Grade the draft day trade pitch: Kings finally upgrade power forward position

Portland Trail Blazers

Grade: A

For all the reasons I thought this was a bad trade for the Kings, I think it was a great trade for the Blazers.

Huerter and Lyles give you additional opportunities to flip pieces for even more assets. Huerter should be able to get you a solid first, while Lyles could net you a couple of second round picks. If you want to keep them, both are dynamic offensive players who could provide spacing for Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and the rest of their young core to work with.

Then, you get the 13th overall pick in a draft that is wide open. That means that you may accidentally stumble into the best player of the draft in the late lottery. And lastly, that protected first in 2027 will likely convey as the Kings' core should be good enough to stay out of the top 10 (or at least that's what we are hoping for by making this trade).

Oh, and on top of all that, you avoid having Grant's massive contract (which could end up aging really poorly) handicap your ability to build a contender over of the next couple of years if your current core shows that they are ready to win sooner than expected.