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Three-time NBA All-Star center Domantas Sabonis reportedly wants to leave the Sacramento Kings, with ESPN's Tim MacMahon describing the situation between the big man and the franchise as increasingly difficult. "Quite frankly, Sabonis wants out of there, and if they can move him, they would," MacMahon said on The Hoop Collective. "So he's not happy. It's a bad situation."
According to Windhorst, any trade would still have to "make sense" for Sacramento. The Lithuanian center changed representation during the offseason and hired Aaron Mintz of CAA. That move previously fueled speculation about his future. Sabonis currently has two guaranteed seasons remaining on his contract, worth approximately $94 million combined.
NBACentral: Domantas Sabonis is not enthused about playing with a ball-dominant guard like Darius Acuff, per @SeanDeveney (h/t @AhnFireDigital). Brenden Nunes: A team source told me this “could not be farther from the truth.” Acuff and Sabonis have been in great communication.
NBA Trade Machine: 6.7% of trades built on HoopsMatic over the past 24 hours involved Domantas Sabonis. Of his trades, the most common landing spots were Denver (8.8%), Charlotte (7.8%), and Dallas (6.9%), while the most common return players were Luka Doncic (6.9%), Dennis Schroeder (5.9%), and Cade Cunningham (5.9%).
Sam Amick: "When the Kings and Domantas Sabonis's camp pitched him to Detroit potentially as part of the Jalen Duren situation, I thought that was very revealing and this happened over the summer if anybody missed it. Duren was trying to get a deal done with the Pistons and so it was going to be a potential sign-and-trade. I thought it was fascinating and revealing that a team like the Pistons, where I think Sabonis would fit pretty well, just absolutely showed no interest."
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NBA Trade Machine: 7.8% of trades built on HoopsMatic over the past 24 hours involved Domantas Sabonis. Of his trades, the most common landing spots were Indiana (11.3%), Utah (6.5%), and Houston (4.8%), while the most common return players were Tyrese Haliburton (11.3%), Dyson Daniels (4.8%), and Jaren Jackson Jr (4.8%).
Sean Cunningham: Ben Simmons will make his debut with Kings tonight in San Francisco. Sacramento will be without Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk & Dylan Cardwell
The offseason also brought constant trade talk. He ignored the rumors, relying on direct communication with his team and management to stay grounded. Domantas Sabonis: “I can’t control any of it. The injury helped. I was just focused on getting healthy. A lot of things are being said out there, but I have a great relationship with Scott [Perry]. I have great agents. I know everything that’s going on. And I’m excited I’m here,” he said. “Easy. It’s all made up,” he added, replying to a question about dealing with distractions. “It’s all out there. I don’t know where you guys get most of it from. I’m there with Scott, with my agent, so I’m not on social media as much.”
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Per league sources, the Sacramento Kings and Milwaukee Bucks are known to be among the teams with serious interest in Duren. Both teams have veteran big men with strong resumes who could potentially fill the hole left by Duren in a deal (the Kings’ Domantas Sabonis and the Bucks’ Myles Turner), but the Pistons have refused to engage in talks on that front for months now. Per league sources, Duren believes he could land a maximum-salary deal next summer and eventually make up the money lost next season over the course of the next five years.
Sam Quinn: "If the Kings and the Pistons are going to make a trade, Domantas Sabonis would presumably be going back to Detroit. Domantas Sabonis is making the max. You can't just match that with $29.5 million from Jalen Duren. You'd have to presumably put in Duncan Robinson because he's the only salary in that range that closes that gap. And even then, I believe that's not quite enough. You maybe would have to put in a Gary Harris or Taurean Prince.”
However, according to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Kings and other teams in the league have a different view of Sabonis' trade value, which might be why the Lithuanian center hasn't been moved yet. "The Kings have been maintaining that they view that Domantas Sabonis has positive trade value, that they would need a draft pick to come back in a deal, which I just don't think is plausible right now," he said. "For my conversations with rival executives around the league, many do not think that Domantas Sabonis has positive trade value, that they would need to be compensated in order to take on the remainder of his contract, because in this NBA, you have to evaluate a player on what his extension could look like."
Matt George: Sabonis will either play his way into better value (by reminding us all how good he is), or the Kings will keep him. Perry has been very unwilling to attach draft picks to move off assets. That very likely wont change.
