Why the Domantas Sabonis trade was good for the Sacramento Kings
Simply put, Domantas Sabonis is the best player included in the six-player swap. Tyrese Haliburton is a stud sophomore and Buddy Hield is a sharpshooting role player, but neither come close to Sabonis’ skillset at this moment.
The versatile forward is coming off of back-to-back All-Star appearances and averaged 20.3 points to go along with 12.0 rebounds in 2020-21. Including five this year, he’s put up 18 triple-double since the start of 2019-20.
He can space the floor, create in the post, and clean the glass, all at a very high level. Able to play the four or five, he’ll give the Sacramento Kings their first great big man since DeMarcus Cousins.
But that’s not all they got. An underrated aspect of the deal was their acquisition of Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb. Both are proven 3&D veterans who can work together to fill the void left by Haliburton’s defense and Hield’s long-range dominance.
So, if all the Kings wanted to do was make a run at ending the league’s longest postseason drought, I like the move. They’re currently the 13th seed in the West but are just a few games back of the 10th seed, which would land them in the play-in tournament.
Sabonis makes them better now. In the long run? We’ll see.