The Sacramento Kings were never going to be better off taking Ja Morant, and that’s the real takeaway from this whole rumor mill mess. If the choice had come down to Morant or Zion Williamson, Williamson would have been the safer and smarter swing for a team trying to rebuild without inviting chaos into the building.
That doesn’t mean Williamson is some clean bill of health. Far from it.
His conditioning has been a constant issue, and that has fed into a long list of injury problems. In six seasons, he has played in less than 50% of his possible games.
That’s a rough track record, no question. But even with that, the downside is mostly availability, not the kind of self-inflicted damage Morant has brought on himself.
Morant’s talent has never been the problem. It’s everything wrapped around it.
He has the skill to be a franchise centerpiece, but he has also carried the ego and arrogance that have repeatedly put him in his own way. What once looked like a future face of the league has turned into a player so radioactive that the Grizzlies had serious trouble even trying to work out a trade.
The Kings were linked to Morant, but that path never went anywhere, and that was probably for the best. Sacramento is in the middle of a rebuild and needs players without extra baggage. Yes, the team needed help at point guard, but not to the point where it had to gamble on a situation that could have blown up fast.
Williamson would have fit the roster logic better. The Kings also needed wing depth, and adding a power forward like him would have addressed more than one hole. There’s even the possibility that a move to Sacramento could have helped with his conditioning, if only because the setting would be different from New Orleans.
The risk with Morant was on another level. A player dealing with injuries is one thing.
A player who is reportedly locker room poison is something else entirely. Even if Williamson spent time on the bench, he wouldn’t have carried the same threat to the team’s chemistry.
And to be clear, Williamson is not on the market right now, while Morant has already been traded to the Portland Trail Blazers after the Kings made it clear the answer was no. The broader point still stands: Sacramento had better options than bringing in Morant, and that kind of move could have done more harm than good.
In Other News...
Kings Guard Shakeup Just Claimed A Name Fans Feared
The Kings backcourt picture changed quickly after the 2026 NBA Draft, when Sacramento added Darius Acuff Jr. and Emanuel Sharp to a guard group that already needed sorting out. With the roster sitting at 21 players and the leagues limits forcing the club down to 15 standard spots plus two-way contracts, the front office was always going to have to make some uncomfortable choices.
Devin Carter became the first notable casualty of that squeeze, a reminder that draft-night upgrades can come with a real cost for players already on the margin. Sacramentos guard-heavy reset gives the team more options, but it also leaves the rest of the roster in a more uncertain place as the Kings keep trimming toward opening night. [Read more 🡒]
Kings May Have Another Undrafted Name For Fans To Watch
Marquel Sutton has turned into one of the more interesting Summer League names on the Kings roster, which is saying something for a player who arrived as an undrafted add-on. The forward has looked more comfortable with each game, and his blend of size, activity and shot-making has given Sacramento something worth tracking beyond the usual July box scores.
Suttons path already gives him a little credibility, with productive stops at Omaha and LSU before he landed in Sacramento. The Kings have also shown they are willing to reward undrafted players who seize this stage, so Suttons rise is the kind of development that can quietly matter if he keeps forcing the issue in front of the staff. [Read more 🡒]