Kings Rumors: Holmes, Haliburton, Fox, Randle

Examining the Kings‘ options at the trade deadline, James Ham of The Kings Beat confirms previous reporting from Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic, writing that Sacramento no longer has interest in taking on Tobias Harris‘ contract in any Ben Simmons deal and that De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton are off the table in trade discussions involving Domantas Sabonis.

While Fox and Haliburton are presumed to be off-limits, the Kings would be open to discussing virtually any other player on their roster, according to Ham. That includes center Richaun Holmes, who was just re-signed to a four-year contract during the 2021 offseason. Holmes, Harrison Barnes, and Buddy Hield would be among Sacramento’s prime trade candidates in any move for an impact player.

A league source tells Ham that the Kings – who are “working overtime” to seek out viable deals – won’t be eager to sacrifice future draft assets, but would be open to trading picks for quality players who are under contract for multiple years and who complement Fox and Haliburton.

Here’s more out of Sacramento:

  • Tyrese Haliburton has exited the NBA’s health and safety protocols, as reported by… well, Haliburton himself (Twitter link). Sacramento no longer has any players in the protocols.
  • De’Aaron Fox, who spoke to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports last week about his reaction to being included in trade rumors, discussed the subject again during a media session on Wednesday night, downplaying his concerns. Am I worried about anything? No,” Fox said (video link via Ham). “Do I know stuff can happen? Yeah. But I’m not worried at all, no.”
  • Asked in a video mailbag for SNY.tv about the possibility of the Knicks acquiring Fox, Ian Begley says some people in the Kings’ front office were interested in Julius Randle even before his breakout season in 2020/21. However, Begley is skeptical that there’s a major deal to be made between the two teams.
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