Could the Kings Trade Back in the NBA Draft? A Historical Overview

With 17 games left in the season, the Sacramento Kings are understandably looking toward the future. Teams can build rosters in a few ways - primarily through draft, trades, and free agency.

Absent some unique circumstances (some would call them Aspirational), free agency has not been a reliable path outside of the glamour markets.

Trades can certainly kick-start a retool or rebuild. There is some risk (see: Sabonis for Haliburton), but that is the reality of most team-building avenues. Until the front office proves otherwise, there is not much evidence supporting their ability to execute this sort of rebuild.

However, there is reason to trust their drafting ability. Nique Clifford has looked good in extended minutes. Dylan Cardwell and Maxime Raynaud look like a solid low-cost big platoon to support the wing and backcourt prospects they draft for the next several years. Scott Perry mentions the draft as a preferred way to build, and his hit rate last year should instill some confidence there.

Unfortunately, Sacramento’s war chest is lean for a team that is where they are in the standings.

Sacramento Kings future draft picks | James McCauley

Sacramento controls most of their future firsts, but is very lean on seconds. A rebuilding team potentially having no seconds from 2027-2031 is absurd.

In what looks like one of the better drafts in recent years, it is worth exploring trades down to restock the war chest and let Perry and co build through what they are good at. Whether it is future protected firsts or multiple seconds, more assets never hurts when you are at ground zero of a rebuild.

Returns in draft day trades heavily depend on who is available when the team is on the clock.

Recent NBA Draft Pick Trades | James McCauley

History of Trading Down:

Last season, New Orleans traded from 23 to 13 to select Derik Queen. They gave Atlanta a 2026 first (NOP/MIL) to move up 10 spots. That 2026 NOP/MIL pick is currently 6th. In hindsight, this was a coup for Atlanta.

Sacramento will be selecting higher than 13th, but the point stands: If a team is this desperate to move up, Sacramento should capitalize.

2025 also saw Memphis move from 16th to 11th so they could draft Cedric Coward, giving up a 2028 first (via ORL) and two seconds to do so. Again, Sacramento will be selecting higher than this, but this return could be well worth a 5-spot move depending on who is available.

A trade more comparable to where Sacramento could be is the 2023 Washington-Indiana deal. Indiana moved down one spot (7 to 8) in exchange for two seconds so the Wizards could draft Bilal Coulibaly. This scenario feels very real, given how strong the top of this draft is.

For example, say Sacramento is picking 4th and wants Caleb Wilson. The Hawks are picking 5th and believe Kingston Flemings is their guy. Sacramento could leverage this by auctioning off their 4th pick and forcing Atlanta to beat the offers Sacramento receives. In that scenario, Sacramento moves back one spot (if ATL beats their offers), collects asset(s) for doing so, and gets the guy they wanted all along.

If we look back further, 2017 had some very instructive trades.

Sacramento traded the 10th pick for the 15th and 20th picks from Portland. The Kings did not see anyone they were in love with at 10, and thought two swings later represented a better value. In hindsight, a De’Aaron Fox-Donovan Mitchell backcourt would have been fun, but that is a story for another day.

Perhaps the most relevant comes at the top of this draft, where the Boston Celtics were selecting first. They traded back to third, receiving the 76ers’ 2019 to do so.

At the time, Markelle Fultz was a can’t-miss prospect, so this made sense for the 76ers. Hindsight will always be 20/20, though, and Boston has emerged as the clear winner of this trade that defined the last few years for these storied franchises. If Sacramento were to move down this high in the draft, the stakes will be similarly high.

Trading Out: Unlikely, but Worth Considering

Jan 26, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Rob Dillingham (4) dribbles against the Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield (7) in the fourth quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images | Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

The Spurs-Wolves trade in 2024 presents an entirely different path. The Spurs had already selected 4th in this draft, and traded all the way out of the 8th pick, receiving an unprotected 2031 pick swap and a 2030 top-1 protected first from Minnesota.

The Timberwolves saw Dillingham as their point guard of the future and moved aggressively to get him. The Spurs had already drafted Stephon Castle 4th overall, and saw an opportunity to hedge against Minnesota’s future with a pick that was essentially house money at that point.

Similar moves include the Knicks’ move out of the 11th pick in 2022, where the Thunder selected Ousname Dieng. New York received three lottery-protected firsts in 2023.

And the Charlotte Hornets traded the 13th pick that became Jalen Duren in exchange for a 2023 first (from Denver), three 2023 seconds, and a 2024 second.

All of these are good diversification moves, but I do not see Sacramento trading out of this draft. Scott Perry and co clearly need a cornerstone, and their position in this draft, paired with the quality at the top of this draft gives them as good of a chance at finding one as they will get.

With that in mind, it is worth thinking about these values from the trade-up side, too. Perry traded into the first when he took Clifford last year. He is clearly willing to be decisive when he feels strongly about a prospect, and could have similar convictions about one of the top prospects this season. There is a line between the conviction he showed last year and the Pelicans’ reckless pursuit of Queen mentioned earlier. Let’s hope that, if Perry explores trades up, he errs on the side of his Clifford move.

If I were the Kings, I would be paying very close attention to the tea leaves regarding which teams are enamored with which prospects. Perry has said he does not want to operate out of desperation, and capitalizing on another team’s infatuation with a given player could be a way to flip that script on another team, which would be a refreshing change for Kings fans.