The Sacramento Kings may spend this season with more than just wins and losses on the line. Their veteran group has the kind of profiles that can start showing up in trade talks if the right team gets desperate enough, and Zach LaVine’s expiring contract sits at the center of that conversation.
ESPN’s Anthony Slater, speaking on Sactown Sports’ The Drive Guy s, pointed to LaVine as the clearest name to watch. He noted that the guard was once seen as an unwanted contract in Chicago before he was eventually dealt to Sacramento, but his play helped reshape how teams viewed him. Now that he’s in the final year of his deal, the math changes again.
“It’s a more appetizing deal this time around because it is an expiring deal,” Slater said.
That kind of contract can matter a lot once the season starts twisting in unexpected directions. A contender that thinks it has one roster built for April can look different by the trade deadline if injuries hit or a hole opens up. Slater suggested LaVine’s market could benefit if that happens, especially if his season stays strong enough to keep him on other teams’ radar.
There’s also the possibility that LaVine never gets moved at all. If he’s still in Sacramento past the deadline, Slater said a buyout could enter the picture depending on how the season unfolds and what LaVine wants.
Domantas Sabonis is another veteran whose name could come up, though Slater said he had not heard Sacramento was actively trying to move him. He floated the Kings as a possible team that could absorb a contract like Kristaps Porzingis’ in a deal that included draft compensation, but said Sabonis did not look like the likely piece in that kind of move.
The bigger issue for Sacramento is that its roster is pulling in two directions at once. The Kings are trying to give Darius Acuff Jr. room to develop, while established veterans are still guarding their own futures. Slater said that creates a real balancing act inside the locker room.
“You still have these veterans that are very much proven at this stage of their career,” Slater said. “And they still have careers ahead of them that they want to prioritize.”
Malik Monk fits neatly into that conversation, too. He has surfaced in trade discussion and has a player option for next season, which only adds to the uncertainty. Slater said shorter contracts can be appealing to other teams, and Monk’s situation underscores how quickly things can shift for veterans when a franchise starts reshaping its roster.
For now, Sacramento’s trade picture depends on more than just what its players do on the floor. LaVine’s expiring deal gives the Kings a possible opening, but the real move may have to wait until another team’s needs change. Until then, Sacramento has to live with the tension between staying competitive and making sure its younger players keep growing.
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The larger concern is whether the pieces Sacramento has invested in are actually being used in a way that matches the plan. There has been a noticeable disconnect between draft capital and in-game decisions, including limited run for recent first-round picks, and LaVines point about veteran leadership only sharpened the conversation. In his view, teams need a voice and a structure to lean on, and right now the Kings are still searching for both. [Read more 🡒]