4 Sacramento Kings who are expendable, 3 they can’t afford to trade

Trey Lyles should stay in Sacramento

Due to a hamstring injury, Trey Lyles has only played six games this season and has struggled to make three-pointers. Over pretty much his entire career, he has been a solid outside threat, however, so that should normalize soon. 

Other than Malik Monk, Lyles averages the most minutes off the bench for the Kings, and his impact with the second unit is precisely why he shouldn’t be traded. At 6’9”, Lyles is one of the bigger Kings, and he is rather versatile. 

He can play the four and stretch the floor for Fox, Monk, and whichever center is on the floor to get to work in the paint while also being physical with bigger players on defense. At other times, he can also play the backup five and that is where his real value lies. 

The small ball lineups have worked pretty well for the Kings so far. Lyles can battle with bigger centers on both ends of the floor as well as crash the board despite being rather undersized. What makes these lineups so dangerous is his ability to stretch the floor, however. 

Opposing centers can’t just hang out around the basket and leave Lyles open behind the arc. That then opens up the paint for Fox or Monk to get to the rim. 

Right now, Lyles is the only “center” on the Kings’ roster who can stretch the floor—Sabonis, Alex Len, and JaVale McGee are all not real outside threats—and that is why the Kings shouldn’t give him up in a trade.