The Sacramento Kings went all-in on a win-now mentality, but it seems to have blown up in their faces. They’re 8-27, and second-to-last in the Western Conference.
However, if they aren’t ready to wave the white flag, there’s a move they can make to try to make a turnaround. Fansided’s Christopher Kline believes that move would be trading for four-time All-Star point guard Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks.
“The Sacramento Kings are once again underperforming relative to the naive expectations of ownership and their front office. The De’Aaron Fox trade left the Kings without a legitimate point guard, while the Domantas Sabonis injury left an already-flawed roster without its primary engine…Young gives Sacramento a guiding light of a kind, and if any team is foolish enough to keep full-steam ahead on the path to mediocrity, it’s the Kings. The defensive concerns would be vast, but Young and LaVine is a tantalizing offensive duo, and once Sabonis returns, the Kings would have the ability to run some fun stuff. It’s worth keeping an eye on, whether it’s the “right” move or not” Cassels wrote.
So far this season, Young is averaging 19.3 points, 8.9 assists, 1.5 assists, and one steal in 28 minutes per game. However, due to injury, he’s only played in 10 games this season.
Usually, when fully healthy, Young has career averages of 25.2 points, 9.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and one steal per game. This year’s also an outlier, as he’s never played fewer than 54 games in the seven seasons he’s played before this one.
If Young can get healthy, a Big Three centered around him, Zach LaVine, and Domantas Sabonis could be scary. Hopefully, Sacramento gets on the phone with Atlanta and starts some type of negotiations.
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