Sacramento Kings Should Have No Interest In Tobais Harris

The Sacramento Kings might be looking to shop Buddy Hield during the offseason, but Tobias Harris absolutely should not be on their radar.

Even though there are no NBA games being played, the rumor mill is still as active as ever. Given the fact that we don’t know much of anything about the league’s timeline or potential salary cap ramifications, there are even more possibilities for player movement. One of the hot topics for the Sacramento Kings is the immediate future of Buddy Hield.

We have highlighted the possibility of Hield getting traded whenever the proper offseason begins, and we are not the only ones. His value is likely as high as it will ever be, and his flaws were often on display in big moments last season. Those reasons, along with the other contracts on the Kings’ roster, make Hield a tradable asset.

We’ve explored a handful of potential trades for the sharpshooting guard, but we wanted to touch on one other potential option so that we never have to talk about it again.

The Philadelphia 76ers will be one of the more interesting teams to keep an eye on when the offseason rolls around. They are loaded with talent and are currently a Finals contender in the East, but it had been widely reported that they have internal issues and could be seeking a shakeup sooner rather than later. It is assumed that anyone on the roster can be had for the correct price.

One of the players that fans of both teams have discussed in a possible swap for Hield is Tobias Harris.

Unless the Kings view Harris strictly as a small forward, his presence would add to the log jam that already exists in Sacramento’s front court. He can score in a multitude of ways including be able to stretch the floor, but he actually averages less points per game than Hield in 2.5 less minutes.

His contract is also enormous, and should be the number one deterrent for the Kings. Harris just finished the first season of a five-year, $180 million deal that paid him nearly $33 million in the first year and increases by $2 million until he becomes a free agent in 2024. The Kings should have  absolutely no interest in adding that contract to their payroll when they still have deals to give to De’Aaron Fox and (maybe?) Marvin Bagley while filling out the rest of the roster.

Tobias Harris would probably make the Kings a better team than they are with Hield in the rotation, but the slight uptick in efficiency and basketball IQ is certainly not worth mortgaging their financial future for.

We at A Royal Pain are believers in the need to trade Hield, despite our affection for the centerpiece of the DeMarcus Cousins trade. But Vlade Divac and the front office need to be smart. They have a valuable commodity that many contending teams should be interested in, and the Kings are at a crucial point in their rebuild. Getting the most value possible out of Sacramento’s second-leading scorer should be the number one priority when fielding phone calls about Hield.