King Sacramento has a clear void in the point guard, but these five trade candidates are enough for the king to compete.
The Sacramento Kings are at a crossroads after not making their 18th NBA playoffs in their 19 seasons.
They have a talented trio of Zac Lavigne, Domanta Sabonis and Demar DeRozan, but their defense ranks 23rd in the NBA and there are no proven point guards to get the ball to talented scorers.
The defense and floor generals are their biggest offseason priorities, except that the king tears and rebuilds their roster. There are many trade candidates they can target, and the king has the means to make a splash.
With the point guards having great concern, the Kings were able to target some of the league’s better facilitators.
Darius Garland, Marcus Smart, Trae Young, Jule Holiday and Ja Morant have all been part of the trade rumours since the team was eliminated, and Holiday and Smart – are not the best facilitators.
Garland misses the start of next season as he recovers from a toe injury.
Still, the king can provide one of the five teams with a depth-driven package to land security guards to carry out the attack.
| player | ppg | RPG | APG | 3pt% | 2025-26 Salary |
| Jrue Holiday | 11.1 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 35.3% | $34,800,000 |
| Marcus Smart | 9.0 | 2.1 | 3.2 | 34.8% | $21,586,855 |
| Trae Young | 24.2 | 3.1 | 11.6 | 34.0% | $45,999,660 |
| JA More | 23.2 | 4.1 | 7.3 | 30.9% | $39,446,090 |
| Darius Garland | 20.6 | 2.9 | 6.7 | 40.1% | $39,446,090 |
These five players will receive salaries between $21.5 million (smart) and $45.9 million (young) next season. Therefore, the trading package and draft pick consisting of a combination of Malik Monk, Jonas Valanciunas and Keegan Malley should be sufficient to land the stars without breaking the core trio.
The lineup of Lavine, Derozan, Sabonis, Murray, Keon Ellis, and any of their point guards should be enough for the King to make the playoffs.
Eight teams finished ahead of the Kings to finish the regular season. One of those teams, the Memphis Grizzlies, is expected to take a step back, and it also depends on their willingness to trade Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.
The Thunder, Rocket, Lakers, Nuggets, Clippers, Timberwolves and Warriors are expected to be the same if not for the next season, and teams like the Mavericks and Spurs can take a step forward.
Even if the Kings are fully playing the playoffs as the fifth or sixth seed, they will continue to play first round against talented teams such as the Rockets, Nuggets, Wolves and Lakers. Will even the best player the King can push are enough to surpass the hump? Will adding Smart, the Smart of the Year, be enough to neutralize the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Luka Doncic?
Probably not.
The Kings’ best bet is to rebuild and trade the best players for future assets, but the new front office wants to see if they can win the Kings past their first round for the first time since 2004.