Domantas Sabonis’ future in Sacramento keeps circling back to the same question: if the Kings are ready to move him, can they actually find a deal that works?
That possibility has been hanging over the center since before training camps opened. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Tim MacMahon, and Anthony Slater talked about Sabonis on the Hoop Collective podcast over the summer, noting that he changed agents in the offseason and hired Aaron Mintz and Steven Heumann of CAA Sports.
The same pair also represents Walker Kessler and Trae Young, two players who were recently steered to new teams willing to hand out major contracts. Kessler was signed-and-traded from the Jazz to the Lakers on a four-year, $129.5MM deal, while Young was moved from Atlanta to Washington in January and then landed a four-year, $212.8MM contract from the Wizards in free agency.
At the time, Windhorst, MacMahon, and Slater suggested Sabonis may have been aiming for a similar outcome, with Sacramento not interested in working out an extension.
Jake Fischer echoed that read this week during a Bleacher Report live stream. Fischer said Sabonis was looking for an agent who could not only get him paid, but also find the right team to pay him, because it increasingly looks like that won’t happen with the Kings.
There has been no indication that Sabonis has demanded out of Sacramento. Previous reporting has said he has a strong relationship with the front office led by general manager Scott Perry. Still, the speculation has only grown this fall, especially after comments Sabonis made in the first week of the season drew attention.
After the Kings’ blowout loss in their opener, Sabonis was asked on October 22 what the offense needed to do to create better looks. He said, “Move the ball.
Get me the ball more so I can swing it and get guys open. We took a lot of one-pass shots, pick-and-roll shots without passing the ball.
Those numbers are really high. I feel like we’re best when we kind of mix it up - point guard shoots, point guard hits the corner, point guard hits me, then I can make the read.
That’s where I’m best at” (Twitter video link).
Those remarks were easy to read as a swipe at rookie guard Darius Acuff Jr., but that interpretation has been pushed back on. Brendan Nunes of Sactown Sports 1140 said he heard from a team source that the idea Sabonis doesn’t like playing with Acuff “could not be farther from the truth,” and that the two have been in “great communication.” Fischer also said the chemistry chatter around Sabonis and Acuff has been “overblown.”
Even with that clarified, the bigger picture hasn’t really changed. MacMahon revisited Sabonis’ status with Windhorst on a more recent Hoop Collective episode and was blunt about where he thinks things stand.
“Quite frankly, Sabonis wants out of there, and if they can move him, they would,” MacMahon said during that segment (Twitter video link).
Windhorst added that the Kings could move Sabonis now if they truly wanted to. Fischer, though, reported that Perry and the front office want real value back for the three-time All-Star, while rival executives view his contract as a negative asset. Sabonis, 30, missed most of last season with a meniscus tear and is set to make $45.5MM this season, followed by a guaranteed $48.6MM next year.
The fit question is part of the problem. Sabonis brings scoring, rebounding, and play-making, but he is not a rim protector or defensive anchor. He also works best as the hub of an offense, which means any team trading for him would likely need to reshape how it plays to get the most out of him.
The Hornets and Raptors were both linked to Sabonis during the offseason, with Sacramento reportedly asking for a mid-first-round pick in either scenario. Charlotte had the 14th and 18th picks in this year’s draft, while Toronto held No. 19.
Neither team ended up meeting that price. Charlotte ultimately passed and made a deal for forward/center Naz Reid instead. Talks with Toronto reportedly ran into trouble because the Kings had no interest in taking on Jakob Poeltl’s four-year, $103.6MM contract.
Sabonis is expected to come up again before the February 11 deadline. If he stays healthy and productive in the first half, his value should be stronger than it was over the summer, when he was coming off knee surgery.
Even so, that $45MM-plus salary will keep making any trade complicated, especially for teams already dealing with tax or apron concerns. Sacramento is also right near the luxury tax line and would have little room to absorb extra money in any Sabonis deal.
In Other News...
Zach LaVine Just Said What Kings Fans Already Fear
The postgame mood around Sacramento was already sour after the loss to the Lakers, and Zach LaVine did little to soften it. In his press conference, he acknowledged what Kings fans have been seeing for weeks: both teams have shaky defenders, and Los Angeles was able to take advantage of Sacramentos defensive issues when it mattered most.
It was an uncomfortably direct assessment for a team that has spent much of the season trying to find its footing on that end of the floor. The Kings sit 28th in defensive rating, allowing 119.4 points per 100 possessions, and comments like LaVines only sharpen the pressure on a group that knows the problem is bigger than one bad night. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Just Got Exposed By A Lakers Problem Fans Know Too Well
The Kings ran into the kind of problem that can unravel a game in a hurry against the Lakers: pressure, length and a defense that turned possessions into chaos. Los Angeles won 116-103 and did it with a disruptive edge, piling up 13 blocks and forcing 18 turnovers while Luka Doncic powered the offense with 40 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Austin Reaves added 21 points as the Lakers kept finding ways to make Sacramento pay for every mistake.
For Sacramento, the frustrating part is how familiar this can feel when the ball stops moving and the floor tightens up. The Kings had stretches where they could not get clean looks or settle into rhythm, and once the Lakers started converting those turnovers into points, the gap only widened. It was the kind of loss that leaves plenty to fix, especially against a team that is already looking every bit like an early-season problem. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Rookie Darius Acuff Jr. Is Drawing A Wild Allen Iverson Comparison
Darius Acuff Jr. has barely gotten his NBA career started, but the early returns have already stirred up some big-name chatter around Sacramento. Selected seventh overall in the 2026 NBA Draft, the Kings rookie has opened the 2026-27 season averaging 25.6 points and 7.0 assists per game through early November, production that has been impossible to ignore for anyone following the teams fast start to his pro career.
On Sactown Sports, longtime Allen Iverson fan Kenny Caraway said Acuffs scoring burst and playmaking bring Iverson to mind, while making clear it was more a nod of admiration than a forecast of where the comparison might ultimately lead. For the Kings, it is the kind of early buzz that comes with a high pick who already looks comfortable carrying an offense, even if the conversation around him is only just beginning. [Read more 🡒]