ESPN’s Tim MacMahon just dropped the first trade-rumor bombshell of the NBA season, reporting that Sacramento Kings big man Domantas Sabonis wants out. After a 0-6 start, the veteran five-man is no longer happy with the franchise. On a recent episode of the Hoop Collective, MacMahon said, “Quite frankly, Sabonis wants out of there, and if they can move him, they would. So he's not happy.”
For the Toronto Raptors, this is massive news as Sabonis previously had ties to the Dinos at last year's trade deadline. What could make this go-around with Sabonis different is that last season we didn't hear publicly about Sabonis being frustrated. But now, with MacMahon reporting that Sabonis wants out, the Kings could be starting to have less and less leverage and be forced to settle for an offer they wouldn’t necessarily love.
With the Raptors' big-man issues centered on Jakob Poeltl not looking any better to start this season, it makes you wonder why Bobby Webster wouldn’t pursue Domas.
The time for a Sabonis trade has never been clearer
Obviously, the biggest obstacle in the Raptors acquiring Sabonis is his massive $45-plus million salary this season. Given the Raptors are already committing $90-plus million between Scottie Barnes and Leonard this season, adding Sabonis would cost them two starters. Poeltl is going to be one of the names out the door, but the decision between Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett also seems pretty straightforward to me.
It has to be Barrett.
Shocker, right? “Mr. Anti-RJ” says the team should trade him. Before you jump to that conclusion, stop and think for a sec.
If you add Sabonis into the fold, that gives Barrett even fewer on-ball reps and pushes him further into a role that doesn’t fit his skill set as an even more off-ball player. On top of that, the IQ-Sabonis fit sounds pretty awesome. While Quickley plays point guard for Toronto, he is at his best as an off-ball scorer who thrives in DHOs. That sounds perfect for playing alongside Sabonis, to me.
Also, the offensive synergy of a starting lineup featuring IQ, Ja’Kobe Walter, Kawhi Leonard, Scottie Barnes, and Sabonis sounds pretty legit to me.
Now I know many are going to push back on adding Sabonis because of his “defensive limitations.” And I made a lengthy case as to why that should be a top concern in an article over the summer, so I’ll give y'all the cliff notes version of why I’m not worried about that. In recent memory, Jak hasn’t been any better defensively than Sabonis, but survived on that end of the floor because elite defenders surrounded him.
Jak's biggest defensive issue has been securing defensive rebounds and closing out possessions with defensive rebounds, something Sabonis is elite at. In six games for the Kings, he’s averaging 15.8 rebounds per game, and in his last three healthy seasons, he’s led the league in rebounds per game. Adding his ability to do that with his playmaking as a break starter would only make the Raptors' transition attack more potent.
The other thing people often say about Sabonis is that he’s a system player who needs the system built around him. I just flat-out disagree. The only reason he has that label is that at every stop of his career, the team is best when he is the system, but with Toronto he wouldn’t have to be. Instead, he gets to use the skills that make him such a valuable offensive hub in a lesser role and winning context.
You can say that he wouldn’t buy into a role all you want, but at 30 years old and with him asking out of Sacramento, he clearly wants to win and play meaningful basketball again. The Raptors offer that, and it just feels foolish to assume he wouldn’t buy in because we’ve never actually seen him in a role where he wasn’t an offensive hub.
Is trading for Sabonis a risk? Yes. Would it probably cost a draft pick and two starters? Yes. But the pros outweigh the cons. This team needs stability in the middle, and Sabonis could be that. Getting him now would give this team plenty of time to acclimate and build the chemistry needed for a deep playoff run.
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