The Kings' Trade Deadline Silence Is Louder Than Any Move

The Sacramento Kings stayed silent at this year's NBA trade deadline.

Mar 31, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (10) warms up before the game against the Utah Jazz at Golden 1 Center. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The NBA trade deadline has officially passed, and the Sacramento Kings stayed quiet. Outside of a move that sent Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroder to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for De'Andre Hunter, the Kings stayed quiet as the deadline buzzer sounded.

Despite expectations that they would be moving on from a combination of Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Malik Monk, the Kings got through the deadline without moving any of them.

What does the Kings' silence mean?

Jan 5, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis (11) high fives forward/guard DeMar DeRozan (10) after scoring a basket against the Golden State Warriors during the second quarter at Chase Center. | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

First things first, it is not bad for a team to get through the trade deadline without making any moves. In the Kings' case, they likely felt that they were not getting proper value from their players in trade talks. Well, actually, that is the problem.

Props to general manager Scott Perry for not trading players just to trade them, but the biggest concern here is how minimally valued the Kings' players are.

Guys like Sabonis, DeRozan, and Monk were expected to garner some level of interest on the market, but there were crickets by the deadline. Even if the Kings prefer to wait to move Sabonis until the offseason, how much can his trade value improve?

DeRozan, whose contract will be expiring next season, will be much easier to trade in the offseason or at next year's deadline, but Sabonis and Monk are not in the same situation. If they were not able to find suitors for them now, there is reason to doubt that the Kings will have better luck in the offseason.

No trades materialized for the Sacramento Kings and held onto Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Malik Monk, sources say.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 5, 2026

What trades fell through?

Talks between the Kings and Toronto Raptors for a Sabonis trade got intense for a while, with Sacramento having extra interest in RJ Barrett. Of course, those talks "flat-lined," as The Athletic's Sam Amick put it, leaving the Kings out to dry.

The Stein Line's Jake Fischer also reported that the Washington Wizards called the Kings about a potential Sabonis deal, and they were willing to offer a package centered around Khris Middleton, on an expiring contract, which would likely have included some draft capital.

The Wizards have called the Kings to offer a package centered around Khris Middleton for Domantas Sabonis, per @JakeLFischer

“The Stein Line has learned that the Wizards have called Sacramento about the prospect of building an offer for Sabonis around Khris Middleton's $33… pic.twitter.com/hyKycV0ZsQ

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 4, 2026

With the Kings unable to get a deal done with either the Raptors or Wizards, potential suitors were dropping like flies. Sabonis will not have many suitors in the offseason either, and for the teams that are interested in him, there is no telling what kind of value the Kings will be able to get. Hanging onto Sabonis has put the Kings in a tough position, but Perry opted that this was a better option than shipping him away for less than what they value him.

There were also some connections between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Malik Monk, as well as the Milwaukee Bucks and Zach LaVine. Of course, neither of those partnerships happened, and the Kings remain stuck with awkward roster construction.

The good news?

While there is not much good to pull from this trade deadline, as all pressure on the front office now shifts toward the offseason, we can try to stay positive.

By keeping this core intact, the Kings' tank effort could not be much better. The Kings have already lost their last ten games and have a league-worst 12-40 record, so by keeping this roster together, they should be able to secure a top pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, right?

It is also positive that the Kings did not lose out on any draft capital at the deadline that they likely would have had to use to get off LaVine's contract. Ideally, they would have been able to receive some draft capital from a Sabonis deal, but we will have to see what happens over the summer.

This year's trade deadline will certainly be seen as a failure by the front office, but their silence says more about the players' value than anything.