The Sacramento Kings are headed for another bad season, so here are five trades they should pursue.
A new head coach hasn’t changed much of anything for the Sacramento Kings so far this season, with a 7-11 record under Dave Joerger. Trade rumors around some key players are lingering as well, and those won’t be going away between now and February’s trade deadline.
The Kings are in perpetual turmoil from top to bottom, with multiple players trying to find their way or unhappy with their role with another new coach in place. A full rebuild could be accelerated with some trades, and general manager Vlade Divac is in position to make moves with interest from other teams virtually sure to come.
As trade activity in the NBA starts to ramp up in the coming weeks, here are five trades the Kings need to explore.
5. Ben McLemore to…..anywhere?
McLemore has not come close to justifying his status as the No. 7 pick in the 2013 draft. He’s averaging career-lows virtually across the board so far this season (15.5 minutes, 6.4 points, 0.7 assists and 1.3 rebounds per game).
McLemore is not known to be injured, but he hasn’t even gotten off the bench in two straight games and he played just 11 minutes in the two games before that.
McLemore was the subject of some trade rumors around last year’s trade deadline, and in the final guaranteed year of his contract those rumors could ramp up again. The Kings should not have a high asking price for a failed lottery pick, and other teams surely think they can unlock McLemore’s potential.
Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
4. Omri Casspi to the New Orleans Pelicans or Washington Wizards
Casspi has talked to Divac about his diminished role under Joerger, apparently without asking for a trade, but the Sacramento Bee more recently reported Casspi’s agents are talking to other teams. A move seems inevitable.
Casspi has played in just three games since Nov. 11, and in just nine of Sacramento’s 18 games so far this season. He set career-highs in points per game (11.8), rebounds per game (5.9) and 3-point percentage last season, so Casspi is absolutely a useful player that is inexplicably behind Matt Barnes in the pecking order for minutes.
Jrue Holiday’s return as helped, and Tyreke Evans is close to coming back too, but the New Orleans Pelicans need a perimeter shooter to fortify Anthony Davis’ supporting cast. NBA.com’s David Aldridge mentioned the Washington Wizards as a team that should trade for Casspi in his “Morning Tip” column a week or two ago, and the Kings should have no trouble finding a team that will trade for him. An order from above down to Joerger to play Casspi more could come in the near future, if only to prove he is healthy and bolster his potential trade value.
Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
3. Rudy Gay to the Oklahoma City Thunder
Back in September, Gay reportedly informed the Kings he would decline his player option for the 2017-18 season. That immediately spurred more trade rumors surrounding him, with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat at the forefront, but the pieces did not fall into place before the season started.
More recently, Zach Lowe of ESPN.com reported the Oklahoma City Thunder are interested in “bigger wings.” Just last weekend, if it even needed to be re-established, the Sacramento Bee reported Gay still wants out of Sacramento.
For what it’s worth, both Divac and Kings’ owner Vivek Ranadive instantly expressed intent to keep Gay all season when the news surfaced he would not opt-in to the final year of his contract. But trade rumors have not affected his play thus far this season, as he’s averaging 19.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game over 17 games, and Gay has bolstered his value right after removing any real trade leverage the Kings might have had entering the season.
Gay has not played more than 75 games in six straight seasons entering this one, so durability concerns may hurt his trade value to some degree. But he is also in the final year of his contract, for all intents and purposes, so multiple playoff-contending teams may have interest in acquiring Gay. A good offer would be hard for Divac to turn down, with the risk of losing Gay for nothing next offseason.
Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
2. Willie Cauley-Stein to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Ricky Rubio
In mid-November, ESPN’s Marc Stein reported the Kings were open to moving Cauley-Stein along with suggesting the second-year big man wants a larger role. CSN Bay Area quickly followed with a report the Kings intend to keep Cauley-Stein.
Cauley-Stein is yet another Kings’ player who has not found a consistent place in Joerger’s rotation, averaging just 11.9 minutes per game over 14 games so far this season. A new coach experimenting with different lineups is not wrong, but Kosta Koufos (5.6 points per game this season) should not be keeping Cauley-Stein off the floor.
The Kings have been a team with previous rumored interest in Timberwolves’ point guard Ricky Rubio. The Spaniard is having a bad early part of the season, and looks like bad fit with the philosophies of new head coach Tom Thibodeau. With regular benchings during the fourth quarter of games recently, Rubio’s trade value may never be lower than it is right now.
The Timberwolves have not gotten much production from their bench this season, which has manifested itself with blown leads in the second half of games. They could use a better defensive presence to go alongside Karl-Anthony Towns, or be used as his backup when the second unit is on the floor, and Cauley-Stein fits that bill.
Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
1. DeMarcus Cousins to the Boston Celtics
Celtics’ general manager Danny Ainge has made no secret of his desire to add a star player, and Cousins is a consistently rumored trade target. He has been a good soldier so far this season, with no apparent clashes with Joerger, and Cousins has downplayed any trade rumors while suggesting he’s used to them by now.
Cousins is averaging a career-high 28.7 points per game so far this season, while making a career-best 39 percent from beyond the arc, with his customary production as a rebounder (10.4 per game) and a passer (3.2 assists per game).
Earlier this week, Cousins suggested a discussion about reuniting with college teammates John Wall and Eric Bledsoe has taken place among the three players. He did point to such a reunion needing to take place in Sacramento if it happened, but the trade speculation wheel picked up some extra speed anyway.
The Celtics have the assets, in players and draft picks, to pull off a trade for Cousins if they want to. The offseason signing of Al Horford seems to dampen the easy fit between Boston and Cousins a bit, but he is a well-rounded offensive player and could fit nicely at power forward alongside Horford.
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