Well, Domantas Sabonis has finally been traded. The Lithuanian big had been on the market for months as the Indiana Pacers officially pushed the rebuild button. And as fake-trade Twitter would tell you, Sabo was a candidate for just about every team.
My favorite rumors were those that included the two-time All-Star being linked to contenders like the Warriors, Bulls, Suns, and Mavericks—and it was fun to picture how he could raise their ceilings. Were those ever realistic scenarios? Who knows? Maybe some calls were made. However, the fact of the matter is that none of that materialized.
Instead, this happened:
Indiana and Sacramento have pulled off a blockbuster trade ahead of Thursday's deadline, confirmed by @davidaldridgedc:
Kings receive:
◻️Domantas Sabonis
◻️Jeremy Lamb
◻️Justin Holiday
◻️2027 second-round pickPacers receive:
◻️Tyrese Hailburton
◻️Buddy Hield
◻️Tristan Thompson pic.twitter.com/7D5fdkr0dY— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 8, 2022
In theory, Sabonis gets a fresh start and a change of scenery. That’s the thought. The cold reality is that Sabonis is simply swapping jerseys and locations while entering a basketball situation that is probably far too familiar for his liking.
Going from Indy to Sacramento is as simple as moving from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to the dungeon of the Western Conference. The Pacers were awful this season and the Kings have been as well, but the vibe around Sacramento is clearly worse. The Kings have continuously been a revolving door over recent years when it comes to the head coach, general manager, and ownership group. They’re in a weird space.
Sacramento is +50000 to win the Pacific Division this year at Tipico Sportsbook, +20000 to win the Western Conference and +50000 to win the Finals. The Kings entered Tuesday at 20-35, in 13th place out West and fighting for a play-in tournament spot.
The basketball fit is also weird, but familiar for Sabonis as he will share center and power forward responsibilities with Richaun Holmes (if he isn’t traded, too), who is having the best season of his career. Sound familiar? That’s because you know that Domantas is just coming from Indiana where he awkwardly split time in the frontcourt with Myles Turner over the last few years. His talent won’t be maximized this way, and I’m cautiously anticipating the Kings’ front office will make more moves to clear things up.
The grass could have been much greener in a variety of other NBA cities for Domantas, but instead, he lands in another awkward situation. We’ll see how it all plays out.
