The Sacramento Kings' best and worst player is somehow Domantas Sabonis at the same time. He's a legendary rebounder and an impressive playmaker. At the same time, he's terrible on defense, which everyone knows. But his abysmal three-point shooting is a whole different problem.
It's been evident for some time that the Domantas Sabonis era in Sacramento needs to come to an end. This was highlighted by his recent two-month injury absence, during which the Kings were playing much better without him. That's a relative statement, of course. They still weren't great.
For the last few months, the narrative has been that the Kings want to trade Sabonis, which is the only logical course of action at this point. The problem is that he has a very expensive contract with over two years left to go. He is a hard sell to many, if not most, teams in the league.
That being said, some teams have shown interest in the All-Star center, with the Toronto Raptors linked to him the most frequently. Unfortunately, nothing came of these rumors as it's starting to look like the Kings were more interested in Barrett than the Raptors were in Sabonis.
Sabonis has some huge holes in his game
Domantas Sabonis has been in the NBA since 2012, when he was drafted 11th by the Orlando Magic. The scuttlebutt on him for his entire career has been how weak he is on defense, given the fact that he's a big man. It's an ongoing issue that he's incapable of offering any substantial rim protection.
What Sabonis does offer is elite rebounding, not to mention big-time scoring and playmaking when the offense is run through him. Even when he's on his offensive game, Domantas remains a terrible three-point shooter and is basically not a threat from beyond the arc.
This makes him ineffective at spacing the floor, something other teams are wildly aware of. Basically, he doesn't play defense, doesn't shoot threes, doesn't space the floor, and is only useful when you make him a limited centerpiece of your team's entire offensive structure. Plus, he's expensive.
The Kings just don't have the roster to cover up Sabonis's deficiencies, and haven't for a while. But a team that does have that roster will get a great rebounder and offensive threat. That team is going to wait until Domantas's current contract runs out a bit more before bringing him in at a better price.