When it comes to off-season trades, the Sacramento Kings have been all over the place. Questionable choices seem to be the name of the game for them.
They opened the summer up by trading Jonas Valanciunas for Dario Saric, a move that still has the rest of the league scratching their heads. Then, the front office wasted the rest of the summer fruitlessly trying to make room for Russell Westbrook by trading Malik Monk and DeMar DeRozan.
One trade that never appeared to be on the table was Domantas Sabonis. The star center is likely on the Kings' no-trade list. Or he might not have the trade value the Kings want him to, making a trade difficult.
Domantas Sabonis on the court
Up until everything went sideways partway through the 2024-2025 season, the Kings were anchored by two stars. De'Aaron Fox led the team from point guard, while Sabonis dominated the glass from center.
Domantas is the top rebounder in the NBA, having been named the rebounding leader for the last three seasons. On top of that, he averaged 19.1 points per game and 6.0 assists per game in 2024-2025. Not too shabby.
With the departure of Fox, Sabonis is now unquestionably the Kings' top star. As such, a trade is unlikely unless the Kings really want to pick up a specific player.
Sabonis' trade value
The problem for the Kings is the reality of their star center. He's undersized, offers essentially nothing in the way of rim protection, and doesn't take as many shots as he probably should.
On top of that, the Kings are paying him a lot of money. He's got three years left on his contract at an average of $45.5 million per season. That's a lot of money to pay a center who isn't really a defensive force, particularly at the rim.
Sabonis is, without question, the top star on the Kings. That's not a particularly high bar to get over. When compared to the top centers in the league, Domantas doesn't compete. As such, moving him is going to be incredibly difficult.