Does this trade make sense for the Sacramento Kings?
At the beginning of the season, the Sacramento Kings announced that they were not extending Marvin Bagley III and that he was going to be out of the rotation. This did not sit well with the young forward, nor his agent, which is why a trade seems very realistic at this time.
Bagley does not want to be in Sacramento any longer than he has to be and you can see this through his body language during games. He looks like he does not care, which could be a slight concern for teams interested in trading for him, but ultimately, he just does not want to be in Sacramento and who can blame him given their streak of losing!
By moving the former second overall pick to Portland, the Kings would be gaining a key veteran in Robert Covington who can bring a new dynamic to this team at the power-forward position.
He is shooting 37% from deep on the year, which is better than all but one player on the Kings’ roster (min. 50 attempts), and Covington has always been known to be a great defender.
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: 3 Trade Targets For Portland Trail Blazers — Pass Or Pursue?
Sacramento needs to step things up defensively if they are to make the playoffs and getting a frontcourt player who can stretch the floor definitely does not hurt them on the offensive-end of the floor.
What could wind up hurting them though is leveraging their first-round draft pick this year. Per the terms of the protection in this trade, the Kings would likely retain this pick since it is Lottery-Protected this year and in doing so, they would be giving up their 2022 second-round pick in exchange for Portland’s second-round picks in 2024 and 2025.
The second part of that sentence is favorable for the Kings, but by leveraging their first-round pick this year with Lottery-Protections on it, they are basically banking on the fact that they will miss the playoffs. This is safe to assume right now, but the Kings would be acquiring Covington with the mindset of possibly sneaking into the play-in tournament.
This would wind up making the trade a “hypocritical deal” for the Sacramento Kings and one where they are “damned if they do, damned if they do not” in regards to making the playoffs. Maybe this organization would be fine losing a first-round pick this year if they were to make the playoffs with Robert Covington, but ultimately, this team is still rebuilding.
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: 3 Trade Targets For Portland Trail Blazers — Pass Or Pursue?
Trading Marvin Bagley III is something that we will most likely see before February 10 this year, but it may not be in this scenario with the Blazers. If this trade did not include the Kings’ 2022 1st Round Pick and instead included their second-round pick for the same compensation, Sacramento would be willing to make this trade.
