Does this trade make sense for the Sacramento Kings?
From the Sacramento Kings’ perspective, trading Buddy Hield right now while he has a lot of value tied to his name makes the most sense. Hield is never going to be more than a three-point shooting threat in this league and while he is a scoring weapon the Kings utilize now, he is not the difference in them ending their playoff drought.
Maybe the Kings can sneak into the play-in tournament this season with Fox and Haliburton leading the way, but this organization really needs to have their attention on how they can better themselves to become a playoff team over the next year or two.
Obviously, free agency and player development hold big influences in this department, but the Kings have no cap space because of contracts they are tied down to and they really have no young talents in development.
By taking on Ricky Rubio’s contract in favor of Hield’s the Kings save themselves a total of $43.7M and they would be adding a 25-year-old three-point shooting forward in Dylan Windler and a 20-year-old versatile, defensive-minded wing in Isaac Okoro.
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Both Windler and Okoro offer a lot of upside moving forward, especially if they can remain healthy, which is why this is actually a trade that can work out in favor of the Sacramento Kings ahead of the trade deadline. Kings fans may be angry at a deal like this at first, but there is a lot more future potential that they can add to their roster in this deal rather than holding onto Hield.