The Sacramento Kings are moving in a new direction. They traded their All-Star point guard to the San Antonio Spurs in the middle of last season. Now they are entering the 2025-26 NBA season with some holes to fill and, more importantly, a new identity to create. The Kings trade rumors are officially starting to pick up.
During the many Durant trade rumors, it was reported that teams pursuing KD may pivot to other talented players in the trade market if they are unable to land Phoenix’s superstar.
Two of the players mentioned in these reports were Malik Monk and DeMar DeRozan. Both Monk and DeRozan are currently on the Kings roster, but could be moved soon.
It’s unclear what the Kings want to do moving forward. Instead of getting a package of young players and picks for De’Aaron Fox, they opted to trade for Zach LaVine. Now people are wondering if the Kings will continue to make win-now moves, building around LaVine and Domantas Sabonis.
If the Kings want to continue to fight for a playoff spot in the West, keeping Monk and DeRozan is probably their best move. That being said, if the Kings can get some draft assets or young players with potential while Monk and DeRozan have some value, they need to make those trades.
It might not be what Kings fans want to hear, but Sabonis, DeRozan, Monk, and LaVine aren’t good enough to lead a team on a deep playoff run. Especially in the Western Conference.
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The Kings should take calls for everyone on their roster, not just DeRozan and Monk. They are in desperate need of a big change, and maybe trading one of their scoring vets would kickstart a rebuild.
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