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

Best trades in Sacramento Kings history: Isaiah Thomas captures our hearts

This is a hard one to write about because Nemanja Bjelica is a player that has endeared himself to so many fans, and to lose him for a less than awe-inspiring package does hurt a little bit. But when you have one of the worst defenses in NBA history, you can’t just keep trotting the same team out there and expecting different results. Maurice Harkless was one of few individuals that played positive defense on the 2020-21 Sacramento Kings, and it’s good to see the front office retain him for cheap.

Bjelica also got his chance to contend with Miami and will do so again after signing a contract with the Golden State Warriors. Given the fact Miami and Sacramento share a rather lackluster trade history, this was a modest scenario where everyone came out better for it.

• Sacramento received: 0.5 future win shares
• Miami received: 0.4 future win shares

This was supposed to be a simple swap of role players. The No. 60 overall pick wasn’t supposed to amount to anything. An athlete standing at 5-foot-9 isn’t supposed to play basketball. But then Isaiah Thomas came along and shocked the world. Of players from this generation, I can confidently say that few have inspired as many fans and young students of the game as Isaiah Thomas has. His story almost seems straight out of a Disney movie; all he needed was one chance to prove he could overcome the adversity of being a small guard, and he did just that.

Thomas won the starting spot in his rookie season with the Kings and by his third season, he was averaging 20.3 points and 6.3 assists per game. His story may have not reached its climax until he played with the Boston Celtics, but he will always be a beloved part of Sacramento Kings history.

• Sacramento received: 17.8 future win shares
• Milwaukee received: 2.0 future win shares