Kings Have Big Keon Ellis Decision Upcoming Amid Trade Rumors

NBA insider Anthony Slater believes "clarity is inevitable" for Sacramento Kings guard Keon Ellis.

Jan 1, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Keon Ellis (23) reacts after making a three-point basket against the Boston Celtics during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. | Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

ESPN Insider, Anthony Slater, released a wide-ranging piece on the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday titled “Can the Sacramento Kings Be Fixed? How They Got Here, What's Next.” The article starts off talking about Scott Perry, Doug Chrisite, and BJ Armstrong spending time with the Pittsburgh Steelers over the offseason to watch how head coach Mike Tomlin operates. 

Slater uses most of his words to paint a picture of the direction the franchise is heading in while outlining the synergy between Christie and Perry. Along with the big-picture story, Slater also addresses the future of the roster and highlights Keon Ellis’ situation, among others. 

“As part of a recent youth movement, Ellis has leaped Monk in the rotation and could sign an extension with the Kings as early as Feb. 9, but his unrestricted free agent status clouds his future in Sacramento. Clarity is inevitable in the next month," Slater wrote.

Holding On Hope

As Slater mentions, Ellis’ future will be a lot easier to predict once February 9th rolls around and the Kings can officially extend him. Exercising Ellis’ team option over the summer was the first sign that the former Alabama guard might not be in Perry’s long-term plans, but it isn’t that simple. 

By keeping Ellis on a team-friendly, $2.3 million deal, Sacramento was able to maintain flexibility to sign Russell Westbrook while retaining Ellis’s bird rights to extend him later on. The issue is that there has already been a long history of Ellis not being valued the way many believe he should be. 

Keon Ellis is getting consistent playing time again and is back to looking like his normal self on defense.

Most players need a rhythm and consistency to play their best.

— Matt George (@MattGeorgeSAC) January 7, 2026

In Ellis’s first 25 games of the season, his minutes were sporadic, and he even had a few DNP-CDs. Since then, Ellis is averaging about 19 minutes per game, and had he not been injured in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks, he likely would’ve played 22+ minutes in six of the last seven. 

Keon’s minutes have come at the expense of Malik Monk as Sacramento shifts towards their youth and a defensive mentality, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that Ellis is here to stay. Kings’ insider James Ham mentioned on Sacramento 1320 on Wednesday that retaining Ellis might be out of the question. 

“Keon Ellis is not signing back, and if he does, it’s because the Kings have to overpay him egregiously as soon as he’s available for an extension. I don’t think either one of those things are going to happen," Ham said.

Burning Bridges

What Ham brings up isn’t coming from thin air; the Kings have underutilized Ellis for years despite their need for his skillset. Even before Christie took over the job, Mike Brown drew the ire of fans when he limited Ellis’s minutes and seemed ready to pull him out of the game after one mistake. How much of this is coaching and how much has to do with directions from those not on the bench is something we may never know. 

Ellis isn’t a perfect player, and I believe there’s some truth to the rumblings that the Sacramento fanbase overrates him. Keon is one of the best point of attack defenders in the league, but issues arise when he’s forced to switch onto bigger guards and forwards. He also hasn’t developed into someone you’re comfortable using as a secondary creator offensively, though he’s had some flashes. 

Still, Ellis is exactly the type of player you want on a playoff team and proved it when defending Stephen Curry in the Play-In Tournament, holding him to just 22 points with six turnovers.

"Keon Ellis has a GPS on Steph Curry"

Steph Curry tries almost every off-ball trick he has but can't shake Keon Ellis loose.pic.twitter.com/WMLZIMy6Cn

— Hot Hand Theory (@HotHandTheory) January 23, 2025

Whether or not the relationship between Ellis and the Kings is beyond repair is up for debate, and we won’t know for sure until next month. The hope is that the two parties can come together and find a deal that makes sense for both sides because Ellis is still young enough to be part of the next phase in Sacramento. 

Slater has also brought up Keon as a possible trade chip in the Kings’ enduring hunt for Jonathan Kumina, with many other teams around the league holding interest as well. 

“But there are multiteam constructions that could loosen up these obstacles, and the Kings do have Keon Ellis, a fourth-year guard on a $2.3 million expiring deal that has generated leaguewide interest," Slater wrote.

Even if the Kings do want to keep Ellis, their roster doesn’t make it easy to rationalize an extension. Veterans like Monk, Zach LaVine, and Dennis Schroder aren’t expected to be in the teams’ long-term plans, but their 2025 first-round draft pick certainly will be. Nique Clifford is best suited as an off-guard, like Ellis, and Perry’s first pick in his current stint with the Kings is going to be a priority. 

Given all of this, it’s easy to see why Ham feels the way he does about keeping Ellis around, but there’s still some hope that the Kings can bridge the gap in February.