No one knows what the Sacramento Kings' plans are for Keon Ellis. With the trade deadline fast approaching, the front office is going to have to make a decision. If they want to keep him, Ellis is going to need two things from the Kings that they haven't been giving him: money and respect.
With the trade market heating up, one of the hottest topics of conversation is the future of Keon Ellis. The Kings' 3&D player is still in his development arc, but is also recognized across the league as someone with a huge upside. He has all the potential in the world on a team willing to work with him.
So far, that has not been the Kings. For most of this season, Doug Christie has shown little interest in developing him and has given Ellis sporadic minutes at best. As such, most people expected Ellis to be an obvious trade considering it had been reported that Christie was his primary detractor.
Out of the blue, that seems to have changed. Over the last few games, Christie has been giving Ellis significantly more minutes on a regular basis and actually seems to be putting effort into the young player. This has changed the trade narrative quickly and dramatically.
A decision on Ellis needs to be made in Sacramento
While the trade potential for Ellis is still there, the odds of him staying in Sacramento have increased. Christie appears to be starting to see the value in him, possibly because so many other coaches and teams have been circling Ellis in various trade rumors.
If the Kings want to keep him, Ellis will absolutely be looking for more cash. His contract is up at the end of the season, so he's going to be asking the Kings to show him the money. It all depends on how big the gap is between what he wants and how valuable the Kings think he is.
The bigger issue is likely respect. Ellis might be getting some more love from Doug Christie these days, but that's still a relatively recent development. If he stays with the Kings, he's going to want assurances on how he fits into the team as part of the current rotation and through the rebuild.
Neither request would be unreasonable, particularly since Ellis knows how valuable he is on the open market. He'll have multiple opportunities to get what he wants from a variety of other teams. The Kings just need to make up their minds before someone else does it for them.