A blockbuster deal involving RJ Barrett nearly sent the All-Star big man to Toronto, but salary cap hurdles stalled a trade that would have reshaped Sacramento’s future.
Entering the offseason, the Sacramento Kings had some cap space issues to navigate, mostly surrounding veteran contracts.
Starting big man Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine were both floated as trade options, but will most likely remain on the team for at least the start of the 2026 NBA season.
But, on Wednesday, ESPN's Anthony Slater released an in-depth piece about Sacramento, which indicated that Sabonis was nearly dealt at the trade deadline last year.
"The Kings nearly traded Sabonis to the Toronto Raptors at the deadline in February -- a move he would've welcomed, a source with knowledge of the situation said -- for a package that included RJ Barrett, but the Raptors were unable to get off the three-year, $84 million remaining on Jakob Poeltl's contract, which doomed the deal," Slater wrote.
The Raptors have long been named as a team interested in Sabonis' services, but this shows the two teams were much closer to striking a deal than previously thought.
While a young talent like Barrett would have added perimeter scoring to the Kings, it would have been difficult to figure out allocating minutes between he, Keegan Murray, De'Andre Hunter, Malik Monk, and Nique Clifford.
Sabonis appeared in just 19 games last season before suffering a torn meniscus, setting off the unfortunate cycle of injuries for Sacramento.
In a small sample size, Sabonis posted a slight decrease in production, averaging his lowest points and rebounds per game since the 2019-2020 season.
But, the prospect of Sabonis in pick-and-roll and other actions alongside rookie point guard Darius Acuff Jr. is intriguing.
Acuff looked like a high-level playmaker in NBA Summer League, which should only benefit from having a player of Sabonis' offensive caliber on the receiving end of Acuff's passes.
In Las Vegas, most teams opted to blitz Acuff in ball screen actions, looking to get the ball out of his hands.
Having Sabonis in the short-roll against those coverages will be lethal considering his willingness as a passer and touch in the lane.
Acuff should also help Sabonis find better looks from the outside, as his 3-point shooting will be crucial to Sacramento's spacing on the offensive end.
After posting the most successful 3-point shooting season of his career two years ago, Sabonis made just 5-of-27 attempts from deep before getting injured.
Recent reports from Spotrac's Keith Smith indicate that the Kings' coaching staff wants to explore lineups with both Sabonis and Maxime Raynaud in the starting five, which means one of them will need to be able to step out beyond the arc.
In Raynaud's case, he showed growth as a 3-point shooter throughout his rookie campaign.
"Did you see him stepping out to shoot it more?" a Kings assistant coach asked Smith at Summer League. "We think that’ll be part of his game moving forward."
While this season will be full of experimentation, having multiple options in the front court gives head coach Doug Christie and the front office options of how to utilize Sabonis moving forward.
