With the new year now finally upon us, speculation ahead of the 2020 NBA Trade Deadline is in full swing. Whether Sacramento Kings fans are in consensus about what the team ought to do before the Feb. 6, 2020 cut off or not, anticipation mounts across all fanbases that there will be fireworks.
In this post, just one of a series of 30, we’ll break down the reports that have started to trickle out about Kings players that may or may not be on the move. While there’s no guarantee when it comes to a league as wild as the modern NBA, it doesn’t hurt to brush up on each squad’s roster as the deadline draws near.
Players Unlikely To Be Traded
- Marvin Bagley
- De’Aaron Fox
- Buddy Hield
- Richaun Holmes
Marvin Bagley has struggled to stay on the court this season but despite that, he remains a major building block in the franchise’s long-term plan. De’Aaron Fox has had his own injury woes this season, though no one is going to dislodge him as point guard of the future in Sacramento. It’s highly unlikely that the Kings deal Buddy Hield before the deadline given that he just signed a contract extension and is subjected to the poison pill provision.
Heading into the season, no one would have guessed that Richaun Holmes would be a top contender for the Kings’ most valuable player. The center leads the team in NBA Math’s Total Points Added by a wide margin and he’s sporting a career-high in points, rebounds, steals, blocks, field goal percentage and player efficiency rating among other metrics. Did we mention that he’s on a team-friendly two-year, $9.8M deal? Barring a blockbuster trade, expect to see Holmes alongside the Kings’ three foundational pieces through the trade deadline.
Biggest Name Available On Market
- Dewayne Dedmon
Dewayne Dedmon, who signed a three-year $40M contract with the Kings this past offseason, has requested a trade late last month. “I would like to be traded,” Dedmon told Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. “I haven’t been playing, so I would like to go somewhere where my talents are appreciated.“
The center was fined for publicly discussing his trade request and up until Holmes’ shoulder injury, which comes at a convenient time for Sacramento to showcase Dedmon for trades, the 30-year-old big man hadn’t gotten much court time with the team.
Logical Trade Pieces
- Trevor Ariza
- Bogdan Bogdanovic
To say the Kings are in the playoff race is taking the glass-is-half-full mentality when there’s just a few drops of water in your cup. As of this writing, only the Pelicans and Warriors have a worse record than the Kings in the Western Conference and while there is a lot of time left in the season, Sacramento would need to go on a massive run to capture a playoff berth.
The team pulled off a three-game winning streak just once this season, though they followed it up by losing nine of their next 10 contests. Unless the front office truly believes it’s going to find some positive consistency over the back half of the season, trading away Trevor Ariza, who’s contract for next season is non-guaranteed, would be a prudent move.
Trading away Bogdan Bogdanovic makes sense if the Kings feel he’s going to garner more than they are willing to pay on the open market. The team failed to come to terms on an extension with the wing prior to the season and that has fueled trade speculation around the league. The 27-year-old Serbian-native will be a restricted free agent after the 2019-20 campaign.
Trades Are Possible
- Harrison Barnes
- Cory Joseph
- Nemanja Bjelica
- Yogi Ferrell
- Harry Giles
- Caleb Swanigan
- Justin James
Harrison Barnes is in the first season of a four-year, $85M deal. It would be surprising if the Kings moved on from him before the deadline. 🏀 Cory Joseph has embraced his role as a backup point guard and was a nice fill in during the stretch where Fox was sidelined. He’s in the first year of a three-year, $37.2M contract, though the final season on that pact in non-guaranteed. 🏀 Nemanja Bjelica has seen his role fluctuate with various injuries on the team. The power forward’s $7.2M salary for next season is non-guaranteed. 🏀 Yogi Ferrell is in the final season of his two-year contract. He’s seeing just 12.8 minutes per game under coach Luke Walton. 🏀 Harry Giles hasn’t had much of a role this season and his long-term future in Sacramento seems grim with the team turning down his fourth-year option. 🏀 Wenyen Gabriel signed with Sacramento in October and can’t be traded until Jan. 21. 🏀 Caleb Swanigan has seen more minutes in the G League (99) than in the NBA (23) this season. 🏀 Second-round pick Justin James has seen over 20 minutes of playing time on just three occasions this season and under a minute of action in 22 contests.
