A recent report indicates Keon Ellis may soon be wearing a different jersey. Sam Amick reported Friday that a deal is “almost certain” to happen before now and the trade deadline.
“League and team sources say the Kings continue to draw serious interest in veteran guard Keon Ellis, with approximately 10 teams in pursuit of the 26-year-old. A deal is almost certain to go down before the Feb. 5 deadline, if not much sooner.”
Amick says the Kings are looking to land a late first-round pick in a deal for Ellis. We have been hearing for a while now that a lot of the league is interested in Ellis, because well he plays defense and shoots well, and now we have confirmation that 10 teams fall into that bucket.
Amick also reports that the Toronto Raptors are a “legitimate possibility” for a trade destination for Domantas Sabonis, with the Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards also showing interest. Much of the reporting coming out about Sabonis over the last several months was that he was likely to not be moved, but maybe things have ramped up a little more as the deadline approaches.
The report dampers the idea of DeMar DeRozan going to the Golden State Warriors also, stating that the Warriors have shown “no interest” in him.
General manager Scott Perry is facing an important test with this trade deadline. We will keep you updated as things go down.
Not including Keegan, the main holdovers from Monte will be gone soon (Domas/Monk/Ellis) I expect sub 40 win seasons for a while. Back to familiarity as a Kings fans.
I actually think they aren’t going to trade Domas or Lavine (won’t like return on Domas and won’t get chance with Lavine). We are going to get lucky and stay top 3 and draft AJ.
We’ll be back squarely into purgatory 6-8 seed next year with:
Schroeder/Lavine/Murray/AJ/Sabonis as the starting group.
agree Mike. I don’t think they can get value for LaVine ( no one will take him) or DS. Ellis has a market, DeRozen maybe but t it seems they are stuck with these guys
Either this deadline or next summer, just have to get rid of all the old guys.
Need at least 2 top 5 drafts.
This year- AJ or Flemings.
Top 3 unlikely though. Requires finishing on bottom 3 and no one jumps Kings in lottery- unlikely. If finished dead, dead last more likely but Pacers and Pels and Wiz have a head start and plenty of motivation .
Hopefully with a top 4 or 5 pick this year. Even after that, at least we would have prospects and hope from watching the team grow. This current team is just a cluster of over the hill trash.
cluster of over the hill trash exactly
Does that Runtadiva guy still own the team?
I mean, other than to be used as a means to acquire expensive, aging vets, why do we even need promising young players and 1st round draft picks?
Sheesh, happy for Keon that he’ll be going somewhere that actually values good players and that actually wants him.
I’m completely baffled. Is this guy a shithead behind the scenes? Did he rebuff Anjali? Or Matina? Or Vivek? There isn’t shooting guard on this roster that I would rather see on the floor than Keon. And yeah, he might be a little undersized compared to (say) LaVine, but LaVine doesn’t give a shit about playing defense anyways.
Thanks for saying this Rob. I am also baffled as to why they would trade the one player on the roster that can a change a game defensively and can hit the open 3
. Just puzzling.
I should add that I am also completely baffled when the toilet paper unrolls from the back side of the roll, the use and need of/for the word “irregardless,” and the letter “Q” on license plates.
I defiantly agree. Or is it that I could care less?
“Just Puzzling”. I think that’s what it says on Vivek’s business card.
Seriously, we’re looking to trade one of the few players we currently have that could be considered a building block for the future?????? WTF
Well at this point it makes complete sense why they would trade him. Not playing him more from the very beginning is the part that doesn’t make any sense. Now, after the franchise and coaching staff have treated him like crap, the front office would be stupid to not trade him. He has high value in the market right now so use that to your advantage and go get something good. Otherwise, you lose him for nothing. That would be the absolute worst and would really put Perry in a bad place with the fan base. .
Perry should know without a doubt that Keon will or will not re sign with the kings. Keon’s agent and Keon would be stupid to not make that clear. It does nothing for them to keep it a secret. Being honest with Perry works in their favor. So, if he says he wants to re sign in Sacramento, if that’s his preference then yes please lord keep the guy. If not then YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO TRADE HIM.
I have been thinking a lot about this and I have a theory. It’s a theory that makes sense logically as to why Perry didn’t opt in on Ellis and re structure his contract in the off season. It makes sense of the reason why he was never really been in the rotation or given a legitimate opportunity to be the major contributor he had already proved himself to be. The theory is this: Perry and BJ Armstrong identified Ellis and his minimal and strategically planned expiring contract as the play, the addition, the sweetener that allows them to off load Zac LaVine. Or, a more broad view, works to offload and sweeten a trade with Demar or Sabonis. The piece that makes trading any of the vet contracts go from an offload of salary to an acquisition of a young future piece. They identified Keon as the thing that gets the big deal/difficult transaction done. The thing that makes any trade go from moving deck chairs to adding a substantial piece or asset to the rebuild.
For example, if we see Zac LaVine get traded to the warriors with Ellis for Kuminga, buddy, Moody and Horford then the confusion around Keon makes sense in the end. The only hole in this trade example that I see is the 4 players for 2 problem. The warriors would need to sign some guys out of the G league to fill out the rest of the roster and try to replace Al Horford in the back up big role. The kings would need to release Saric and Horford for example.
This theory gives Perry and Armstrong WAY too much credit IMO.
Perry has no clue what he’s doing and / or is being hamstrung by the idiot owner.
No chance Perry / Bj were thinking that far ahead and playing 4D chess. I could be wrong of corse, and I’d love to be wrong.
What’s the story with Perry anyway? I know he was involved in some way with the early 2000’s Pistons, which seems to be his big claim to fame.
But since then… what? He was here with Vlade for a minute, and orchestrated FA signings of Vince Carter, George Hill and Zach Randolph… then went to the Knicks and from what I hear didn’t last long before taking a back seat to the Pres of BBall Ops. At which point the Knicks got good.
Seems like a guy stuck in the past, just like the entire Kings organization. Maybe got the job because he shares Vivek’s “vision” of a completely outdated way of building a basketball team.
Perry was a scout for the Pistons . Dumars got credit for most of the good things not certain who takes blame for the #2 Darko,selection . Reminds a bit of Kings Bagley, and Dubs Wiseman .
This describes Ellis perfectly (he, Cardwell, and Murray are the only ones on the roster that I would describe this way). Ellis has all of the “pillars” that Perry is looking for…yet he’s first player to be jettisoned. Way to back up your words by doing the opposite with your actions Perry!
So far, Perry has been full of shit and has done nothing to show me he has any clue what he’s doing.
cuz BRO, he doesn’t sell jerserys like Westbrook and Demar
Vivek sucks.
They are afraid to bench a useless player in LaVine because that would be an indictment on Runtadiva as the current roster (CHI East) has his stamp on it.
I don’t care what Lavine’s earning, he definitely hasn’t earned any playing time. Meanwhile, Ellis carved out a role in the NBA despite little to no support from the team. It pisses me off that they finally found a diamond in the rough and even fucked that up.
The fact that Keon is garnering the most interest from more competent NBA teams is very telling.
Maybe that’s a guy we should keep and play and develop further. Crazy thought, I know.
Keon Ellis, If you are reading this…
Im sorry the way this idiots handled the beggining of your career.
You should be a starter here. You will be a starter in this league.
I hope you kick our asses next time you face this sorry ass franchise.
Good luck man
I had a very low bar set for Scott Perry ability to be a GM that actually runs a team (as opposed to his paper-pusher role in NY) based on his career thus far. Interestingly enough, he’s actually managed to go under it.
What’s been wild the last month has been listening to some local sports media talk shows who have just logically assumed the Kings have some great plan in place because they’ve managed to lose a few games.
But there are pillars, Marty. Six of them. WE HAVE SIX PILLARS, DAMN IT!!!
Are we sure he wasn’t saying “pillows”?
Our front office’s plan is to throw shit at the wall and see if it sticks.
I feel about that show the way you feel about Kayte’s announcing. I don’t know how anyone listens to that shit. And yet, it’s infinitely better than the angry flatulence spewing out of Grant Napear’s mouth on any given day.
The assumption of rational management should never be assumed in Sacramento. When the people running the show are THIS incompetent, you just hope they do something good by accident.
If Keon does indeed have that kind of love around the league, I’m only trading him if he brings back a first round pick and/or is attached to an outgoing LaVine, DDR, Monk, or Dennis trade.
But he walks at the end of the year, right? Better to just get a bag of chips for him at this point, right? The bed had already been shit. Shitted? Shat?
Color me jaded, but this all these rumors mean that the Kangz will probably just trade minimally along the fringes and bring back Mr. Cash Considerations. We always get excited for the trade deadline…only to get blue balls.
Ellis value is a mid 20’s second round pick.
I beg to differ. Offensive only chuckers like a Buddy, Poole, Kuzma, Cam Thomas, etc. are worth a late 2nd round pick, or contract filler at worst. A plus defender who shoots the 3 at 40% and who makes less than the vet minimum is worth a lot more.
Monk and his contract have less value than Keon and his… as evidenced by the Dubs desire to acquire Keon but do not want Monk.
Half season left?No guarantee that you can or want to have him next year. 2nd in the twenties
A late 2nd round pick would be in the 50’s .
Only the Kings can be loaded with useless trash players and be looking to get rid of one of the few guys worth keeping. My hope level for this franchise is still 0%, your move
PerryVivek.RIP Neon Keon I hope you bring back a 1st round pick otherwise we got fleeced. Problem is he was going to walk anyway since we bench him behind mediocre washed vets. So we probably won’t get much for him. Shoulda played him fools, already botched it.
If you turned a late first round pick into a top-20 three point shooter who plays above average defense on a low contract, stop right there. You’re a winner!
It should be a clue that a third of the league wants this guy, while the worst franchise in the league won’t play him, and want to trade him for a small chance of getting someone as good as he is. Fucking dolts.
This. 100% this.
Gotta include Doug in that dolt group.
I can see the narrative already being painted by the talking heads in Kangzland.
After Ellis is traded, it will be considered a win because they turned an undrafted guy into a draft pick. That guy Stiles already posted this exact thing. So ridiculous.
Probably said the same thing when IT was traded. We turned the 60th pick into Alex Oriakhi!
They will also distract from their ineptitude by focusing on the next shiny thing… which is the “Beam Boys”. Completely lost on the fact why Ellis can’t be brought along with that group.
Ellis, Murray, CardiD, Maxime… and maybe Nique and Carter… sounds like a fun group to me that would play hard and could be complementary players around 1 or 2 top 5 picks in the next couple years… but what do I know?
FIFY:
I can see the narrative already being painted by the
talking headsKangz mouthpieces in Kangzland.Is there true independent sports journalism in Sacramento, nowadays?
If after the trade deadline we no longer have Keon, but we have Kuminga and still have DDR, Perry gets a solid F- for his trade performance.
Yup, I’m gonna be pissed if come Feb. 6th Sabonis and Keon are gone but LaVine, DDR, Monk, and Dennis are still lacing them up for the Kings and getting the lion’s share of the minutes. If it ends up being the case they had better have a cupboard full of picks to justify it.
Vivek gonna vivek
My way out trade but IMO could work. Sabonis to the Wizards, who realistic want him, for Middleton’s expiring contract Coulibaly,Whitmore, and the Wizards 2026 first rounder. Kings now have 2 picks within the top five. I would go for Dynas and Flemings. What asy you?
I would love that trade of Domas to Wiz, but I can’t see them paying that much. Part of a Domas trade, much to the dismay of King’s fans is the other team taking on his contract.
I could see the Wiz giving up Middleton, Whitmore and a couple seconds, but they’re not giving up their 1RP.
I still don’t understand why the Wiz would want Sabonis when they have Sarr. Do they plan to play them together?
If the rumor is indeed true I’m guessing no picks would be offered, just like the Trae deal. My ask would be Middleton, Bub, and Riley
It’s probably similar to the Trae deal indeed. Pick up a distressed asset and see how it works and then just flip him at a later time.
No chance of a lottery pick especially 1-5 .
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