The Sacramento Kings are exploring what the trade market looks like for Domantas Sabonis. That is a real, meaningful development for a team that has spent the last two years quietly bottoming out.
Per NBC Sports Bay Area, the Kings and the Charlotte Hornets have held recent trade talks centered on the three-time All-Star. That is not a “check-in” call. That is a serious inquiry that has advanced far enough to become reported.
Sabonis has two years left on the four-year, $186 million extension he signed in 2023. He is coming off surgery in February to repair a torn meniscus, and by all accounts he is on track to be ready for the start of the 2026-27 season. The medical picture, for now, is a non-issue.
The trade rationale is different for each side. The Kings are pivoting. Their long-anticipated rebuild is officially here after two straight play-in seasons. Trading Sabonis for a package that includes future picks and a young player fits the direction Sacramento is heading. The De’Aaron Fox trade earlier this year already told you where this was going.
Charlotte is the more interesting side of the equation. The Hornets have been very quietly building a young core around LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Miles Bridges. Adding a proven, All-Star-caliber center who can rebound, pass, and create with his back to the basket would give that group an identity it has been missing.
The sticking point is going to be the contract. Sabonis is owed a lot of money over the next two years, and any team taking him on has to be comfortable with that number aging alongside its own timeline. Charlotte would need to be sure that a Sabonis-LaMelo pick-and-roll is not just an interesting July talking point but an actual playoff-caliber offense.
Per Marc Stein, it is “not seen as a certainty” that the Kings will actually pull the trigger. That is the honest read. The Kings have real leverage, and Sabonis has real trade value even coming off meniscus surgery. Sacramento is not going to give him away.
Other teams reportedly in the mix, or on the periphery, include the Toronto Raptors, the Phoenix Suns, the Chicago Bulls, and the Washington Wizards. That is a very wide-ranging group. The market is real, even if the eventual deal ends up being with a team not currently on the reporting radar.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said this week that there is “a lot of interest in Sabonis and there’s a possibility that the Sacramento Kings may look to see what his trade market might be as they look to pivot their franchise.” Translation: the Kings are going to listen, and it is going to take a big number to make them move him. But they will listen.
My best guess is that Sabonis eventually gets moved this summer, but not to Charlotte. Toronto has the assets and the desperation to overpay. Keep an eye on Masai Ujiri’s next call.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
