The Sacramento Kings traded Malachi Richardson to Toronto for Bruno Caboclo. This article grades that trade from a Kings’ perspective.
The Sacramento Kings made a second and less publicized move during the 2018 trade deadline. Below is a Tweet from Yahoo NBA Insider Shams Charania detailing the trade.
Toronto is finalizing deal to send Bruno Caboclo to Sacramento for Malachi Richardson, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 8, 2018
Bye Malachi Richardson
I have been adamant in my stance that the Kings should give Malachi Richardson more playing time since they drafted him in 2016. Here is the most recent of those articles from late December 2017. Richardson had shown some flashes of being the 3-and-D wing every NBA team covets. The problem was he never saw enough minutes to develop and show his true talent on the court. Now it will never happen in a Kings uniform as he heads to Canada to play for the Toronto Raptors.
Let us now examine what Sacramento got in return for Richardson.
Bruno Caboclo
The Kings received Bruno Caboclo in return for Richardson. Below is a video of what garnered Caboclo the most fame in his NBA career.
Caboclo is an unproven 6’9 wing. That video is from the 2014 draft, and since then he has played a total 113 minutes on the NBA court. You thought Malachi Richardson was an unproven wing with potential, well Caboclo is the poor man’s version of Richardson. Caboclo is also four months older than Richardson and never shown the ability to consistently shoot 3-pointers. Unfortunately, there is not much good I can say about Caboclo on the basketball court.
Grade and Final thoughts
The Sacramento Kings traded Malachi Richardson to the Toronto Raptors for Bruno Caboclo
Trade Grade: F
The Kings swapped Richardson for a less version of himself. The only positive is Caboclo can be off their books completely after this season. The team has the option to extend a qualifying offer. That would make him a restricted free agent or they can just let him walk as an unrestricted free agent. I see no NBA value in Caboclo. The Kings had a piece that needed developed in Richardson and they moved on for a player who likely is never even a role player in the league. Bad move Kings organization.
Next: Kings trade grade: George Hill to Cleveland
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