The Sacramento Kings are looking to climb back into the postseason following two consecutive disappointing campaigns that ended in the NBA’s play-in tournament.
Nobody on the roster is safe entering the 2025 offseason, especially since Doug Christie will be taking the reins as the official head coach. Even though the Kings made moves for DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine within the last year, both may find themselves on new teams.
The Kings’ most valuable trade asset has to be center Domantas Sabonis, who has been in California’s capital since 2022. Sabonis’ role in helping the Kings return to playoff basketball in 2023 cannot be understated, but it might be time for the Sacramento front office to capitalize on his value while they still can.
In a brief segment on The Zach Lowe Show, NBA insiders Zach Lowe and John Hollinger think Sabonis could potentially be moved to the Portland Trail Blazers.
“Can I give you my favorite Sabonis destination, and one that I think is actually somewhat realistic?” asked Lowe. “There are copious Sabonis to Portland trades that are workable [and] make sense… Sabonis makes sense in Portland. His dad played there. That would be kind of a fun one, but I don’t necessarily know if there is a realistic road map to it. I tried with New Orleans, they’re just too funky. I can’t get there with New Orleans… Poor Kings at the end of the day.”
The two discussed a possibility of a three-team deal with the Phoenix Suns that sends center Deandre Ayton out of Portland, but Hollinger isn’t sure that’s a possibility.
“The Portland one would be interesting if it didn’t involve Ayton going back to Phoenix because I do think the Blazers wanna try to win this year,” Hollinger said. “The other thing, it does jam up their cap at a time when their guys are starting to come up to get paid, so that makes things a little tricky for them too. You have Shaedon Sharpe coming up for an extension, you have Anfernee Simons’ contract running out. A couple of situations to work on there.”
“Ayton to [Sacramento] for Sabonis actually kind of makes sense,” replied Lowe. “I don’t know if it makes sense for Sacramento, but I don’t mind that one. You could throw [Matisse] Thybulle and picks, there’s a lot of ingredients you could throw around.”
“For [Sacramento], they probably see that as too much of a reset, unless they were getting Simons in it too,” said Hollinger. “But then, the Blazers need to figure out if they believe in Scoot [Henderson] enough to just make him a full-time starter.”
Overall, a trade with the Blazers would require a lot in return for the Kings to give up their best player. If they do make a deal, the Kings would have an entirely new-look roster compared to what was on the books just two years ago.
The Blazers do have another star in Jerami Grant, but his contract is valued at over $30 million annually for the next three seasons. The Kings probably wouldn’t want a deal that brings in another aging star, and would likely go young if they want to commit to a full reset.
At the end of the day, it’s going to be a long summer for the Sacramento Kings.
