The Sacramento Kings are considering rebuilding their team this offseason, including how to say goodbye to several big names.
The Sacramento Kings have taken a new direction this season, pulling a plug into the core. Their first step was to fire Mike Brown in the middle of the season.
Following that, the king moved from Dearon Fox earlier this year to trade him for the San Antonio Spurs.
As part of the trade, the Kings landed Zach Labine and reunited with free agents signing Demar DeRozan a few months after the latter left the Chicago Bulls.
However, the Kings already seem to have left repenting with buyers with Lavine, choosing to turn their attention to a young star with a higher ceiling in the NBA.
Athletic’s Sam Amick created a detailed piece about King Sacramento in the aftermath of the NBA Draft. He pointed out that the King had no plans to recontract Zach Labine.
Amick added that the king wanted to target younger players more upside down. He mentioned it as the player they wanted, despite the unlikely chance that Jonathan Cuminga would sign them. But Kuminga’s age and potential players are now the blueprint of the King.
“Zach Lavine (a total of $96.4 million including player options for the 2026-27 season) is the main of that. The 30-year-old two-time All-Star will be eligible for expansion this summer, but team and league sources say there are no plans for Kings to prioritize Lavine’s new deal.
“If they pay for such freight, it would be for the young players who could be very clear and become a long-term part of their photos.
“To that end, league sources say the Kings are one of the teams interested in Jonathan Kuminga in Golden State and will monitor his markets once his restricted freedom agency begins.
“And while it doesn’t seem like Cuminga will ultimately go their way, it speaks to the vision and range of possibilities that they are focusing even on their like-minded players.”
If the Sacramento Kings weren’t trading Tyrees Halliburton, it’s hard to say where the Sacramento Kings are today. The Kings chose him on their 13th pick in the NBA Draft. In fact, a mistake from the Celtics allowed the King to land Halliburton.
However, in 2022, the Kings oddly traded Halliburton for Domantas Sabonis. The reason they did this is because they prioritized Daaron Fox over Halliburton and felt he was more upside down.
Since then, the Sacramento Kings have reached the playoffs once with the Fox, while Tyrees Halliburton has participated in two conference finals and the NBA finals.
Furthermore, at that point, the King demanded trade during the season and left in February, so the Kings no longer even have a fox.
Had the Kings opted to build around Tyrese Halliburton, they could have had a competitive level team that would have pushed lightning, as the Pacers had.