The Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors can keep circling Domantas Sabonis all they want, but one piece keeps blowing up the idea: Jakob Poeltl.
There is still a path to a Sabonis deal with Toronto, but it only works if Poeltl comes out of it. Sacramento is not going to take on that contract, and it shouldn’t.
That matters because Sabonis is already one of the most expensive players on the Kings’ roster, and his salary is squeezing the team’s options. With money tied up in both Sabonis and Zach LaVine, Sacramento has had a hard time chasing free agents or making the kind of moves general manager Scott Perry would normally want available during a rebuild.
LaVine’s deal at least has an end point. His contract runs through the 2026-2027 season.
Sabonis is the longer problem. He has one more year after that, which means he wouldn’t hit free agency until the 2028 offseason.
So, yes, the clean answer would be a trade. But Sabonis is the kind of player whose price tag still outpaces his trade value, even though he remains one of the better big men in the league. Toronto reportedly came close at the 2026 deadline, but the deal stalled because the Raptors wouldn’t move unless Sacramento absorbed Poeltl’s deal too.
And that’s where the whole thing turns into a trap for the Kings.
The logic behind moving Sabonis is simple: get out from under a contract that has become a burden. But Poeltl’s contract is even heavier.
He has four years left, and the final three seasons average $28 million apiece. On top of that, he just isn’t the same level of center as Sabonis.
Toronto still has interest in Sabonis, and the return of Kawhi Leonard could make the idea more appealing for the Raptors. Sabonis and Leonard would give Toronto a dangerous offensive pairing, though Scottie Barnes would be the one asked to do the heavy lifting defensively.
Even with all that, Sacramento’s motivation only goes so far. If the Kings are trying to move on from Sabonis, taking Poeltl back defeats the purpose.
It would be easier to keep Sabonis than to swallow that contract. Toronto also burned through a lot of trade capital to bring Leonard back, which makes Poeltl hard to separate from any Sabonis conversation.
If the two teams really want to make it happen, they’d need a third team to absorb Poeltl’s contract. That would likely force Toronto to include even more draft picks, and at this point that may be too steep a price for Sabonis. Without a miracle, this one doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere.
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What makes the idea more intriguing is the timing around Sacramentos own books. Several key contracts are expected to come off the ledger by then, and that could leave the Kings with the flexibility needed to chase high-end talent rather than settle for stopgaps. Duren and Kuminga would both be premium additions if they reach the market, and for a franchise trying to balance competitiveness now with a clearer path forward, that offseason could end up mattering as much as anything happening on the court. [Read more 🡒]