The Sacramento Kings faced their Raptors in the final game of their home stand without All-Star center Domantas Sabonis. But the question fans were left with was why wasn't he there, and how does this fit into the bigger picture of both his present and his future with the franchise?
Basically, the only good time to be a Kings fan in the past two decades was the short but sweet Beam Team Era. Led by De'Aaron Fox and Sabonis, Sacramento finally made the playoffs for the first time in 16 years in the 2022-2023 season. It didn't go further than that, but it was still cool.
Since then, the Kings have quickly slid back to irrelevancy and the basement of the Western Conference. If it weren't for the Pelicans playing such consistently terrible basketball, Sacramento would be dead last. They have to be grateful for New Orleans at this point.
Now, a rebuild is on the horizon for the Kings that includes plans to trade some of their biggest players, such as Sabonis. After signing Precious Achiuwa, Dylan Cardwell, and Maxime Raynaud, it's becoming increasingly apparent that Domantas doesn't fit in Sacramento anymore.
Sabonis's future is on another roster in a different city
During Domantas's two-month injury absence, the Kings developed an actual rhythm. His return seemed to throw everything off, and played a part in their winning streak coming to an end. In the last game of Sacramento's home stand, he sat out due to injury management. That didn't help.
Since he returned, Sabonis has been playing limited minutes off the bench. Head coach Doug Christie has said he's not on any minutes restrictions, meaning these are choices Christie is making. It seems he's trying to put Sabonis to work without disrupting everything built while he was injured.
The Kings are trying to trade Sabonis, but the market is limited for a center with an expensive contract who is only useful when the offense is run through him and doesn't really play defense. That won't stop the Kings from attempting to move him. They have to if they want to build for the future.
Whether Sabonis is playing limited minutes off the bench or is sitting off due to "injury management," you can bet Christie will use him as little as reasonably possible. Like Keon Ellis, Domantas Sabonis will just hang around until Sacramento can figure out a reasonable trade for him.