Official Trade Thread Part XLVII

[Diop]

Would Washington be interested in Lamelo ball?

[pcbothwel]

Would Washington be interested in Lamelo ball?

No. Poor fit with our culture, or lack thereof. Adds talent/wins to a team tanking. Blocks potential lead Guard that could be drafted (Peterson/Brown).

[nate33]

Would Washington be interested in Lamelo ball?

Perhaps as a reclamation project, but they definitely wouldn't give up any prime assets for him. They might agree to absorb his salary off your books though.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

If his ability were the only consideration, Lamelo Ball would be absolutely perfect for the Wizards. He was the Rookie of the Year in 2019 and an All-Star by 2022. He is only 24 now. However, Lamelo stays injured.

AI Overview

LaMelo Ball's career has been significantly impacted by recurring injuries, most notably to his 

ankles and wrist, leading to missed games and surgeries, with recent issues in late 2024 and early 2025 involving right ankle impingement, a wrist procedure, and a left ankle sprain, highlighting his status as an injury-prone player despite flashes of stardom. 

Major Injuries & Incidents:

Right Wrist Fracture (2021): A significant early injury where he fractured a bone near his thumb, causing him to miss time.

Left Ankle Sprains (2022-2023): Suffered multiple sprains to his left ankle, including a Grade 2 sprain that started the 2022-23 season with significant missed time.

Right Ankle Fracture (2023): A non-contact fracture in his right ankle that also sidelined him for a large portion of the 2023-24 season.

Left Calf Strain (2024): A November 2024 setback.

Right Ankle Impingement & Wrist Procedure (2025): Ended the 2024-25 season early with surgery for an ankle issue and a minor wrist procedure to address ongoing soreness.

Recent Ankle Issues (Late 2025): Experienced soreness and re-injury to his left ankle in late 2025, continuing his pattern of ankle problems. 

Impact:

His frequent injuries have limited his availability, affecting the Charlotte Hornets', team chemistry and development, as he's played in only about 57% of possible games in his career.

This durability concern raises questions about his long-term potential, especially given his large contract. 

Lamelo Ball will, on average, play about 48 of 82 games every season.

No, thank you.

[Frichuela]

Not sure how reliable these rumors are…Sabonis is currently nursing a knee injury and has 2.5 years left of a contract. I guess both Winger and Dawkins know him from his time at OKC…

Read on Twitter

?s=46

[nate33]

Not sure how reliable these rumors are…Sabonis is currently nursing a knee injury and has 2.5 years left of a contract. I guess both Winger and Dawkins know him from his time at OKC…

Read on Twitter

?s=46

I seriously doubt the Wizards are interested at all and this is probably just the Kings trying to generate interest. But if the Wizards do get involved, I'm 100% certain they won't be trading any prime assets for him (Sarr, George, Tre, future high FRPs). The most I could envision us including would be one of our plethora of wings (Whitmore, Champagnie, Coulibaly or Riley), and I seriously doubt it would be Riley or Coulibaly.

I'm not 100% opposed to the idea. Sabonis is a pretty good fit on paper as a stout rebounder and a veteran mentor to Sarr. But mostly I'd only want him if we could steal him for something like: Middleton + Whitmore + the 2026 OKC pick. It's helpful that Sabonis is currently injured. Hopefully we could slow walk his recovery so he doesn't contribute to too many wins this season.

[tontoz]

Not sure how reliable these rumors are…Sabonis is currently nursing a knee injury and has 2.5 years left of a contract. I guess both Winger and Dawkins know him from his time at OKC…

Read on Twitter

?s=46

I seriously doubt the Wizards are interested at all and this is probably just the Kings trying to generate interest. But if the Wizards do get involved, I'm 100% certain they won't be trading any prime assets for him (Sarr, George, Tre, future high FRPs). The most I could envision us including would be one of our plethora of wings (Whitmore, Champagnie, Coulibaly or Riley), and I seriously doubt it would be Riley or Coulibaly.

I'm not 100% opposed to the idea. Sabonis is a pretty good fit on paper as a stout rebounder and a veteran mentor to Sarr. But mostly I'd only want him if we could steal him for something like: Middleton + Whitmore + the 2026 OKC pick. It's helpful that Sabonis is currently injured. Hopefully we could slow walk his recovery so he doesn't contribute to too many wins this season.

He is a physical player and a good rebounder so in theory he would be a good fit. His weakness protecting the rim wouldn't be as big an issue playing next to Sarr.

Like you said the price tag is the big issue. It could help us reduce the logjam at the wing and find some use for our excess cap space in the next couple of years.

[Dark Faze]

I wouldn't trade any real assets for him. Just expirings. And even then I'd have the following concerns:

1. Any potential to win more games than we otherwise would have over a 29 year old in such an important draft year isn't tenable.
2. Some potential to clash with the development of a guy like Cam Boozer who is a PF if we get him. Then you're stuck with an awkward situation where you probably try to play Cam out of position so Sabonis can still start.

I do agree that its time to start thinking about being a better basketball team next year, but I think the timing is off by doing it at the deadline.

[pcbothwel]

I wouldn't trade any real assets for him. Just expirings. And even then I'd have the following concerns:

1. Any potential to win more games than we otherwise would have over a 29 year old in such an important draft year isn't tenable.
2. Some potential to clash with the development of a guy like Cam Boozer who is a PF if we get him. Then you're stuck with an awkward situation where you probably try to play Cam out of position so Sabonis can still start.

I do agree that its time to start thinking about being a better basketball team next year, but I think the timing is off by doing it at the deadline.

This is what I keep coming back to. We dont want to win more games, but even if you ignore that, do we really want to add a maxed-out starter to this team when we dont know which elite prospect will be available at our pick?

[Frichuela]

I wouldn't trade any real assets for him. Just expirings. And even then I'd have the following concerns:

1. Any potential to win more games than we otherwise would have over a 29 year old in such an important draft year isn't tenable.
2. Some potential to clash with the development of a guy like Cam Boozer who is a PF if we get him. Then you're stuck with an awkward situation where you probably try to play Cam out of position so Sabonis can still start.

I do agree that its time to start thinking about being a better basketball team next year, but I think the timing is off by doing it at the deadline.

This is unless they let him rest and take care of the knee most of the season...

If they were to play him 10 games out of say the 50 left post a hypothetical trade, the tank should not be in jeopardy.

It's obviously rumors and I am not saying this is any proof but it seems he was drafted in the last season of Winger at OKC, which means he (and Dawkins) probably contributed to his selection..

[tontoz]

I wouldn't trade any real assets for him. Just expirings. And even then I'd have the following concerns:

1. Any potential to win more games than we otherwise would have over a 29 year old in such an important draft year isn't tenable.
2. Some potential to clash with the development of a guy like Cam Boozer who is a PF if we get him. Then you're stuck with an awkward situation where you probably try to play Cam out of position so Sabonis can still start.

I do agree that its time to start thinking about being a better basketball team next year, but I think the timing is off by doing it at the deadline.

This is what I keep coming back to. We dont want to win more games, but even if you ignore that, do we really want to add a maxed-out starter to this team when we dont know which elite prospect will be available at our pick?

I don't think the draft pick will be relevant. There's 96 minutes available at the 4/5. Even if we did draft Boozer there is plenty of time for him and Sarr/Sabonis.

If this deal does happen it won't be until the deadline and i suspect our tank position will be pretty good by then.

[nate33]

I wouldn't trade any real assets for him. Just expirings. And even then I'd have the following concerns:

1. Any potential to win more games than we otherwise would have over a 29 year old in such an important draft year isn't tenable.
2. Some potential to clash with the development of a guy like Cam Boozer who is a PF if we get him. Then you're stuck with an awkward situation where you probably try to play Cam out of position so Sabonis can still start.

I do agree that its time to start thinking about being a better basketball team next year, but I think the timing is off by doing it at the deadline.

This is what I keep coming back to. We dont want to win more games, but even if you ignore that, do we really want to add a maxed-out starter to this team when we dont know which elite prospect will be available at our pick?

This is a good point.

The trade could work out nicely if we land Peterson or Dybantsa, but it wouldn't look so good if we landed Boozer. It could be sort of like San Antonio acquiring Fox just before landing Harper in the draft.

That said, I think there is room of the roster for all 3 of Sarr, Sabonis and Boozer (or Wilson). There could be hurt feelings with someone being left out of the starting lineup, but there's still 32 minutes a night available for all 3 of them.

[closg00]

Consider the source, which is mixed reliability at-best

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Not sure how reliable these rumors are…Sabonis is currently nursing a knee injury and has 2.5 years left of a contract. I guess both Winger and Dawkins know him from his time at OKC…

Read on Twitter

?s=46

I seriously doubt the Wizards are interested at all and this is probably just the Kings trying to generate interest. But if the Wizards do get involved, I'm 100% certain they won't be trading any prime assets for him (Sarr, George, Tre, future high FRPs). The most I could envision us including would be one of our plethora of wings (Whitmore, Champagnie, Coulibaly or Riley), and I seriously doubt it would be Riley or Coulibaly.

I'm not 100% opposed to the idea. Sabonis is a pretty good fit on paper as a stout rebounder and a veteran mentor to Sarr. But mostly I'd only want him if we could steal him for something like: Middleton + Whitmore + the 2026 OKC pick. It's helpful that Sabonis is currently injured. Hopefully we could slow walk his recovery so he doesn't contribute to too many wins this season.

Leave this alone. It smells like a Lattimore deal. He is injured. His team that stinks wants to offload him.He's not a rim protector! You NEVER win with guys like that. They passed on a rookie who had potential.

Why trade any assets now?

[9 and 20]

Definitely out of nowhere. If we can get him for cheap, then why not? The extreme downside is that he's really damaged goods and can only play limited minutes. I think he's still be effective though - game does not really rely on athletecism. He's got good feel on offense and could even be a good mentor to a guy like Boozer if we end up getting him. Mids, Cam, AJ Johnsonson, protected pick? Knowing how our recent castoffs (Deni and Ryan Rollins!!) have played, I'm sure both Cam and AJ end up all-NBA next year for Sacramento, which squares with our Webber-Richmond history with that team.

[gambitx777]

Definitely out of nowhere. If we can get him for cheap, then why not? The extreme downside is that he's really damaged goods and can only play limited minutes. I think he's still be effective though - game does not really rely on athletecism. He's got good feel on offense and could even be a good mentor to a guy like Boozer if we end up getting him. Mids, Cam, AJ Johnsonson, protected pick? Knowing how our recent castoffs (Deni and Ryan Rollins!!) have played, I'm sure both Cam and AJ end up all-NBA next year for Sacramento, which squares with our Webber-Richmond history with that team.

A salary dump sure but like I can't see them moving him for that

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Definitely out of nowhere. If we can get him for cheap, then why not? The extreme downside is that he's really damaged goods and can only play limited minutes. I think he's still be effective though - game does not really rely on athletecism. He's got good feel on offense and could even be a good mentor to a guy like Boozer if we end up getting him. Mids, Cam, AJ Johnsonson, protected pick? Knowing how our recent castoffs (Deni and Ryan Rollins!!) have played, I'm sure both Cam and AJ end up all-NBA next year for Sacramento, which squares with our Webber-Richmond history with that team.

Nobody wanted the Maryland kid, but you want an older player with a bad knee who's teams have been horrible.

Extreme downside...

Stop there and refect.

[tontoz]

@ CCJ dogging a center because he is not a rim protector.

Leave this alone. It smells like a Lattimore deal. He is injured. His team that stinks wants to offload him.He's not a rim protector! You NEVER win with guys like that. They passed on a rookie who had potential.

Why trade any assets now?

[nate33]

Definitely out of nowhere. If we can get him for cheap, then why not? The extreme downside is that he's really damaged goods and can only play limited minutes. I think he's still be effective though - game does not really rely on athletecism. He's got good feel on offense and could even be a good mentor to a guy like Boozer if we end up getting him. Mids, Cam, AJ Johnsonson, protected pick? Knowing how our recent castoffs (Deni and Ryan Rollins!!) have played, I'm sure both Cam and AJ end up all-NBA next year for Sacramento, which squares with our Webber-Richmond history with that team.

Nobody wanted the Maryland kid, but you want an older player with a bad knee who's teams have been horrible.

Extreme downside...

Stop there and refect.

The reason I'm open-minded to this is that Sabonis' deal expires just when Sarr's is up to be renewed. I don't think you can win with Sabonis, but I do think he is a floor-raiser who can help bring the team to respectability while teaching Sarr the high-post game and taking some of the load off of Sarr's rebounding duties while Sarr is still filling out.

Two years from now, Sarr will be bigger, stronger, and have a full understanding of the high post game just as Sabonis' deal expires and Sarr can handle the role solo. And by then, we will hopefully have developed a full time bruiser of a power forward to play next to Sarr. That might by Kyshawn, or perhaps Boozer or Wilson.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

@ CCJ dogging a center because he is not a rim protector.

Leave this alone. It smells like a Lattimore deal. He is injured. His team that stinks wants to offload him.He's not a rim protector! You NEVER win with guys like that. They passed on a rookie who had potential.

Why trade any assets now?

I stopped responding when payitforward said, "Give it a month." I honored that.

Will someone point out what sarcasm is to this person? He is misinterpreting and throwing my name in with his crap.

Whatever is bothering you, Have a Merry Christmas.