Should the Sacramento Kings Explore Their Options at the Trade Deadline?
At 16-23 and just 6.5 games back from the eighth and final postseason berth in the Western Conference, the Sacramento Kings are far from having their playoff dreams crushed.
But even if they were to qualify for the postseason, they would be hard-pressed to knock off juggernauts like the Golden State Warriors or Portland Trail Blazers in the first round.
That being said, the NBA's trade deadline is just a little over a month away, and the Kings are running out of time to figure out what they want to get out of this season.
Are they still all about wins and losses like team owner Vivek Ranadive claimed prior to the campaign? Or have they decided to just continue developing young talent in preparation for a possible playoff run in 2015-16?
The wise choice would be to opt for the latter.
Unofortunately, given recent developments, it seems as though they are leaning toward the former. According to CBSSports.com's Ken Berger, Sacramento has made rookie shooting guard Nik Stauskas available if teams are willing to swap a big man in exchange for his services.
"The Kings want to pair [DeMarcus] Cousins with a front-line player who would fit with his post-up skills," Berger wrote. "Either a stretch 4 or above-the-rim defender, sources said. They've fielded numerous calls about Stauskas, whose opportunities have been limited with the steadily improving play of Ben McLemore."
To this point in the season, Jason Thompson, Carl Landry and Reggie Evans haven't provided the Kings with what they're looking for. Thompson struggles with his jumper (.353 from 10-16 feet this year). Landry shoots a better percentage from that area (.520) but is only playing 15.9 minutes per game. Evans will rebound the heck out of the ball, but that's pretty much it.
Stauskas—the eighth overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft—has only managed to score 3.6 points per game on 33.1 percent shooting from the floor and 27.2 percent from beyond the arc. But the former Michigan Wolverine has appeared in every game for the Kings this year and is still a 21-year-old with a knockdown jumper, surprising athleticism and underrated skills as a playmaker with the ball in his hands.
The 6'6" wing knows that he'll get better, and other teams should buy into that as well.
"(I have to) try to understand that I'm a rookie and mistakes are going to be made," Stauskas told Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. "People expect me to make mistakes in my rookie year. So just go out there, listen to what the coaches say, be aggressive and play my game, and the rest will take care of itself."
Still, limited production has made it unclear as to what general manager Pete D'Alessandro might get for the rookie in return. But, despite his potential, there likely aren't many teams around the league that would be willing to part with an impact big who could help get Sacramento over the hump and into the playoffs.
Instead, more likely targets that would make sense are Brandon Bass of the Boston Celtics or Mirza Teletovic of the Brooklyn Nets. While there have been no reports that Brooklyn wants to unload Teletovic, Grantland's Zach Lowe stated earlier in the season that the Celtics were "trying like hell" to move Bass before the deadline.
But neither Bass nor Teletovic would be anywhere close to enough to propel the Kings into the postseason. And if that's just about the best you can acquire for a mid-lottery pick, then it's probably best to ride it out and see what you have in that young player.
Rather than trade for spare parts, the Kings should be aiming to get their pick back for the coming draft, a selection that the Chicago Bulls currently own. The draft choice is top-10 protected, though, and will only go to the Bulls this year if Sacramento finishes anywhere between 11 and 30. Right now the Kings are the 11th-worst team, record-wise, in the NBA.
Fortunately, Jones has indicated that the Kings aren't discussing anything major, but they nearly had a deal to send backup point guard Ramon Sessions to the Los Angeles Clippers: "While nothing the magnitude of last season’s trade for Rudy Gay is imminent, the Kings are exploring trades, with backup point guard Ramon Sessions the most likely candidate to be dealt."
Moves as minor as dealing Sessions aren't something the Kings should avoid. In fact, it would benefit them to try to trade some of their veteran bench guys to title contenders for expiring contracts and/or draft picks.
Extra cap space is always a plus. It would allow them to go after a big fish in free agency this coming summer, such as the Atlanta Hawks' Paul Millsap.
Millsap has become a solid-three point option (.346 this year) and an even better overall player over the past couple of years. If he is an All-Star again this year, the Kings would likely have to pay him more than the $9 million per year Atlanta has shelled out in the last two seasons. At 29, Millsap will be looking to cash out for the last time in his NBA career, and Sacramento will have the funds to make him a big offer.
The Kings only have around $57 million in committed salary for next season, which leaves them well short of the projected $85 million hard cap figure for next year, per Spotrac.com.
D'Alessandro has expressed that he has ownership's go-ahead to spend if it means making the team better. Last year he told Cowbell Kingdom, via Sportando.com, that he's "got the mandate from my owner to make it happen and that's tremendous to have an owner who's that committed."
Regardless of Ranadive's deep pockets, though, patience is going to be key in bringing the Kings all the way back from a 10-year stay in the NBA's cellar. Mortgaging away young players with bright futures for veteran pieces that hardly move the needle isn't an ideal way to build a competitive basketball team.
Unless Sacramento can net a wildly productive star or role player, it should stand pat at the deadline. Other than making some housecleaning moves that free up money for the summer, Sacramento should focus on working with what it has and getting its draft pick back where it needs to be.
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