The Sacramento Kings are being tossed into the center of the latest wild NBA trade chatter, and this one would be a swing for the fences.
On a recent episode of The Zach Lowe Show, The Ringer’s Michael Pina laid out a hypothetical deal built around Jaylen Brown. In his proposal, Boston would land Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan, and three first-round picks - in 2027, 2029, and 2031, with the last one subject to swap with the Spurs. Sacramento, meanwhile, would get Brown.
It’s a massive idea on paper, especially for a Kings team that finished 22-60 last season. The cost wouldn’t just be Sabonis and DeRozan. It would also mean absorbing Brown’s 5-year, $304 million supermax, a deal that would immediately change the financial shape of the roster.
The logic behind the move is simple enough: Sacramento would be betting hard on a Brown and Zach LaVine pairing to deliver enough wins to keep those future picks out of the lottery. That’s a lot of faith to place in a two-man core, and Lowe didn’t sound convinced.
"I don't think the Kings are doing that with the draft equity involved," Lowe retorted to Pina's proposition.
He also pointed out the appeal of Sabonis for the other side of the deal. "Sabonis is a good name though for a team that really needs a proven NBA center," he added, referencing the Celtics.
For Boston, the pitch would be about balance - keeping players who can help win now while also bringing in draft assets for the future. Giving up Brown would be a hard call, but if the relationship is shaky, the move could make sense.
For Sacramento, though, this looks like the kind of all-in proposal that only happens if everything breaks just right. The Kings are not the sort of team you’d expect to jump into the deepest end of the Jaylen Brown market.
Still, in an offseason already packed with bold ideas and bigger surprises, nothing feels completely off the table.
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What makes him more interesting than a typical buy-low option is the way he finished last season. Williams looked more comfortable as a shooter and held up on the perimeter, flashing the kind of two-way utility that can matter to a team trying to sharpen its edges without overhauling the whole roster. For Sacramento, the appeal is obvious, but the real question is whether that late surge was the start of something sturdier or just a short window that made him impossible to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
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The catch is financial, and it is a significant one. Sacramento is currently projected to be above the first tax apron, which means there would be real work to do before the Kings could create the kind of cap flexibility needed to compete for Robinson. Until that changes, interest is one thing and actual pursuit is another, leaving the front office with a familiar offseason balancing act. [Read more 🡒]