A seemingly minor trade for Dario Saric ignited a cascade of detrimental moves, derailing the Sacramento Kings' season and scattering talent.
The Sacramento Kings have had a much different season than anticipated going into the year. After trading for two-time All-Star Zach Lavine and reuniting him with DeMar DeRozan in Sac Town, vibes were high heading into this season.
However, after injuries derailed Lavine, starting center Domantas Sabonis and sharpshooting wing Keegan Murray's seasons, the Kings quickly became a team looking ahead to the draft lottery.
The Kings' front office also made some seemingly minor moves that had a big impact on the Kings' depth and rotation, one that started with Dario Saric.
Sacramento swapped Saric for current Denver Nuggets backup big man Jonas Valanciunas, beginning a snowball of bad moves for the franchise.
Saric appeared in only five games this season, scoring exactly five points before being dealt to the Chicago Bulls at the deadline. Valunciunas on the other hand, has provided the Nuggets valuable minutes off the bench, averaging 8.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in just 13 minutes per game.
In free agency, the Kings signed veteran point guard Dennis Schroeder to a lucrative three-year deal worth nearly $45 million.
This also did not work out, as Russell Westbrook took over Schroeder's minutes and the Kings shipped him out to the Cleveland Cavaliers, his 11th team.
The bleeding didn't stop there as the Kings had to add additional incentive for a team to take on Schroeder's contract, bundling in Keon Ellis, a promising role player who has shined in Cleveland.
Since arriving in Cleveland, Ellis is playing seven minutes more per game, increasing all his scoring, rebounding and assist numbers while shooting nearly 10 percentage points higher than he did with the Kings.
Ellis has also taken on a large role defensively, averaging 1.4 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.
In return, Sacramento acquired former No. 4 overall pick Deandre Hunter. Hunter showed extreme regression this year, averaging only 14 points per game on career-worst 30.5-percent shooting from 3-point range.
After arriving in Sacramento, he played just two games before suffering a season-ending eye injury. Hunter has talent and has shown the ability to be a valuable player in the NBA, but the Kings' front court is deep and may be getting deeper.
Murray will return from injury next season along with a potential top-three draft prospect like BYU's AJ Dybantsa or Duke's Cameron Boozer.
The move for Hunter seemed like a last ditch effort for the Kings to cover their tracks from all of the poor moves they made this offseason.
ESPN contributor Zach Kram ranked this sequence of deals as the sixth worst move since the NBA offseason, with his solution being to trade Hunter for picks at the next deadline if he "finally fulfills his 3-and-D potential in a sustained way next season."
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