With the 2026 NBA Draft behind the Sacramento Kings, their attentions will turn to free agency and trades. Not surprisingly, a major item on that to-do list is ending the Domantas Sabonis era in Sacramento. If the Kings want that to happen, they might have to lower the asking price a bit.
Sabonis has been a professional basketball player since 2012, and has been an NBA player since 2016. At this point, the 30-year-old's game is exactly what it's going to be. That means lots of double-doubles, underrated passing and playmaking, and being borderline useless on defense.
That doesn't work for the Kings anymore. Head coach Doug Christie has made it clear since day one that defense is the name of the game, and general manager Scott Perry appears to be fully behind that. They need centers who can protect the rim, and they are developing those players right now.
Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell have incredible potential on the defensive end of the court without losing anything on offense. With Precious Achiuwa also in the mix, the Kings have figuratively moved on from Sabonis. Now, they just need to literally move on from Sabonis.
Sacramento needs to trade Sabonis at rock-bottom prices
To be completely clear, this isn't a suggestion that Sabonis has no value. In the right situation where a team runs their offense through him while having a strong enough defense in place to make up for his deficiencies, he can be incredibly impressive. The problem is the asking price.
Despite the fact that the Kings are desperate to move Sabonis, they're still trying to get premium value for him. This has included rumored requests for multiple first-round draft picks, which just isn't going to happen. That's on top of whoever a partner is willing to trade for Sabonis.
Simply put, the Kings have to be willing to take less. Over the past two drafts, Perry has brought in some incredibly talented players. The rebuild is under way. Moving Sabonis is about trying to get their massive salary cap issues under control. What the Kings get in return is almost irrelevant.
Naturally, no one wants to see the Kings get fleeced. At the same time, they need to be more realistic about what Sabonis is worth, and Sacramento has been overpaying him for years. The Kings need to move him more than another team needs to take him. That doesn't give Sacramento the high ground.
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