A Royal Pain
Fansided

No, the Sacramento Kings aren’t trading for Russell Westbrook

By Jonathan Roberts

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - OCTOBER 21: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder drives around De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings during the first half of a NBA game at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on October 21, 2018 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - OCTOBER 21: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder drives around De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings during the first half of a NBA game at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on October 21, 2018 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images) /
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The Thunder are reportedly open to trading Russell Westbrook, but, contrary to some “insiders” Twitter, the Sacramento Kings aren’t trading for him.

Every NBA offseason, there’s always a handful of people who push false or made up information from “sources.” Usually, the Sacramento Kings aren’t caught up in these rumors, and rarely do they gain as much traction as a false “Kings expressing interest in Westbrook” rumor that has circled on Twitter in recent days.

You may ask how somebody who has no sources (me), knows for a fact this report is fake — great question. There’s only one way to make a Westbrook-Kings deal possible, and it looks like this:

That’s not a typo, that’s what it would take according to the CBA, as StR’s Tim Maxwell points out. Now, I’m not going to link to Tweet or mention the account this came from because it’s not important or the point.

Anyone with even a basic understanding of the salary cap knows that Sacramento Kings couldn’t make this trade without giving up their entire team — and that’s not hyperbole. And from an on-court standpoint, anyone who’s watched a single Kings game would know this doesn’t make sense for Sacramento.

But this goes beyond a single ill-informed, reckless tweet from somebody looking to get a bit of clout online. It’s something NBA fans — especially those who are causal and don’t care/aren’t interested enough to know all the intricacies of the salary cap or on-court fit — need to be more aware and wary of.

Take for example the fiasco regarding Kawhi Leonard. More than a few major personalities — not reporters — got all aspects of his free agency wrong, and at times were just saying things for the sake of saying things. This happens across all sports leagues in their respective offseason’s, but for some reason the NBA seems to get the most fake insiders.

dark. Next. Buddy Hield is up for the challenge

So no, the Sacramento Kings aren’t trading for Russell Westbrook, and in the future always follow the golden rule of verifying social media reports, if it’s not being corroborated by Shams Charania, Marc Stein, Adrian Wojnarowski, Zach Lowe or a team’s local beat writer, then don’t trust it until it is.

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