The Sacramento Kings entered the 2026 offseason without making the kind of splashy move that usually signals a reset. Instead, they mostly held steady, with the biggest headline being the decision to send former lottery pick Devin Carter to the Atlanta Hawks. They also made a smaller move on draft night to add another first-round pick before selecting Alex Karaban, while DeMar DeRozan was waived.
That left the core intact, even after plenty of chatter that Sacramento might try to move Domantas Sabonis or Zach LaVine. Neither deal materialized, but the trade conversation around the Kings is far from finished. As the regular season unfolds, and especially once February’s deadline gets closer, one name stands out above the rest as the most likely to be moved.
Sabonis has been sitting in the trade rumor lane for a while. At the 2026 deadline, there was real buzz about a possible deal, with the Charlotte Hornets, Toronto Raptors, and Washington Wizards all linked as interested teams. Sacramento never found the right partner then, and the same problem followed them into the offseason.
The expectation now is that those rumors will pick up again during the 2026-27 season. If the Kings make a trade at the 2027 deadline, Sabonis looks like the clearest candidate to go.
There was already reporting tying Charlotte to Sacramento in talks centered on Sabonis. As @sam_amick reported: “Per league sources, Sacramento and Charlotte have had recent talks about Kings big man Domantas Sabonis. While a deal is not imminent and appears unlikely before the June 23 draft,…”
On paper, Sabonis is not an easy contract to move. He has two years remaining and is owed $45.5 million this season and $48.6 million next. Even so, that number does not push him into the very top tier of the league’s highest-paid big men, and his production when healthy still gives him real value.
That’s the key swing point for Sacramento. If Sabonis can rebound from an injury-hit 2025-26 season and look like himself again, he becomes a much more appealing trade piece by February. A healthy, productive Sabonis would not erase every concern for rival teams, but it would make him far easier to move than he was at last season’s deadline or over the summer.
There is still an argument for the Kings to keep him, especially with a veteran center helping make Darius Acuff Jr.’s rookie season easier. But Sacramento also appears to have started laying the groundwork for life after Sabonis.
The 2025 NBA Draft brought in Maxime Raynaud in the second round and Dylan Cardwell as an undrafted free agent. Raynaud took advantage of Sabonis’s extended absences and ended up earning All-Rookie honors, while Cardwell showed he can protect the rim, something Sacramento lacks from both Sabonis and Raynaud.
Neither young big man is being projected as Sabonis’ equal - he remains a three-time All-Star - but both fit the Kings’ rebuilding timeline better.
If Sacramento can get a meaningful return for Sabonis, the logic is simple: take it. And all signs point to the 2026-27 season being the stretch when that opportunity finally arrives.
In Other News...
Kings Rebuild Pressure Is Already Falling On Darius Acuff Jr
Darius Acuff Jr. arrives in Sacramento with more than the usual first-round expectations. Taken seventh overall, the guard is already being talked about as the kind of player who can anchor the Kings next phase, with analysts and commentators projecting him to outpace DeAaron Foxs rookie production and eventually grow into the franchises leading point guard.
That is a lot to ask of any rookie, especially on a team not expected to reach the playoffs this season. But Acuffs rsum gives the Kings a reason to dream: he led the SEC in scoring and assists as a freshman at Arkansas, and his first year in Sacramento is likely to be read less as a learning curve and more as a measure of whether the rebuild is actually taking hold. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Face A Backup Guard Debate With Bigger Long Term Stakes
Sacramentos search for another ball handler has quickly become more than a simple depth conversation, because the Kings are weighing whether the spot should go to a veteran voice or a younger developmental piece. Names such as Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton, Cam Payne and Ben Simmons have all surfaced as possible fits to help mentor Darius Acuff Jr., giving the front office a chance to add both insurance and experience to a backcourt that could use it.
Tristen Newton is part of the other side of that debate, a younger option who was recently waived by the Houston Rockets and arrives with strong G-League and college credentials. His profile makes the choice interesting for Sacramento, since the Kings are not just shopping for a stopgap, but trying to decide whether immediate steadiness or longer-term upside better fits the rosters needs. [Read more 🡒]
Keegan Murray Faces Real Pressure As Kings Suddenly Have Options
Keegan Murray arrived in Sacramento with the kind of draft status that usually buys a little patience, and his rookie season suggested the Kings had found a long-term piece. Since then, though, the progress has been harder to spot, with his follow-up seasons showing little improvement and some dips in important areas, even as the organization made the commitment of a five-year contract extension.
Now the pressure is different because the Kings are no longer short on alternatives at power forward. That changes the conversation around Murray quickly, because a player once viewed as a foundational fit can become a trade candidate if the development curve does not turn soon enough. For a team trying to keep its roster moving forward, the next step from Murray may matter more than ever. [Read more 🡒]