Does this trade make sense for Sacramento Kings?

Not only does this trade give the Sacramento Kings more depth for the 2021-22 season, but there are some very positive cap implications to trading Buddy Hield in this deal with the Grizzlies.

While Sacramento would be taking back an extra $1.4M in this trade, both Anderson and Jones are in the final years of their contracts, meaning that the Kings would have an extra $17.5M in cap space heading into the next offseason. 

This extra cap space could be critical to them being able to pay De’Aaron Fox’s increasing salary and for them to possibly re-sign Marvin Bagley III and bring in other key talents. The Kings are in a position right now where they are not close to being a threat, which is why they need cap space. 

Both draft picks and cap space is the two most important things to any team going through a rebuild, and since the Kings have been rebuilding for 15 years, they really need to have available funds to pay key talents they want to add to their roster.

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Who knows, maybe this trade then leads to another deal for Sacramento near midseason for them to move Anderson for more future assets. 

At this point, the relationship between the Kings and Buddy Hield is very shaky, and if they keep him on their roster, it could turn into a toxic situation since he knows they do not want to keep him long-term.

Moving the sharpshooter on the wing now makes the most sense for the Kings, and this trade with the Grizzlies gives them salary relief, young talent in Culver, and a future first-round pick, which is all they can ask for in a deal involving Buddy Hield.