Sacramento Kings Receive: F Kent Bazemore, LAL 2025 2nd Round Pick
Los Angeles Lakers Receive: C Damian Jones
Damian Jones is now in his 6th season in the NBA and while he has never really been featured big man in this league, he has shown flashes of his full potential over the years. After signing him to two 10-day contracts during the 2020-21 season, Jones signed a multi-year deal with the Sacramento Kings.
Since joining the Kings, Jones has averaged 5.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.8 blocks and has averaged about 15.3 minutes per game. Again, he is not a high-level frontcourt talent, but Damian Jones is familiar with the Los Angeles Lakers system and most important, he is affordable.
Making just under $2M this season and set to become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the season, the Lakers could easily acquire Damian Jones for a draft pick and a veteran like Kent Bazemore.
Plus, they may not even need to include a player since they have a $2.6M TPE to utilize, a trade exception that Jones’ contract would fit into.
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For the Kings, they are in an awkward position as a franchise because they want to end their 15-year playoff drought, but they are still nowhere close to being a real threat in the Western Conference.
Maybe trading for some veteran talents can get them to the play-in tournament, but this is not a playoff team and quite frankly, they should be looking to add future value wherever they can.
With all the talent in their frontcourt and his minimal role, losing Jones would not hurt Sacramento in any way and why not move him for someone like Kent Bazemore who could be utilized on the wing next to Buddy Hield and Harrison Barnes?
Damian Jones has not played very much with the Kings, but with all of the players in health and safety protocols for them, Jones has stepped into a bigger role. He has seen 19 and 21 minutes, respectively, in his last two games and recently against the Spurs, Jones put his talents on notice with a 23 point, 8 rebound performance.
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The Lakers should not be expecting to get this kind of production should they trade for the Sacramento Kings’ young center, but he certainly has the potential to put together strong performances here and there, which is more than can be said about Jordan and Howard on the Lakers’ roster right now.
