The Kings pulled off an impressive win in Denver on Saturday night, upsetting the Nuggets by a score of 128-123. However, even after handing the Nuggets just their second home loss of the season, Sacramento has a 4-13 record, having dropped its previous eight games by an average margin of 23.4 points.
As a result, the Kings are very much open for business, writes Jake Fischer of Stein Line (Substack link). It’s still a little early for the in-season trade market to pick up, but Sacramento is willing to listen to inquiries on players “up and down” the roster, according to Fischer.
While most players on the Kings’ roster could be had for the right offer, Fischer identifies fourth-year forward Keegan Murray and rookie guard Nique Clifford as a couple exceptions. Sources tell Fischer that both players are expected to be off limits this season, with the front office hoping that the young duo will be part of the long-term future in Sacramento. Murray and Clifford are the only two players on the roster whose contracts run beyond the 2027/28 season.
Domantas Sabonis is also something of a question mark, Fischer notes, since team owner Vivek Ranadive is a big fan of the veteran center, and Sabonis enjoys Sacramento and isn’t considered likely to ask for a trade. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Kings wouldn’t move him, but he’s on a maximum-salary contract and is viewed around the NBA as a negative defensively, Fischer explains, so it could be hard for the team to extract the kind of value it would want in a trade.
“It’s tough to pay a center that much who doesn’t protect the rim and doesn’t shoot threes — no matter how great of an offensive hub he can be,” one Western Conference executive told Fischer.
Here’s more on the Kings:
- Besides Sacramento, the Warriors were the only other team to exhibit legitimate interest in Zach LaVine before he was traded out of Chicago last season, according to Fischer, who notes that Golden State – having acquired Jimmy Butler since then – won’t be in on LaVine now. LaVine’s maximum-salary contract will make him difficult to move for any real value, though Fischer hears that teams would have more interest if the high-scoring guard were willing to eliminate his $49MM player option for 2026/27 in favor of a multiyear deal that starts at a lower figure.
- According to Fischer, the Kings’ former front office showed some interest in Trae Young, and LaVine’s camp made a push in the offseason to sell the Hawks on a deal that would’ve sent LaVine to Atlanta and Young to Sacramento. However, Fischer hears that general manager Scott Perry isn’t interested in pursuing Young, Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball, or Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, none of whom fits the defense-first mindset the organization is prioritizing under the new regime.
- “More than half the league” has called the Kings about guard Keon Ellis, a source tells The Stein Line. Teams around the NBA view Ellis as a “plug-and-play addition with two-way ability,” Fischer writes, noting that Ellis will become eligible for a contract extension before he reaches unrestricted free agency in 2026. Fischer suggests Sacramento might be able to extract a first-round pick for Ellis; he could also be used to improve a package that includes a bigger contract like LaVine’s or DeMar DeRozan‘s.
- The Pistons were viewed by several of Fischer’s sources as a potential landing spot for Malik Monk during the offseason, but “no one is saying that anymore,” he writes.