Report: Kings making 3 notable players available for trade
Dec 7, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; A view of the Sacramento Kings logo and basketball before the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Kings at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The Beam Team appears to be open for business.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports reported on Friday that the Sacramento Kings are making three well-known players available for potential trade ahead of the Feb. 8 deadline — guards Kevin Huerter and Davion Mitchell and forward Harrison Barnes.
The 25-year-old Mitchell, a defense-first player but one without a consistent role, is not a surprising trade candidate. But Huerter and Barnes, two crucial starters on last year’s Pacific Division-winning team, are a bit more so (with Fischer noting that the Kings are calling opposing front offices to gauge the possibility of packaging them together).
This may be a strategic stance from Sacramento though. Barnes, 31, is somewhat expensive as he is making roughly $18 million a year through 2026. Meanwhile, Huerter, 25, has regressed badly after his career year last season. Huerter is averaging just 9.9 points per game on a career-worst 33.9 percent from three and was recently demoted from the starting five in favor of fellow guard Chris Duarte.
The Kings are still doing well for themselves overall at 20-13 this season. But they may need to shake things up a tad around the core 20-something trio of De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, and Keegan Murray. If the Kings can use one of their trade chips to land a major trade target like this guy, they would probably gladly sacrifice some continuity in order to do so.
