Getting Rudy Gay in a trade from Toronto was not a sign the Kings want to make a run at the playoffs right now in the West — they are one of just two teams in a deep conference with no real shot at the postseason (Utah is the other).
No, this was about future cap space (once the Gay deal ends) and seeing what players fit next to centerpiece DeMarcus Cousins — can Gay and recently acquired Derrick Williams work as frontcourt partners with Cousins? I’m not sold (unless Gay wants to start passing to Cousins in the post, something he didn’t do consistently with Jonas Valanciunas) but it’s a gamble worth taking for the Kings who didn’t give up that much in the trade.
One thing is for sure: Sacramento is not done reshaping the roster. Next on the trade block is Kings starting power forward Jason Thompson, reports Marc Stein at ESPN.
The market for Thompson isn’t going to be that strong. He’s got good size at 6’11” and has shown stretches of solid play in the past but has regressed with his shooting the past couple seasons (46.6 percent this season) and he’s an average rebounder and defender. On top of that he is owed $19.2 million over the next three seasons guaranteed, which is not an outrageous amount but teams are careful about tying up future cap space with players who are not stars.
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Still this is a sign the Kings are retooling their roster with Cousins as the heart of it. Those orders likely cone all the way from ownership. We will see how GM Pete D’Alessandro decides to execute those orders.
