Rival NBA Execs View Kings’ Davion Mitchell as ‘Potential Trade Chip’
Trade season in the NBA is approaching, which means some eye-catching rumors and developments around the league are to come with it. With many teams looking competitive early on in the season, it could lead to some eventual mid-season player movement with franchises scrambling to add talent to their roster’s championship push.
One of those teams so happens to be the Sacramento Kings. With an established core of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis to build around for the near future, many suspect them to be a candidate to be buyers on the trade market considering their asset pool of players and draft picks.
A player to keep an eye on when looking at potential trade assets might be Davion Mitchell, the third-year guard out of Baylor.
According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, executives around the league view the emergence of Keon Ellis on the Kings’ depth chart may lead to something more:
"Five executives who spoke with HoopsHype were surprised Kings guard Davion Mitchell was behind two-way teammate Keon Ellis on Sacramento’s depth chart to start the season, leading to a belief that Mitchell can be a potential trade chip as part of a bigger move."
To start his third season in the league, Mitchell has averaged 5.1 points, and 2.6 assists a night on career-low splits (36.2/29.3) through fourteen games. A rocky start in the second-to-last year of his rookie deal effectively pins him as a player who may be destined to land in a new situation sooner rather than later.
While the framework of this reported "bigger move" is yet to be established, the expectation is that it won’t involve second-year forward Keegan Murray. Instead of using his value to add a third star into the mix, Scotto continued to note that Murray is viewed as a building block to this Sacramento core rather than a stepping stone.
Instead, a package consisting of Mitchell, a few matching contracts like Harrison Barnes or Kevin Huerter, and future draft capital might be the alternate route this Kings’ front office takes to add talent to this roster.
While the Kings have kicked off the season on a good note (10-7, 6th in the Western Conference), there’s always room for growth. If the right opportunity arises for Sacramento to act on a deal, the stars may soon be aligned for GM Monte McNair to pull the trigger.
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