind the offer, we probably would've been forced to sign a deal with someone else that we didn't want to sign."

 

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sport...-14443639c.html

 

The team said Thursday that Songaila would join Malik Allen and Tyson Chandler at an informal press gathering Friday at the Berto Center. The funny thing about it is that the team hasn't announced any signing of Songaila, though one apparently is coming.

 

Darius Songaila will be introduced as the newest member of the Bulls on Friday at the Berto Center, a team official said Thursday morning.

 

Songaila's agent, Mark Bartelstein, said the parties have reached an agreement and it could become official Thursday or Friday.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...i-sportsnew-hed

I like it. He was great coming off the bench for Sac and was a great replacement starter for CWebb.