As trade season approaches, the Sacramento Kings are expected to be at the center of it all, attempting to move players like Domantas Sabonis. Reportedly, Sabonis doesn’t expect or want to move, and it may be more about his life in Sacramento than it is playing for the Kings.
When it comes to the rebuild, the Kings are stuck between a rock and a hard place. In this case, the rock is too many big money contracts that aren’t up for a while and the hard place is the salary cap. Essentially, the Kings are going to have a lot of trouble making the moves they need to make.
One of those big ol’ contracts belongs to their All-Star center, Domantas Sabonis. When the offense is run through him, the man scores, collects rebounds, and gets a surprising number of assists. When it’s not run through him, he’s a better than average center on offense who doesn’t play defense.
Considering those limitations, and the fact his remaining contract is worth over $136 million across this season and the next two, he’s going to be difficult to trade. Apparently, Sabonis isn’t even all that interested in being traded despite how badly the Kings are playing this season.
Sabonis doesn’t want to leave Sacramento, not the Kings
Reportedly, the Lithuanian big man is rather happy with his quality of life in Sactown. He lives there with his wife and three children. He has fully embraced life in the region, evening launching a wine brand with his wife. They seem pretty settled into the Sacramento lifestyle.
At the same time, Sabonis seems less concerned about the state of the Kings than expected or the thought of being traded. No one is suggesting he doesn’t love playing basketball, but given how much he’s getting paid, Domas could quite easily retire after his contract with the Kings is up.
While a trade isn’t impossible, it is highly improbable. The Kings need to find a team that is interested in an expensive center who doesn’t do much on defense and has West Coast roots firmly planted. That’s an impressively hard sell, even under the best of circumstances.
When Sabonis is on the court for the Kings, he’s going to give it everything he’s got. There’s no question of that. He also doesn’t fit the new direction for the Kings, and he’s aware of that, too. Eventually, they will go their separate ways. It’s just a matter of when, and how it plays out.