The Kings of Jazz (Fox and Sabonis to Utah, Kessler to LAL)

[babyjax13]

Let's assume that Sacramento has done some minor moves to try and optimize Fox/Sabonis and get clearly in the playoff picture, but can't, and Utah has continued to lose at a prodigious rate. Utah trades for Fox and Sabonis to pair with Lauri and whoever they draft in 2025. The Jazz are currently 6-20, and there are 24 games until the trade deadline (if they win at a similar rate, they are probably around 11-39). If they go .500 after getting Fox and Sabonis they'd end with 27 wins and still be one of the 7 worst teams in the league by record.

Filler goes around as needed (financially works as-is, but major issues w/roster sizes after)

UTA trades: John Collins, Collin Sexton, Taylor Hendricks, Cody Williams, Keyonte George, 2026 UTA 1st, 2027 LAL 1st (1-4 protected), 2025 MIN 1st, 2025 CLE 1st, 2027 MIN 1st, 2027 CLE 1st, 2027 LAL 1st (1-4 protected --- protections removed by LAL)
in: De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis

Utah builds a really well-optimized core of Fox/Lauri/Sabonis + with their pick can hopefully draft one of Flagg/Johnson/Bailey who all seem like good fits with that trio. Is this a higher upside team than Mitchell/Gobert? I don't think so, but it could be later given that Utah would have actual assets to fill in the gaps.

SAC trades: De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis
in: John Collins, De'Angelo Russell, Taylor Hendricks, Cody Williams, Keyonte George, 2026 UTA 1st, 2025 MIN 1st, 2025 CLE 1st, 2027 MIN 1st, 2027 CLE 1st, 2027 LAL 1st, 2029 LAL 1st (top 8, top 4, top 1, 2 2nds)

Sacramento move Fox and Sabonis for 7 1sts (only 1 protected), 2 recent lottery picks, a recent draft pick who looks like an NBA rotation player and maybe a bit more (George) and some salary relief.

LAL trades: D'Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2029 LAL 1st (top 8, top 4, top 1, 2 2nds), protections removed from 2027 1st
in: Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler

Lakers fill in their rotation. This is the most questionable aspect of the deal to me, and I think there are ways to make it work w/o LAL.

[JJ_PR]

I don't understand why the Lakers are in this. I think the Kings would prefer Sexton and Kessler.

The trade is a non-starter without the Jazz unprotected 2025 pick, imo. Although now that I think of it, 7 picks is a pretty good offer. But some of those picks aren't that good.

Also, you posted the LAL '27 pick twice in the Kings section.

[babyjax13]

I don't understand why the Lakers are in this. I think the Kings would prefer Sexton and Kessler.

The trade is a non-starter without the Jazz unprotected 2025 pick, imo. Although now that I think of it, 7 picks is a pretty good offer. But some of those picks aren't that good.

Also, you posted the LAL '27 pick twice in the Kings section.

No one is trading an unprotected lottery pick for these guys in 2025. We do have a hug volume of picks and I think we can make a fair offer. We also have more in the clip than this with Minnesota and Cleveland's 2029 picks. Thanks for catching the Lakers pick mistake!

I could see Kessler making good sense in a rebuild, so I don't think LAL is needed here, either.

[SlimShady83]

LAL trades: D'Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2029 LAL 1st (top 8, top 4, top 1, 2 2nds), protections removed from 2027 1st
in: Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler

I just want Kessler, he just makes so much sense, can help give AD extra rest rather then 2-4 minutes etc, can play along side AD and give Bron rest, just fits In so perfectly Kessler/AD block party

[SNPA]

Let's assume that Sacramento has done some minor moves to try and optimize Fox/Sabonis and get clearly in the playoff picture, but can't, and Utah has continued to lose at a prodigious rate. Utah trades for Fox and Sabonis to pair with Lauri and whoever they draft in 2025. The Jazz are currently 6-20, and there are 24 games until the trade deadline (if they win at a similar rate, they are probably around 11-39). If they go .500 after getting Fox and Sabonis they'd end with 27 wins and still be one of the 7 worst teams in the league by record.

Filler goes around as needed (financially works as-is, but major issues w/roster sizes after)

UTA trades: John Collins, Collin Sexton, Taylor Hendricks, Cody Williams, Keyonte George, 2026 UTA 1st, 2027 LAL 1st (1-4 protected), 2025 MIN 1st, 2025 CLE 1st, 2027 MIN 1st, 2027 CLE 1st, 2027 LAL 1st (1-4 protected --- protections removed by LAL)
in: De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis

Utah builds a really well-optimized core of Fox/Lauri/Sabonis + with their pick can hopefully draft one of Flagg/Johnson/Bailey who all seem like good fits with that trio. Is this a higher upside team than Mitchell/Gobert? I don't think so, but it could be later given that Utah would have actual assets to fill in the gaps.

SAC trades: De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis
in: John Collins, De'Angelo Russell, Taylor Hendricks, Cody Williams, Keyonte George, 2026 UTA 1st, 2025 MIN 1st, 2025 CLE 1st, 2027 MIN 1st, 2027 CLE 1st, 2027 LAL 1st, 2029 LAL 1st (top 8, top 4, top 1, 2 2nds)

Sacramento move Fox and Sabonis for 7 1sts (only 1 protected), 2 recent lottery picks, a recent draft pick who looks like an NBA rotation player and maybe a bit more (George) and some salary relief.

LAL trades: D'Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2029 LAL 1st (top 8, top 4, top 1, 2 2nds), protections removed from 2027 1st
in: Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler

Lakers fill in their rotation. This is the most questionable aspect of the deal to me, and I think there are ways to make it work w/o LAL.

Don’t see it for Sac. Kings get basically nothing for players and the only high quality potential picks are years out. It’s a total rebuild trade, and not a great one.

[sackings916]

Let's assume that Sacramento has done some minor moves to try and optimize Fox/Sabonis and get clearly in the playoff picture, but can't, and Utah has continued to lose at a prodigious rate. Utah trades for Fox and Sabonis to pair with Lauri and whoever they draft in 2025. The Jazz are currently 6-20, and there are 24 games until the trade deadline (if they win at a similar rate, they are probably around 11-39). If they go .500 after getting Fox and Sabonis they'd end with 27 wins and still be one of the 7 worst teams in the league by record.

Filler goes around as needed (financially works as-is, but major issues w/roster sizes after)

UTA trades: John Collins, Collin Sexton, Taylor Hendricks, Cody Williams, Keyonte George, 2026 UTA 1st, 2027 LAL 1st (1-4 protected), 2025 MIN 1st, 2025 CLE 1st, 2027 MIN 1st, 2027 CLE 1st, 2027 LAL 1st (1-4 protected --- protections removed by LAL)
in: De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis

Utah builds a really well-optimized core of Fox/Lauri/Sabonis + with their pick can hopefully draft one of Flagg/Johnson/Bailey who all seem like good fits with that trio. Is this a higher upside team than Mitchell/Gobert? I don't think so, but it could be later given that Utah would have actual assets to fill in the gaps.

SAC trades: De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis
in: John Collins, De'Angelo Russell, Taylor Hendricks, Cody Williams, Keyonte George, 2026 UTA 1st, 2025 MIN 1st, 2025 CLE 1st, 2027 MIN 1st, 2027 CLE 1st, 2027 LAL 1st, 2029 LAL 1st (top 8, top 4, top 1, 2 2nds)

Sacramento move Fox and Sabonis for 7 1sts (only 1 protected), 2 recent lottery picks, a recent draft pick who looks like an NBA rotation player and maybe a bit more (George) and some salary relief.

LAL trades: D'Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2029 LAL 1st (top 8, top 4, top 1, 2 2nds), protections removed from 2027 1st
in: Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler

Lakers fill in their rotation. This is the most questionable aspect of the deal to me, and I think there are ways to make it work w/o LAL.

The Kings are not at the point of tearing it down. They are 3-9 in games decided by 5 pts or less, one strong run can put them in the top 6 of the west. They still need to work and evaluate what kind of team they are with DeRozan before doing anything drastic like this.

[SkyHook]

Ambitious trade proposal. Good for the Lakers, but the Kings probably aren't motivated to do this. I don't know that it's the right move for Utah either. Something this big is better suited for a discussion in the offseason, imo.

[Devilanche]

I don't understand why the Lakers are in this. I think the Kings would prefer Sexton and Kessler.

The trade is a non-starter without the Jazz unprotected 2025 pick, imo. Although now that I think of it, 7 picks is a pretty good offer. But some of those picks aren't that good.

Also, you posted the LAL '27 pick twice in the Kings section.

No one is trading an unprotected lottery pick for these guys in 2025. We do have a hug volume of picks and I think we can make a fair offer. We also have more in the clip than this with Minnesota and Cleveland's 2029 picks. Thanks for catching the Lakers pick mistake!

I could see Kessler making good sense in a rebuild, so I don't think LAL is needed here, either.

They should at least get one (most probably two) premium pick / rookie scale contract guy back in a trade for both fox and sabonis .

Right now it doesn’t seems any of those players are likely to hit one all star game between them and which of those pick am I suppose to be excited about having turn into potentially a top 5 pick ?

[babyjax13]

I don't understand why the Lakers are in this. I think the Kings would prefer Sexton and Kessler.

The trade is a non-starter without the Jazz unprotected 2025 pick, imo. Although now that I think of it, 7 picks is a pretty good offer. But some of those picks aren't that good.

Also, you posted the LAL '27 pick twice in the Kings section.

No one is trading an unprotected lottery pick for these guys in 2025. We do have a hug volume of picks and I think we can make a fair offer. We also have more in the clip than this with Minnesota and Cleveland's 2029 picks. Thanks for catching the Lakers pick mistake!

I could see Kessler making good sense in a rebuild, so I don't think LAL is needed here, either.

They should at least get one (most probably two) premium pick / rookie scale contract guy back in a trade for both fox and sabonis .

Right now it doesn’t seems any of those players are likely to hit one all star game between them and which of those pick am I suppose to be excited about having turn into potentially a top 5 pick ?

Which pick did Utah get for Mitchell and/or Gobert that projected as a potential top-5 picks? Those were better players who went for returns not too dissimilar to this.

[Devilanche]

No one is trading an unprotected lottery pick for these guys in 2025. We do have a hug volume of picks and I think we can make a fair offer. We also have more in the clip than this with Minnesota and Cleveland's 2029 picks. Thanks for catching the Lakers pick mistake!

I could see Kessler making good sense in a rebuild, so I don't think LAL is needed here, either.

They should at least get one (most probably two) premium pick / rookie scale contract guy back in a trade for both fox and sabonis .

Right now it doesn’t seems any of those players are likely to hit one all star game between them and which of those pick am I suppose to be excited about having turn into potentially a top 5 pick ?

Which pick did Utah get for Mitchell and/or Gobert that projected as a potential top-5 picks? Those were better players who went for returns not too dissimilar to this.

Ainge was just recently hired and he choose to strip it down (Mitchell was rumoured to not be resigning with Utah)

Lauri had some decent recent international games while Kessler was a newly chosen pick. Both returned something of value on court for the upcoming season.

Between your 3 outgoing, Hendricks is back from injury while the other 2 still have yet to show anything exciting from this season .

So what exactly would kings fans be getting for the upcoming season hence the upside question? If they aren’t getting paid in immediate value or upside play, might as well trade the 2 pieces separately and see if individually either can return better immediate returns.

Kings GM probably won’t survive long enough to bother about the high variance lakers pick.

[zimpy27]

LAL trades: D'Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2029 LAL 1st (top 8, top 4, top 1, 2 2nds), protections removed from 2027 1st
in: Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler

I just want Kessler, he just makes so much sense, can help give AD extra rest rather then 2-4 minutes etc, can play along side AD and give Bron rest, just fits In so perfectly Kessler/AD block party

Kessler doesn't make THAT much sense IMO. Davis plays 40mpg in the playoffs and LeBron gets close to that. It means at the PF and C spot lakers only have a spare 20 mpg or so in the playoffs.

Bringing in Kessler with FRPs going out means you really want him to be playing 30mpg in the playoffs at C. You're pushing LeBron to SF, meanwhile Rui also gets pushed to SF. At that point you have Sexton, Reaves, Christie playing the guard spots. Christie ends up being the only plus defender in the 1-3 spot unless Reaves backs off on offense and puts more work in on the defense end.

[SlimShady83]

Kessler doesn't make THAT much sense IMO. Davis plays 40mpg in the playoffs and LeBron gets close to that. It means at the PF and C spot lakers only have a spare 20 mpg or so in the playoffs.

**Whether people want to admit this or not, Lakers Is AD's team now, AD stated he wants help and needs help, Bron/Lakers said they need a upgrade and they're going for depth not third star/scorer etc somewhere on youtube LOL.

** AD was looking gassed In the 2nd quarter with only like 4 min rest and I think he played entire 1st and 3rd quarter (missed some of the 3rd was busy) and looking gassed, his defense was there, but his offense was shady today - he needs help and Hayes/Koloko Isn't It.

** And for those saying Lakers need help perimeter defense Vando Is that guy when he returns, think his set for Jan/Feb <> could be wrong there. We'll see how he turns out whe he comes back.

Bringing in Kessler with FRPs going out means you really want him to be playing 30mpg in the playoffs at C. You're pushing LeBron to SF, meanwhile Rui also gets pushed to SF. At that point you have Sexton, Reaves, Christie playing the guard spots. Christie ends up being the only plus defender in the 1-3 spot unless Reaves backs off on offense and puts more work in on the defense end.

* *I see only Bron having 1 more year left probably just next year and that's It, Kessler can be the future C push AD to the 4 eventually, you need to keep AD happy or risk losing him In future POST Bron, either him demanding trade or just losing Interest In B-ball.

Sorry I'm just high on Kessler, I'm not so much high on Sexton, but think to get Kessler you do the Kessler/Sexton trade and you get something for DLO In return, I don't want to go through another year of DLO. Edit: Don't think Utah really want long term contracts, but I remember reading something that utah had Interest In JHS at one stage??

Peace out.

[Daddy 801]

If I am Ainge I would not do this. Teams only win a chip with two top 25 players. The only hope for that is Utah tanking the next three seasons. I don’t want the Jazz to be good until 2028 at the soonest. It blows as a fan to watch a crappy team, but that’s what it takes to build a team who can win a chip. Especially a small market team that might be the least desirable free agent destination in the whole league.

Utah has to be top five draft picks the next two seasons and top 8 the third season for any hope at getting players who they can build around.

If that means trading Lauri next season for a couple more FRP draft picks….so be it.

[JJ_PR]

Which pick did Utah get for Mitchell and/or Gobert that projected as a potential top-5 picks? Those were better players who went for returns not too dissimilar to this.

Your premise is flawed. Ainge pulled the trigger on the Mitchell and Gobert trades because he expected to get lots of good picks. Unprotected firsts from small market teams have a lot of value. He certainly didn't think the Cavs would be this good.

[wemby]

I think this is the Jazz burdening the Kings with the task of sorting through their mess of high volume, low upside assets (underwhelming picks and players), that is time consuming and uncertain. If they want to put together an offer for Fox, best chance is landing a top 4 pick in this year's draft. Then add Kessler, Sexton and filler, and that's a much better foundation for a trade like this.

[wemby]

Which pick did Utah get for Mitchell and/or Gobert that projected as a potential top-5 picks? Those were better players who went for returns not too dissimilar to this.

Your premise is flawed. Ainge pulled the trigger on the Mitchell and Gobert trades because he expected to get lots of good picks. Unprotected firsts from small market teams have a lot of value. He certainly didn't think the Cavs would be this good.

Agreed. Ainge bet on Cavs being unable to put it all together and eventually losing Mitchell or blowing it up. Looks like it wont, but I'd still say getting Lauri and Sexton plus the picks sounds like a very good return.

[jazzfan1971]

I would prefer to just target Fox. Savonis is a very good floor raiser, but I fear he puts a cap on playoff success.

Fun idea though

[babyjax13]

I think this is the Jazz burdening the Kings with the task of sorting through their mess of high volume, low upside assets (underwhelming picks and players), that is time consuming and uncertain. If they want to put together an offer for Fox, best chance is landing a top 4 pick in this year's draft. Then add Kessler, Sexton and filler, and that's a much better foundation for a trade like this.

I think that's what most teams get in a trade for a star. But I do think it makes complete sense that Sacramento would shop around d if it comes to this and see if they can get a higher upside pick, or wait till the offseason and if Utah has a non-premium lotto pick get that in the deal.