The Kings are among the teams that have expressed “exploratory” trade interest in Hawks point guard Jeremy Lin, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link).
As Stein notes (via Twitter), Lin is one of a handful of Atlanta veterans expected to be available leading up to the February 7 trade deadline. The club figures to be seeking draft picks in return for Lin and Dewayne Dedmon, who are on expiring contracts, as well as Kent Bazemore, who still has one more year left on his deal after this season.
De’Aaron Fox has enjoyed a breakout season for the surprising Kings in 2018/19, but the club could use a veteran ball-handler and play-maker like Lin to stabilize its backcourt behind Fox. Yogi Ferrell and Frank Mason have handled backup point guard duties so far this season in Sacramento, while Lin has enjoyed a bounce-back year after two-injury plagued seasons in Brooklyn, averaging 10.8 PPG and 3.6 APG in a part-time role (19.5 MPG) for the Hawks.
The Kings figure to be linked to a number of trade candidates in the coming weeks, since they reportedly want to be buyers and they have the most in-season financial flexibility of any NBA team. With $11MM in cap room and a handful of expiring veteran contracts – such as Zach Randolph‘s and Kosta Koufos‘ – Sacramento could easily accommodate just about any salary. That includes Lin’s $13.77MM expiring deal.
The Sixers, Pelicans, and Trail Blazers are said to be among the other teams that have inquired on Lin.
Randolph, Mason, 2nd rd pick for Lin
WTH ?? A PG, we don’t need another PG !! What is Divac even thinking. We need a true SF, like maybe Porter !!
Makes no sense.
Kings should look to grow their cap space in these type of deals. It shouldn’t matter much from the other team’s perspective.
playoffs would be nice but let’s build another year before we make a legit run
Give up some 1st round picks