Sacramento Kings: Best trade in team history with every NBA franchise

Best trades in Sacramento Kings history: Front office bounces back from Archibald in a big way

Besides being a quality defensive and owner to possibly the coolest name in NBA history, Luc Mbah a Moute was a man who did not fit with the 2013-14 Sacramento Kings. This is why the team dealt him to Minnesota after just 9 games. It’s also why Minnesota did not re-sign him after that season,  nor did Philadelphia after that. It wasn’t until he reached the age of 30 that Mbah a Moute was able to string together consecutive seasons with the same team after originally being dealt from the team that drafted him in Milwaukee.

Derrick Williams played 141 games with the Kings across two seasons, 21 of which he started in. He was a quality role player that probably didn’t have enough in his skill set to be a serviceable start long-term, which is why he struggled to establish a spot on any particular team. That being said, he still performed better than Mbah a Moute, and when the Kings only have two trades with Minnesota in their team history this is the best Sacramento has managed thus far.

• Sacramento received: 4.6 future win shares
• Minnesota received: 0.6 future win shares

If you remember Tiny Archibald from earlier, you might be asking yourself, why would they ever trade that guy? The answer is simple: despite his record-breaking achievements, Archibald was failing to produce wins. Sacramento only ever posted one winning record with Archibald, and actually immediately improved by nine wins after trading him. It’s not hard to see why, when you look at who they received in return.

• Brian Taylor
  • 1x All-ABA, 2x ABA Champion, 2x All-Star, 3x All-Defense, ABA ROY
• Otis Birdsong
  • 1x All-NBA, 4x All-Star
• Phil Ford
  • 1x All-NBA, 1979 NBA ROY
• Jim Eakins
  • 1x All-ABA, 2x ABA Champion

While Eakins was nearing the end of his career, the Kings drafted Birdsong and Ford in back-to-back years while flipping Taylor after one incredible year for eventual Hall of Famer Wayne Embry. This was an excellent core that went to the playoffs three consecutive seasons from 1979-1981 and won three playoff series. Meanwhile, Archibald would only play one season with the Nets before suffering an Achilles injury that would significantly hamper his play for the rest of his career.

• Sacramento received: 59.2 future win shares
• Brooklyn received: 2.8 future win shares