Fan Vote – Will The Sacramento Kings Trade Tyreke Evans?

With the NBA trade deadline just about a week and a half away, rumors are beginning to take more shape – fans are starting to get anxious – the hot bench seats and whispers altering players games.

For the Sacramento Kings, who’ve made significant “deadline” deals the past four seasons (Landry, Martin, Miller, Bibby), the question has to be asked – do the Kings make another this year? And if so, will it involve former rookie of the year, Tyreke Evans?

We all know what Evans brings to the table – and potentially what he can bring. But at the same time, we all know the risks and how devastating they could be to the Kings franchise if Evans’ progression stunts, which many seem to believe it currently has.

Take this bit of information from Nuraman on KingsForum.net, who put together a quick statistical comparison of 17/4/4 players between 22-24 years old that were either traded in that age bracket or not re-signed by their original team once their contract expired. Granted, Evans put up 20/5/5 during his rookie campaign but this is simply for example purpose:

"* Ricky Davis – Cleveland traded him in 2003 for Tony Battie, Kedrick Brown and Eric Williams. That was Davis’ 6th year though, and not his 4th. So he was on the 24 side of the query, not the 22.* Lamar Odom – Clippers let him walk, but that was because he trashed the organization and had two drug suspensions.* Damon Stoudamire – Toronto traded him to Portland for Kenny Anderson, Gary Trent, Alvin Williams, a 1998 1st round draft pick (Bryce Drew), a 1998 1st round draft pick (Mirsad Turkcan) and a 1998 2nd round draft pick (Tyson Wheeler).* Jim Jackson was traded from Dallas.* Mitch Richmond was traded from Golden State (though 25 at the time)."

Let’s look at the returns.

Golden State received Billy Owens in exchange for The Rock. Ricky Davis, despite having a fantastic statistical season in 02-03, it seemed more like a fluke than anything. Now Jim Jackson? Value wise, he was traded for a considerable amount. He, along with Sam Cassell, Chris Gatling, George McCloud and Eric Montross were sent to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Shawn Bradley, Ed O’Bannon, Robert Pack and Khalid Reeves. However, that was a massive trade involving eight players – something you often don’t see. Last, but not least, and possibly the most sensible trade to compare the Evans situation to would be Damon Stoudamire, who at 24 coming off two solid seasons in Toronto was moved for what seemed to be a kings ransom at the time.

But despite all of those trade examples, it seems like finding any conceivable connections to what may or may not happen in an Evans trade can’t be done. Players like Evans generally don’t get traded at this stage of their careers. And when they do, it’s so rare, finding comparisons just isn’t possible.

So how say you, Kings faithful? Come March 15th, is Evans still rocking the purple and black?