As the trade deadline approaches, it's being reported that the Sacramento Kings are unwilling to take on long-term contracts. This does limit their trade options, but it's also the right call. They already have problems with big-money contracts, and don't want to make their rebuild any harder.
One major issue the Kings have to face are high cost contracts for players who don't fit the vision of the rebuild. The focus is on defense as a core tenet, but Sacramento's most expensive players don't really play defense. This leaves the front office with no cap space to work with on team building.
Before the rebuild can get rolling, the Kings need to figure out how to move Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and DeMar DeRozan. If they don't get traded, both LaVine and DeRozan's contracts will be up after the 2026-2027 season at the latest, with Sabonis being done after the following season.
The problem the Kings face is that other teams do not want to take on the big contracts associated with these players. Sacramento is doing the same thing, though, and avoiding trades for players that will cause them similar problems. It's limiting, but still the right move at this time.
There's no point in the Kings trading for the sake of trading
While the goal is to move these big-money contracts to make cap space and bring in younger, more versatile players, trading for similar problematic players and contracts accomplishes nothing. The only way it makes sense is if said contract is up at the end of this season.
In that situation, the Kings would put themselves in a position to open up that cap space leading into the 2026 offseason and draft. That's a good place to be. At the same time, bringing in big-money contracts while trading away big-money contracts is just maintaining the status quo.
That's why the Kings are staying away from trades for players like Trae Young, Zion Williamson, and Ja Morant. Big contracts. Hard to trade. Toxic locker room presence. Even if one of them only ends up in Sacramento for the rest of this season, they could still hurt the rebuild process.
Sacramento knows that this rebuild is going to take years to play out. They're in no rush to make bad trades just to get the process started. The Kings' front office is making the right call by taking their time making these moves. Rome wasn't built in a day. The same is true of a winning Kings' franchise.