NBA Trades: The Heat swap former All-Stars in potential Kings trade.
Winners of three straight, things in Sacramento appear to be turning around. Despite this, the team cannot truly believe that the issues that plagued them throughout the season, a combination of ill-fitting parts and a lack of depth, are suddenly solved by a brief winning streak.
The Kings defeated a Dallas Mavericks team without both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving and a Sixers team without Joel Embiid—Sacramento needed an all-time collapse from Philadelphia to walk away with the win—and most recently, a victory against the Memphis Grizzlies, who remain without Ja Morant, Marcus Smart, Santi Aldama, Vince Williams Jr., and GG Jackson. Far from the most significant of competition.
There is still work to be done to elevate the Kings into a true playoff-caliber squad, and swapping DeMar DeRozan for Jimmy Butler would be a great first step. While the players share some similarities, Butler's defensive ability and playoff pedigree far exceed that of DeRozan.
Sacramento needs the presence of someone who not only has been in the moment before but is capable of elevating their play when the moment arrives. Perhaps no one in the league is better suited for that task than Jimmy Butler.
As for Miami, they can escape their current situation with Butler and receive a lesser but still talented and cheaper player in DeRozan, as well as two sorely needed shooters who can play off Adebayo and DeRozan. Miami's financial flexibility would vastly increase, breaking Butler's salary into chunks and acquiring a first-round pick, the first Sacramento can legally trade, which is the perfect sweetener to the deal.