Sacramento reportedly pulled the plug on a Zach LaVine trade with this team
The Sacramento Kings previously got linked to the Atlanta Hawks amid Trae Young trade chatter.
Sacramento helped squash that rumor. But the Hawks surfaced again for another reason.
NBA insider Jake L. Fischer of The Stein Line revealed Wednesday that the Zach LaVine tried to orchestrate a Hawks trade.
The twist is, LaVine's team tried to get the veteran over to Atlanta. Fischer revealed how that got shut down.
"League sources say that LaVine's Klutch Sports representatives tried during the offseason to build some support for a trade construction that would send their client to Atlanta for Young, but the Kings squashed the idea," Fischer wrote.
Sacramento reportedly botched a trade attempt for Young back in November, per The Stein Line. Except LaVine became the one to lobby for Young's arrival to the Kings.
However, "those conversations never advanced" as Stein put it.
Furthermore, general manager Scott Perry of Sacramento "blew up" the idea that would've landed the perennial All-Star to the state capitol of California.
Young wasn't the only one Perry opted to pass on. Names like LaMelo Ball and Ja Morant surfaced as two more trade ideas that blew up in the end. Stein revealed that the new Kings GM prefers guards who aren't limited on the defensive side of the court.
Hence why he's held on to Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schroeder for so long. The former especially as Westbrook is lauded across the league for his defense especially on the rebounding side.
Still, the Kings remain on watch with the trade deadline looming another month from now.
Sacramento played in front of a nationally-televised audience on Tuesday night against the Dallas Mavericks. It marked the first time the Kings played in front of the NBC cameras since the early 2000s -- when Doug Christie played for the franchise alongside names like Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, Mike Bibby and Peja Stojakovic.
The Kings, however, botched a 12-point lead late and fell 100-98 against the Mavs. Rookie Cooper Flagg dropped 20 points on the franchise including finishing one layup with his non-dominant hand his left. Sacramento also looked confuse and disorganized with trying to figure out who should take the final shot.
Russell Westbrook missed from behind the arc along with the reserve Schroeder. Then DeRozan misfired on a running three-point attempt for the game's final shot attempt.