The Sacramento Kings are already in the middle of their offseason overhaul, with changes to their front office and coaching staff, but many are wondering what they will do when it comes to trades and free agency.
A name that is surfacing in trade talks more and more in Sacramento is Domantas Sabonis. Thanks in part to the reports about the All-NBA center “seeking clarity” from last season, but also Sabonis’ contract and poor play in the Play-In tournament.
Sabonis is coming off of another strong season overall, averaging 19.1 points, a league-leading 13.9 rebounds, and 6.0 assists on 59% shooting from the field and 41.7% from beyond the arc.
Those are great numbers, but it’s fair to question if the Kings would be better to move on from the talented center to either reshape their roster or collect assets.
While Sabonis is a popular name to put in trade proposals, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported that Sacramento is not currently shopping Sabonis.
“The Kings have not been contacting teams gauging trade interest in Domantas Sabonis, league sources confirmed to ClutchPoints. Although Sabonis has heard his name come up in recent rumors, Sacramento has not shown any interest in parting ways with the 29-year-old star big man to this point.”
Sabonis is a difficult player to trade, even in theory. He is the type of player that an offensive system is built around, not someone who can be dropped onto any team to fit perfectly. That along with his contract of $43.4 million, $46.8 million, and $49.9 million over the next three season make him a tough player to move.
That’s not to say that Sabonis isn’t worth the money that he’s getting paid. He’s a top five center in this league, but his value in Sacramento is likely higher than it would be on a lot of other teams.
If Sacramento were to trade Sabonis this offseason, they’d be doing so while his value is extremely low. That’s not great business for losing talent, especially after a questionable return in the De’Aaron Fox trade during last season.
The Kings desperately need to reshape their roster, but they still have the opportunity to build around Sabonis. Building around the duo of him and Zach LaVine is worth at least giving a look rather than pulling the plug before giving it a serious shot.
Sabonis and new head coach Doug Christie also appear to have a great relationship, having spent time training together last offseason. It’s possible that that’s not enough to keep Sabonis around long-term, or even Christie for that matter, but it makes sense to have some sort of continuity from last season.
At the end of the day, Sabonis is a great player. He can do a little bit of everything on the court. While he may not be the best defender, he’s extremely efficient, can pass, sets arguably the best screens in the league, and is one of, if not the best, rebounders in the game.
There are a lot of questions surrounding the Kings need changes to their roster this offseason, but they also just need talent. And it’s hard to imagine them bringing in anyone more talented than Sabonis in a trade.
