With trade season starting tomorrow, the Sacramento Kings are expected to be big players. The problem is that they need to move their biggest stars, who are on massive contracts. To make trades involving them work, the Kings are going to need to build multi-team deals.
Assuming co-owner Vivek Ranadive can stay focused and stick to general manager Scott Perry's plan, the Kings are embarking on a roster rebuild that will take several years. By Perry's own estimates, the expectation is anywhere from three to five years before the rebuild will take shape.
A big part of the reason for that is the fact that the main players the front office needs to move are their biggest contracts by far. Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, and DeMar DeRozan are on expensive deals. Keegan Murray is up there, too, but he's not going anywhere.
The brick wall the Kings will run into with these players is trying to find one team willing to take them on with their limited use and massive contracts. All three players are aging, dealing with more injuries, and don't really play much defense. The perfect trade partner is going to be hard to find.
The Kings are going to need to engineer multi-team trades
When teams put multi-team trade deals together, it's often because they need to navigate complicated salary cap issues. This can be a big problem when trying to trade players with massive salaries, such as Sabonis and LaVine. Even a willing trade partner might not make it work financially.
Adding in a third team allows the first two teams to navigate the issues created by the salary cap and penalty aprons. Books can be balanced by utilizing a third team's cap space, often in exchange for draft picks. Depending on how it plays out, even more teams could be included.
Moving Sabonis will cost a team well over $100 million with what's left on his contract through 2027-2028. LaVine has a player option next season worth almost $50 million if he takes it. Those two will be tough to move at those prices, though DeRozan is a bit better at $25-ish million for next season.
Numbers like that are going to be hard to manage in a two-team deal. Other teams are going to have to get involved, not only to deal with salaries but to provide assets to help make these trades work. Otherwise, the Kings will have to wait out these massive contracts before they can move on.