Kings team president Monte McNair is confident that new addition Domantas Sabonis will fit well alongside pricey star point guard De’Aaron Fox, per Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee (via Twitter).
“We think [Sabonis’] skillset complements De’Aaron,” McNair said. “De’Aaron’s skillset complements him. And Domas’ skillset complements just about everybody.”
McNair discussed his decision to move promising young guard Tyrese Haliburton to the Pacers in a package for Sabonis, writes Anderson in a separate story.
“This was a unique opportunity to acquire a two-time All-Star and two veteran wings [in Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb], all [of] whom will help us, as we continue to build here in Sacramento,” McNair said.
Sacramento, which has not made an NBA postseason since 2006, is hoping that its new-look roster can at least lead it to the play-in tournament. The team’s current 22-36 record positions it just 1.5 games behind the current No. 10 seed, the Trail Blazers, with plenty of time to catch up.
There’s more out of Sacramento:
- Domantas Sabonis is enjoying his tenure with the Kings thus far, writes Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. In two contests with his new club, both wins, the 6’11” power forward/center is averaging 19.0 PPG, 12.5 RPG, and 6.0 APG. “Since the second I made it to the NBA, I figured out the hard way it’s a business,” the two-time All-Star said after his first game. “I got traded on draft night, and then a year later, I got traded again. I’m just trying to find a home where I’m loved … and I feel like I found it here. I love it here.”
- Not everyone is excited about the Kings’ decision to move on from an exciting young prospect like Tyrese Haliburton. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic tries to make sense of the Kings’ choice to trade the 6’5″ guard, who had been Sacramento’s top performer this year, to Indiana. Vecenie pegs the 21-year-old Haliburton as a future All-Star, one capable of doing well with or without the ball in his hands. Vecenie acknowledges that the pairing of Sabonis and Fox could help the team in theory, though Fox has regressed so far this season and Sabonis could reach free agency in 2024. As a second-year NBA player, Haliburton could have been under team control for significantly longer.
- New Kings shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo is relishing his opportunity in Sacramento, writes Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. The Kings initially tried to land DiVincenzo in the scuttled sign-and-trade deal for Bogdan Bogdanovic at the start of the 2020/21 season, then finally got their man as part of a four-team deadline day trade. “It was meant to be,” DiVincenzo said. “That mutual respect and wanting to be here and them wanting me here, it’s a super good feeling and it makes you want to go out and play as hard as you can for not only the team, but also the organization.” Though DiVincenzo has had a down year after returning from a June left ankle surgery, the Kings are hopeful that he can return to being the solid two-way contributor he was with for Bucks during much of the 2020/21 season. “I think he’s a very versatile defender,” Kings interim head coach Alvin Gentry said. “We can play him on ones, twos, threes. I think he does a good job of getting into the ball. I think he understands rotations and things like that. “
Worthy risk for SAC & Mcnair. Many GMs made no risks, so worried about their own past decisions that they are frozen with them. But listen to the players— they are happy with new chances.
Mathew Staffod’s wife agrees… no point in another try with the Lions.
Kings are playing with new life. Ball movement has been great and the overall team energy / vibe is much better. 2-0 since the trade! Excited to see what we can do in the off-season.
2-0 since the trade after playing T wolves who must have been betting Kings the way they thr threw the game away in the 4th and then barely beat the absolutely gutted Wizards. Sabonis unlocks Fox’s game a lot but that doesn’t make this team a contender and trading away the future to do this is still a bone head move imo. Best case scenario in the next 3 years; Kings sniff a 9 seed once
Agreed. Until this week, McNair seemed on auto-GM, destined to never make a deal involving anything more significant than a 2nd round pick. Now, by today’s standards, he’s a deal maker, right there with his namesake.
I bet Mcnair got mad about how often he was blocked by SAC ownership (or Laker leadership lol regarding the Hield trade), that he jumped a bit here. But if Mitchell works out, he should come out ahead.
Sabonis is just what they need. A true star who wants to ball out in Sacramento. I love Haliburton upside. But Sabonis is a star now. Who can still get better. I think it’s great for both teams. Considering how long Sac has been down. This is huge for them imo.
Sabonis is fun to watch. It’s hard to find too many all stars that like to move the ball.
While, Hali will truly be missed. We are so far 2 – 0 w/ the new players. Question is, Can we lock them long term or are we going to trade them because they ask for more money ??
The New Core to build upon :
——————————————-
6-8 SF Barnes
6-11 C Sabonis
6-3 PG Fox
6-0 PG Mitchell
Still think they Should Start :
——————————————-
6-10 PF Holmes
6-8 SF Barnes
6-11 C Sabonis
6-6 SG Holiday
6-3 PG Fox
=====================
Fox ain’t pricey, he gets the right amount that he has earned!
BTW now without Haliburton is back to playing at his stellar level & having a partner like Sabonis, life looking very bright in SAC!
A lot of relish in the post. Needs more mustard.
Haliburton today had 16 ast in a loss. There were some skeptics here who questioned him being an elite PG. Well just give him time. He’s a 2way player who can lead the league in ast. Only 21 yrs old.
Been a Kings fan long enough to know that if things are looking up in Sacramento, you’re sitting upside down
Haliburton was a very heavy price to pay, but the pairing of Fox and Sabonis should work out very well for the Kings. With very solid complimentary pieces like DeVincenzo, Barnes, Holmes, Davis, Lamb, and Lyles, and the up and coming Mitchell the Kings should be a very competitive team the rest of this season and moving forward.
Now, I’m not sure exactly how far they can go, and if they’re a playoff team, but they now have a very complete and solid foundation from which to build upon.
I LOVE Haliburton and he’s absolutely going to be a star. but the Kings dealt from the one position of strength they had, pg. Fox is still very good and playing with Sabonis seems to male him better. Davion is a solid backup pg as well. but the biggest thing about this trade is the Kings finally got rid of Buddy Hield who also just went 1-13 from 3 last night and refuses to play any form of decent defense. this trade may have made the Kings better through subtraction more than the additions did.