Sacramento Kings: Ranking the trade deadline deals

Trade No. 3

The third and least impacting trade by the Sacramento Kings was with the Portland Trail Blazers and included a swap of two young big men.

On the surface, this may be perceived as a wash. Neither of these young forwards have been able to capitalize on their limited minutes this season.

Out of high school, Skal Labissiere was projected to be drafted near the top of the 2016 NBA Draft. Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report predicted in his “2016 Mock Draft: A Very Early Look at Next Year’s First Round” that the Haitian big man would be drafted second overall, just after Ben Simmons and before Brandon Ingram.

In actuality, he was taken 28th in the first round due to a lackluster season at the University of Kentucky. He averaged nearly nine points and five rebounds per game in his first two seasons and he was a low-risk, high-reward player with loads of upside.

His minutes have taken a nosedive this season, leading his numbers to do the same. He has been racking up DNPs and it was clear that his time in Sacramento was dwindling.

Caleb Swanigan was another low-risk, high-reward prospect when the Trail Blazers rolled the dice on him with the 26th overall pick in 2017. His numbers have been very underwhelming, which is also due to his lack of opportunity. His final year at Purdue showed what he is capable of, as he scored 18.5 points and pulled down 12.5 rebounds per game.

In theory, he should be a dominant post scorer and rebounder, which the Kings could really use now. However, he hasn’t yet been able to unlock his full potential. Perhaps he could improve in a new system.