Joe Ingles’ injury sidelined a potential deal between the Kings and Jazz.
Earlier today, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report reported there was a potential deal in the works between the Sacramento Kings and the Utah Jazz. However, Fischer mentioned that those talks have recently ended due to Ingles’ season-ending ACL injury (h/t Esfandiar Baraheni of The Score):
Jake Fischer:
“There are packages that were discussed that are not available to the Jazz anymore because of the Ingles injury. I can tell you a Kings deal was available that isn’t anymore”
— Esfandiar | Es (@JustEsBaraheni) February 1, 2022
It was announced on Monday that Ingles suffered an ACL tear and will be out for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. This news is extremely unfortunate to not only Ingles and Utah, but to the Kings as well.
The Kings have reached a point where making trades has become essential. In the month of January, the Kings posted a horrific record of 3-12 including a 53 point loss to the Boston Celtics. They are in a trade now situation and all of Kings fandom is awaiting GM Monte McNair’s first move.
In the event Ingles did not get injured and the trade talks were still ongoing, there are a couple packages that could have been interesting.
The first package would look like this:
The Kings receive Ingles and SG Jared Butler, and Utah receives Marvin Bagley III and a second round pick.
This gives Utah a young athletic big man with untapped potential who wants to play for a different team and the value of a draft pick. The Kings would a veteran role player that is multifaceted in Ingles while also gaining a young guard with potential to help fill the role of Terence Davis whom they just lost to injury.
The 2021 All-Tournament Team
Johnny Juzang, UCLA
Davion Mitchell, Baylor
Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
Jared Butler, Baylor pic.twitter.com/q1YWaTLOgY— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 6, 2021
Butler, who was Davion Mitchell’s teammate at Baylor, was one of the best collegiate players last season and one of if not the main reason the team won the March madness tournament. With Ingles and Butler paired Mitchell, it would have given the Kings much needed bench depth on both offense and defense. As well as the leadership Ingles would have provided.
Another potential trade package would have been Ingles and another role player who has a decent sized contract for Harrison Barnes.
This would have given Utah a younger more athletic forward than Ingles who would fit well with the Jazz roster, while still giving the Kings everything Ingles brings along with the skills of another roll player who was played on a winning team. It would also give the Kings more money to work with since Barnes contract is pretty hefty.
Though it could have worked in favor of both teams, the injury bug did what it always does and bit at the wrong time. Hopefully Ingles recovers quickly and faces no set backs.