Report: This Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers trade features Domantas Sabonis. Do the Kings have enough to trade for Sabonis without adding their young guard duo?
The Sacramento Kings have been in trade talks with various teams since the start of the second week of January. From the Philadelphia 76ers to the Indiana Pacers, teams have been aggressively pushing to complete a trade with the Kings for their guard rotation in De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton. However, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Kings announced that they have no plans of trading their young back-court and instead want to build around their young duo.
Despite teams in the past revealing that they do not wish to trade a particular player and then later trading that same player, the Kings seem to be optimistic about the possibility of building around Haliburton and Fox. The Kings want to compete for a playoff spot eventually and need to make significant changes to their roster and coaching staff before their young back-court duo grows impatient and requests a trade.
A team that has emerged as an option to upgrade their roster is the Indiana Pacers. In the last 48 hours, the Pacers and Kings have had trade discussions involving Fox and Domantas Sabonis. However, with the Kings expressing no interest in trading Fox, they could not complete a trade for Sabonis.
The trade deadline is less than a month away, which means that more teams will express interest in trading for Sabonis. Depending on how adamant the Kings are at acquiring Sabonis, Sacramento can still trade for Sabonis. The Pacers want a fresh start and need young players and draft picks to initiate their plan. With the Kings being one of the most mediocre organizations in the last 15-20 years, they have young assets, and many valuable draft picks to trade. To realistically trade for a two-time All-Star, the following assets would have to be included if the Kings are committed to trading for Sabonis.
Sacramento receives- Domantas Sabonis and Jeremy Lamb.
Indiana receives- Harrison Barnes, Marvin Bagley lll, Davion Mitchell, 2023 unprotected first-round pick, 2026 lottery-protected first-round pick and a 2022 unprotected second-round pick.
Unless the Kings are willing to reconsider adding Fox or Haliburton in a trade for Sabonis, this is the type of offer the Pacers would realistically want in exchange for their All-Star. This package includes a lot of valuable assets from the Kings and could realistically ask for more than just Sabonis in a trade like this. However, the Pacers would likely reject the idea of adding more to this trade and would end trade negotiations with the Kings. Sacramento can still trade for Sabonis without adding Fox or Halibrutoen but, at what cost? Depending on how desperate the KIngs are in trading for Sabonis, they would have to gut future assets and critical parts of their rotation to complete this trade.
While this trade does feature a lot of valuable assets from the Kings, none of the pieces involved in this trade would dramatically improve the Kings in three years from now. Even though the draft picks may be valuable, the players involved do not have super-star or even All-Star potential. Instead, the Kings are trading promising young prospects and a great role player. Harrison Barnes is already 29-years-old and is only included in this trade for contractual reasons. Marvin Bagley lll and Davion Mitchell are both incredibly young and have the potential to be great in the NBA, but when assessing them currently, they only have potential, and that’s it! While trading Mitchell would be a tough loss for the Kings given his incredible work ethic and production this season, he would have to be involved in this trade as the Pacers want a young prospect in any trade involving Sabonis.
Closing Thoughts
Today, the Sacramento Kings have one of the best young back-court duos in the NBA. A trade like this must happen if the Kings want to improve their roster and overall team morale. While this is an overpay for Sabonis, who has arguably reached his peak, it is worth the risk as Sabonis is one of the best young power forwards/ centers in the NBA today. With Sabonis only being 25-years-old, he fits the timeline of the Kings and would be in his prime until the end of his contract.
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