The Sacramento Kings’ early-season slide has only sharpened the noise around Domantas Sabonis, and two familiar names are back in the conversation: the Toronto Raptors and the Charlotte Hornets.
On the latest Clutch Scoops show, insider Jake Fischer said both teams were in the mix for Sabonis trade talks last year, and he doesn’t see that interest fading.
“Two teams that looked to trade for him last year and had those trade conversations were the Toronto Raptors and the Charlotte Hornets,” Siegel said on the latest Clutch Scoops show. “The interest has not gone away.
I can speak to that with certainty here. There's been no new dialogue to report here but those are two teams that we're keeping an eye on.”
The Kings, who have opened the season with just one win in eight games, have been expected to keep exploring ways to move Sabonis as they push deeper into a rebuild. Fischer also explained why nothing got done with Toronto or Charlotte a year ago.
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In Toronto’s case, Sacramento didn’t want to absorb Jakob Poeltl’s contract and couldn’t find a third team willing to take on the three years and $84 million left on the deal. As for Charlotte, the Kings were asking for too much - lottery picks in the 2026 NBA Draft - and the Hornets weren’t willing to meet that price.
The Raptors could look different now. Poeltl has struggled badly to start the 2026-27 season, and Collin Murray-Boyles still hasn’t locked down a spot in the starting five. Toronto also has the kind of defenders that could help hide Sabonis on the other end, and with Kawhi Leonard now in the fold, the team is operating in win-now mode.
Charlotte could be a different kind of fit, but the urgency might be there too. The Hornets currently own the NBA’s worst offense, and after losing LaMelo Ball and with Kon Knueppel sidelined by injury, they need an offensive centerpiece. If the losses keep piling up, a swing for Sabonis could become a real possibility.
In Other News...
Kings Finally Get Relief With Surging Spurs Coming To Sacramento
The Kings are still waiting for their early-season roster to get anywhere close to full strength, and the injury pileup has already made life difficult. Ben Simmons, Maxime Raynaud, Dylan Cardwell and Keegan Murray have all been among the key names Sacramento has had to navigate without, leaving the team to piece together lineups while trying to stay afloat in the 2026-27 season.
Now comes a chance to reset at home against a Spurs team that arrives on a winning streak and with far fewer health concerns. San Antonio has been one of the steadier groups in the NBA Cup Group Play picture, which only raises the stakes for Sacramento as it looks for a cleaner performance and, just as importantly, a healthier rotation to work with. [Read more 🡒]
Sabonis Gives Kings Fans A Milestone To Watch Amid Trade Buzz
Domantas Sabonis gave Kings fans another reason to keep an eye on the record book in the loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, pulling down 17 rebounds and moving past Eddie Johnson into ninth place on Sacramentos all-time offensive rebounds list. It has been a career year on the glass for Sabonis, and the pace he is on has him inching toward a far more prominent mark in franchise history.
The timing makes the milestone feel a little more layered, too, with trade buzz continuing to swirl around Sabonis even as no confirmed move has been reported. For a Kings team trying to sort out both its present and its future, his climb up the franchise leaderboard is a reminder of how much production he has already delivered, and how much more history he could still chase if he stays in Sacramento. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Already Face An Early Question About Their First Round Picks
The early part of the season has already put the Kings in a familiar spot with their recent first-round picks, as Nique Clifford and Alex Karaban have both been kept on a short leash while the rotation settles in. Clifford has only seen brief stretches totaling a few minutes per game, and Karaban has been used sparingly as well, appearing in four games with limited run. For a team trying to balance development with immediate results, that leaves little room for either rookie to show what they can really do.
A recent podcast discussion put the issue in plain terms: when the minutes are this hard to come by, it becomes difficult to judge what the Kings actually have in these two young players. The talent evaluation is happening in the background, but the on-court sample is still so small that every shift feels more like a glimpse than a true test. For now, the bigger question is not just how Clifford and Karaban fit, but when Sacramento will give them enough runway to find out. [Read more 🡒]