Report reveals Kings' interest in Ja Morant is lukewarm at best, dashing trade hopes with a focus on rebuilding rather than acquiring the controversial star.
The Sacramento Kings' inclusion into the newly-festering Ja Morant-Memphis Grizzlies trade saga might make sense to some, but opinions have differed greatly depending on who's asked.
Since the first reports from ESPN's Shams Charania were released on Friday afternoon revealed that the 2-time All-Star guard could split from the only NBA franchise he's known, the Kings were immediately thrown into the conversation as a potential landing spot for the 26-year-old floor general.
This designation as a possible suitor was put forth despite their likely intention to sell away plenty of their more meaningful stars and difference-makers to bring in valuable draft assets and promising prospects.
Things were cleared up a bit more on that end by The Athletic's John Hollinger on Saturday afternoon after he released some new information on the Kings' true feelings towards the Morant sweepstakes, and whether or not their interest in the controversial guard is real.
"A quick canvas around the league indicated that some other potential trade partners also don’t quite add up as Morant destinations," Hollinger wrote.
"Sacramento’s interest is lukewarm at best, according to a well-placed league source, with the Kings likely looking at a much deeper and longer rebuild than just throwing assets at a Morant deal."
"They seemingly only get mentioned here because of the 'Vivek Ranadivé is crazy enough to do this' factor."
You can never truly put anything past Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé, but trading for Morant would be an extreme choice even for him.
Morant is in the midst of the worst season of his 7-year NBA career with Memphis, as his scoring average sits at 19.0 points on a horrific 42.9% effective field goal percentage, paired with 7.6 assists and 3.6 turnovers.
The 2022 Most Improved Player award winner's athleticism and willingness to attack the rim as often as he had in previous years has appeared to drop significantly, a worrisome development for the Grizzlies and any of Morant's possible suitors.
His natural and proven ability will surely lead to many franchises calling in to inquire about him, but the Kings being one of those organizations admittedly does not make a ton of sense from a team-building perspective.
Sacramento's goal should be to haul in as many high-quality draft assets as possible heading into the 2026 offseason and beyond, not to be the team to actively give up those same picks in an effort to land a star that hasn't proven much over the past few years.
With that being said, the Kings hypothetically being 'out' on Morant would be completely justified.
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