Bennett Keane
June 5, 2025
2025 Offseason Preview: Sacramento Kings
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A Bold Vision in Sacramento
For better or worse, the Sacramento Kings aren’t sitting back waiting for the Western Conference to soften. Notorious owner Vivek Ranadive has shown little willingness to bottom out, instead opting to retool the roster in an attempt to stay relevant in recent years. Outside of a single playoff appearance in 2023, relevancy has avoided this franchise like the plague.
Given this track record, the front office is unlikely to strip down the roster for parts. The newly appointed General Manager, Scott Perry, will have to make a series of smart moves to thread the needle between competitive basketball and asset acquisition. This front office should attack this offseason with the kind of urgency that nuanced NBA fans salivate for—stabilizing moves that provide strategic flexibility.
The new regime needs to show this fanbase that they’re not afraid to get aggressive, making deals that might raise eyebrows on the surface but make sense when you understand the implications of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and how it impacts long-term roster building.
We’ve outlined 3 semi-realistic, interconnected trade proposals the Sacramento Kings should pursue to jumpstart their rebuild in the post-De’Aaron Fox era.
Here’s how each move checks out, not just for Sacramento, but for the other teams involved.
The Nets Pick Swap:
Kings Send: 2031 Minnesota 1st
Nets Send: 2025 #19 & #27 1sts
Why it makes sense for Brooklyn:
- The Nets have stacked 2025 picks—they have four first-rounders in what’s shaping up to be a historically deep draft. That gives Sean Marks a ton of optionality: consolidate picks to move up, trade for a star, or inject multiple cheap contracts into a rebuilding roster.
- Swapping two late 2025 picks for a 2031 Minnesota 1st makes sense—Minnesota’s pick has higher upside. The Wolves are all-in on the Edwards/Randle core, but their 2025-2030 draft cupboard is bare. If that core collapses, the 2031 pick could be a top-10 lottery asset.
- It’s a calculated bet on long-term upside over immediate draft capital.
Why it makes sense for the Kings:
- Sacramento wants to stay competitive now. Two late 2025 firsts in a loaded draft class give them ammo to draft upside wings or make additional moves.
- The player Sacramento should target at isn’t a name you see regularly in the top-20. Adou Thiero— a 6’8” Forward with a 7-foot wingspan, defensive versatility, and flashes of a developing three-point shot (think OG Anunoby at Indiana). Defense-first prospects with size and offensive upside.
- The 2031 Wolves pick? Too far away. The Kings are trying to win today (for better or for worse).
The Damian Lillard Deal: Righting the Ship After the Fox Trade
Kings Send: Zach LaVine + Terence Davis
Bucks Send: Damian Lillard + AJ Green + 2031 1st
Why it makes sense for Milwaukee:
- Lillard’s torn achilles in the playoffs should all but end his time in Milwaukee. Assuming the team wants to retool around Giannis, Lillard’s contract ($112M over 2 years remaining) provides some optionality
- Milwaukee saves ~$30M in luxury tax penalties and brings them under the First Apron (assuming they re-sign Brook Lopez) by moving Dame for LaVine, whose contract is shorter and slightly more movable.
- LaVine isn’t the offensive engine Dame is, but he is a volume scorer who fits as a secondary option to Giannis, and makes a lot of sense in new CBA landscape where teams need to get under the tax to have any roster flexibility.
- Terrence Davis is a potential rotation player—a bench 3&D option on a cheap deal.
Why it makes sense for the Kings:
- They’re taking a gap year to rehab Dame, revive his value, and receive a future 1st for compensation while doing so.
- The Kings have the time to rehab Lillard’s value before flipping him next summer, before Keegan Murray’s rookie extension kicks in.
- AJ Green is a rotation piece who can step in and hit shots off of Domas DHO actions with ease.
The Jrue Holiday Deal: A Highly Respected, Elite Defender
Kings Send: DeMar DeRozan + #27 1st + 2031 Bucks 1st
Celtics Send: Jrue Holiday
Why it makes sense for Boston:
- The Celtics are running the highest payroll in NBA history. Every dollar saved on the margins is worth its weight in luxury tax relief, especially with the looming second apron.
- By moving off Jrue’s $100M over three years, they save ~$32M in tax penalties alone—huge when you’re talking about a team that already re-signed Derrick White and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard.
- The 2025 and 2031 firsts give Brad Stevens low-cost assets to use in a trade or inject fresh blood into a veteran-heavy rotation that is likely down their star forward, Jayson Tatum, for the entire 2025-2026 season.
. - Holiday’s value under the new CBA is limited. In a world where cap mobility is king, having flexibility > holding onto aging veterans on big deals (regardless of how awesome they are; Holiday is AWESOME).
Why it makes sense for the Kings:
- Jrue gives them elite on-ball defense, exactly what this front office has committed to.
- With Sabonis as the offensive hub, they don’t need Jrue to be a primary creator—he slots perfectly into a 3&D + secondary ball-handler role.
- Moving off DeRozan’s mid-range-heavy game clears the floor for Sabonis to return as the focal point of a dribble-hand-off (DHO) centric offense.
The LaRavia & Keegan Moves: Locking in the Core
- Jake LaRavia signs a 3-year, $15.6M (Player-option in the third year).Because the Grizzlies declined LaRavia’s Team Option prior to trading him to Sacramento, the Kings are restricted in what they can offer. He’s shown flashes as a 3&D wing with size, and at $5.2M per year, he’s an ideal rotation player in a new CBA world where tax flexibility matters.
- Keegan Murray signs a 5-year, $125M rookie extension. It’s an aggressive number but fair. He’s a 18-21 PPG scorer waiting to happen, and locking him in before the rookie extension kicks in next summer is smart cap management. Keegan’s game—off-ball movement, shooting, size—is scalable next to Sabonis and beyond.
The Reddish Move: Bolstering the Bench With a High-Upside Swing
- Cam Reddish signs for a Vet Minimum. Reddish is a skilled, 6’8″ wing with size, athleticism, and a smooth shooting stroke (career 82.1% FT), but he hasn’t fully put it together at the NBA level—yet.
- Reddish is a well-rounded defender who flashes switchability and on-ball potential (Anthony Edwards notoriously heralded him as the toughest player he ever had to guard), making him a compelling buy-low target for the Kings in a developmental year.
- Even if he doesn’t hit, Sacramento should bet on versatile wings like Reddish—low-risk, high-upside flyers who can fill gaps and potentially become a rotation two-way player.
The 2025-26 Kings: A Defensive Identity with Offensive Upside
So here’s what the Kings’ lineup looks like heading into the season:
- Starting Lineup:
- Jrue Holiday (PG)
- Keon Ellis (SG)
- Keegan Murray (SF)
- Jake LaRavia (PF)
- Domantas Sabonis (C)
- Bench Rotation:
- Malik Monk (Guard)
- Jonas Valanciunas (Big)
- Adou Thiero (Wing)
- AJ Green (Guard)
- Cam Reddish (Wing)
- Injured Reserve:
- Dame Lillard (Guard)
That’s a defense-first starting unit with enough shooting and playmaking to hang in the West. The bench? Sneaky good with Monk’s playmaking and shot creation, Jonas’ size and ability to hunt in the paint, Thiero’s defensive versatility, and Green’s ability to knock down shots on the move.
The Kings are setting themselves up to compete (in their own way) now and have flexibility next summer to reload the roster in a potential Dame deal. Surrounding their young players with reputable veterans, prioritizing draft equity, while giving themselves flexibility and optionality heading into the season. Not something this team is used to having.
Charting the Course
The Kings can’t make moves just to make moves—they need to build a system. A self-proclaimed defensive identity is where they start.
They can build towards this identity while maintaining a cap-conscious roster with flipable assets. It’s the kind of smart front office work that should make NBA Twitter stop scrolling and say: “These aren’t the KANGZ of years past?”
Basketball rumors are going to swirl all offseason—free agency, trade rumors, tear-it-down chatter, and NBA draft projections. But Sacramento? They need to move with intention. Capitalize on the frenzy and cannibalize the teams in more dire situations.
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