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The time has finally arrived for the Sacramento Kings.
It says December 16th on the calendar, which means 82 players who signed over the summer became eligible for trade on Monday, the 15th.
Another note to keep in mind is that Dec. 16 is the deadline for a player to be traded and have their salary aggregated in another trade by Feb. 5, which could lead to more movement within the next 48 hours for teams that may want to see how something fits or looks, but have time to move off of it.
So what does that mean for the Sacramento Kings?
We have been told this thing will take time and that they will be “patient and prudent”, but what exactly does that mean?
Here’s a look at what I’ve been hearing in regards to the “other” Sacramento Kings players, who haven’t been talked about ad nauseam like the usual suspects since this Frankenstein roster was created.
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Could the Sacramento Kings be buyers?
Similar to saying “Voldemort” in Harry Potter or “Beetlejuice”, Scott Perry has been very careful to stay away from the word “rebuild”. Maybe it’s just semantics, but there are those around the league who aren’t convinced the Kings won’t fall back into their old ways and look at one of the numerous distressed stars across the league if the price tag drops low enough.
To be fair, you can’t achieve everything through the draft, and if you can get someone like LaMelo Ball without giving up too much draft capital, it feels like that approach would be viewed as acceptable.
Dennis Schröder
Who better to begin with than the player who has become the most overused example of the fact that trades can and do happen on December 15, because that’s when he was traded last season, then traded again.
Maybe that’s why Scott Perry felt comfortable giving Schröder a 3-year contract at $15 million a year (only two years guaranteed), because he believed it would be an easy contract to move when that time came.
His injury raised some “The Rock” eyebrows when he was listed as questionable for nearly a month, dropped to doubtful for a couple of games, before returning to action against Minnesota, dropping 17 points and looking very spry. Maybe he thought it might be a tryout for a potential team in the Timberwolves, who desperately need a point guard.
His market is simple: who needs a stopgap point guard at a reasonable price? He will probably come up once teams decide they don’t want to spend the big bucks, whether that be actual cash or draft capital.
Malik Monk
It seemed appropriate to place Malik Monk after Schröder because it’s possible he is about to start a similar path. The market for Malik Monk is starting to heat up, even with the three years on his contract, because there’s always a team looking for a high-energy 6th man scorer. Though some players on the Sacramento Kings are ready to pack their bags, Monk has said from day one he wanted to be in Sacramento, and he’s technically the only vet who “chose” Sacramento.
Teams like the Raptors, who have had interest in Monk for years, may look to rekindle that interest as their bench seems in need of a scoring punch, but he could also be one of the vets who gets to play through the larger-scale changes as a fan-favorite.
Keegan Murray
This one is the most fascinating.
Jake Fischer reported that Keegan was essentially untouchable, whereas Carmichael Dave wanted to make the distinction that no one is untouchable. Now, why would he do that *Windhorst fingers*?
Based on when Keegan signed his extension, he can’t be involved in a trade until the season ends. But beyond that, this is a very similar situation the Pelicans find themselves in with Trey Murphy III. Murphy has shown more offensively and is on a better contract, so the Pelicans can ask for much more, but the idea is the same.
You are about to start a rebuild, and there is a 25-year-old that you like, but probably won’t be your franchise-changing number one, so what do you do?
The Sacramento Kings have a couple of paths they could take, but a lot of it depends on how this season goes for Murray. If his value rises, they could look to cash in this offseason and completely restart their timeline, or they could keep him and continue to let his stock rise; maybe he becomes “the guy”, or you cash in for a bigger pot of gold at the end of the rainbow next season.
There are multiple ways to move forward, but one thing is sure: the Kings have to start building and start building fast. Regardless of whether they want to use the word “rebuild” or not, that’s what this thing is going to be, and it comes with its own challenges.
Only time will tell if they can figure this thing out, but it feels like the first steps are around the corner.
Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule for the 2025-26 season
- Thursday, December 18th – @ Portland Trail Blazers – 7:00 PM PT
- Saturday, December 20th – vs. Portland Trail Blazers – 7:00 PM PT
- Sunday, December 21st – vs. Houston Rockets – 7:00 PM PT
- Tuesday, December 23rd vs. Detroit Pistons – 7:00 PM PT
- Saturday, December 27th – vs. Dallas Mavericks – 2:00 PM PT
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