Sometimes not making a move at all is the best move. That would be the case when it comes to this instance for the Los Angeles Lakers. The Sacramento Kings will certainly have a handful of tempting names available on the surface level. However, any star trade with the Kings would be fool's gold.
Michael Scotto reported, "Rival NBA executives are monitoring the trio of Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and DeMar DeRozan with the belief that Sacramento will explore the possibility of trading at least one of those players either this offseason or before the trade deadline in February."
Any one of those three could be appealing at a quick glance. However, when doing an extensive look, Rob Pelinka would be better off searching for upgrades that do not involve any of the trio above.
Kings stars would set Lakers up for a nightmare
The idea of why a deal involving Sabonis joining the Lakers would be a bad one has already been explored by this editorial. However, a quick recap will be provided here.
While it is true that Los Angeles needs a center pretty badly, Sabonis' skill set is not one that will resonate with this current core. The Lakers need athleticism and rim protection at that spot. Those are both areas in which the Kings center is not particularly potent.
This comes before mentioning the hefty price tag that is attached to Sabonis. The three-time All-Star will make $43.6 million in 2025-26. That number will only grow through the end of the 2027-28 season.
Speaking of hefty price tags, LaVine's is not one that makes a ton more sense for the Lakers either. The former slam dunk champion is set to make $47.5 million next year. A player option for close to $50 million would keep him around in 2026-27 as well.
LaVine had an efficient scoring campaign in 2024-25, averaging 23.3 points per game while shooting 51-45-83. His scoring is not without its value next to Luka Doncic and LeBron James. However, his subpar defense would only make an existing problem worse.
The Kings star also lacks a sufficient amount of supporting skills to go with his scoring that would truly make any sense for Los Angeles. That leaves just one name left.
DeRozan has by far the best contract of the trio. His $24.8 million deal more than matches his production.
The veteran forward averaged 22.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game in 77 appearances for the Kings in the regular season. Despite that, the lack of good fit should be just as obvious with DeRozan.
The six-time All-Star would muddy up the spacing in Los Angeles around their superstar duo. DeRozan shot 32.8 percent from beyond the arc on 3.3 attempts per game in 2024-25. Overall, the California-born star is only a 30.0 percent career shooter from distance.
Similarly to the other two players, DeRozan's defense is nothing to write home about either. The former lottery pick is still steady and reliable in a lot of ways at this point of his career. It's just not in the ones that would greatly benefit the Lakers.
Ultimately, running down the list, a clear lack of logical fit is obvious across all three stars in Sacramento. If any one of the trio is going to find a new home during the offseason, it should not be a beach house in Los Angeles.