The Sacramento Kings have spent plenty of time listening on veteran trades, but there was one line they clearly refused to cross: Ja Morant.
Reports said the Kings’ trade talks for Morant were already finished before he was dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers. For Sacramento, that was the right place to stop. Memphis and Morant were plainly headed for a split, and the Grizzlies were trying to move him because no other team seemed eager to take on the same problems they were trying to escape.
Morant still has the kind of talent that can light up a game in a hurry. He makes spectacular plays and was once viewed as the face of the league. But that shine has been dulled by long injury absences and league suspensions, and the source material paints an ugly picture beyond that: arrogant, selfish basketball, off-court distractions, and a reputation that made him a tough fit anywhere.
Sacramento had been linked to Morant dating back to the 2026 deadline, when the need for an energetic starting point guard made the idea at least understandable. Those talks went nowhere, and when the rumor mill kicked up again before the draft, the Kings shut it down again.
That makes sense given where the franchise says it is headed. The Kings are trying to rebuild around young, versatile players who can function together as a group. Morant may be young, but the source frames him as the opposite of what Sacramento wants: not versatile, not a team player, and potentially toxic in a locker room.
There’s also the contract. Morant has two years left on a deal worth nearly $90 million, and that is exactly the kind of money Sacramento is trying to avoid tying up. In that sense, staying away from Morant looks less like a missed opportunity and more like a clean escape.
For the Kings, holding onto the players they’re trying to move - including Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis - is the better path.
In Other News...
Kings Young Core Just Sent A Brutal Message After Embarrassing Loss
The Kings summer league loss to Brooklyn was ugly enough to draw a blunt self-assessment from inside the locker room, with Dylan Cardwell, Emanuel Sharp and Darius Acuff Jr. all pointing to the same problem: too many mistakes and not enough toughness. Sacramentos young group struggled to get organized throughout the game, and the frustration showed in the way players talked afterward about the need for better leadership and a sharper standard.
Chris Darnell did not try to soften the blow, saying the team was not ready to play and putting the responsibility on himself. For a summer league roster built around development, the lesson is less about the final score than what it exposed about the Kings young core, which now has to turn a messy performance into something useful before the next chance to show progress. [Read more 🡒]
Doug Christie Finally Has No Excuses With This Kings Roster
Doug Christie enters the new season with a roster that looks far closer to the defensive-minded team he has long wanted to coach. The Kings spent the previous era trying to make an uneven mix work, but the pieces assembled under Monte McNair never quite matched Christies emphasis on toughness, balance and stopping people on the other end.
Scott Perry has since reshaped the group with more defenders who fit that approach, giving Christie a cleaner chance to put his ideas on the floor. For Sacramento, the real intrigue now is less about whether the coach has a vision and more about how quickly that vision starts to show up once the games begin. [Read more 🡒]