Kings rumors: The next player most likely to get traded after Keon Ellis, Dennis Schroder head to Cavs

The first major trade of the NBA Trade Deadline season has happened! The Cleveland Cavaliers were the first team to make a significant move as the February 5 deadline drew near. The Cavs traded DeAndre Hunter to the Sacramento Kings for fan favorite Keon Ellis and journeyman Dennis Schroder.

With the Kings on the brink of a fire sale, expect another trade to happen in the coming days. Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reports that sweet-shooting guard Malik Monk is the next player on the trade block for Sacramento as they look to recoup draft assets for their lost season.

“As for the Kings, they are not done operating before the trade deadline either,” Siegel reports. “Sacramento has made calls about Domantas Sabonis, as well as DeMar DeRozan and Malik Monk over the last few weeks. Of these three, Monk is the player the Kings have been shopping the most.”

It’s worth noting that Monk is listed as questionable for today’s game against the Washington Wizards. This could indicate that the Kings are indeed preparing to trade the guard and is protecting him from injury.

Ellis was asked a few days before being traded about the rumors. The ex-Kings guard put a positive spin on the trade rumors.

“It’s always great to be wanted because that’s not always the case,” Ellis said when asked by HoopsHype how he feels seeing his name linked with so many teams having trade interest in him. “It’s definitely good that other teams see value in you.”

At 12-38 this season, the Kings sit in last place in the Western Conference. In a year where the Western field seems incredibly competitive, Sacramento is far from even sniffing the Play-In tournament. That’s the primary reason why the team is shopping their stars to teams looking to compete in the postseason.

That being said, the Kings aren’t doing a good job of restocking their draft capital, if that even is their plan. The return for Ellis and Schroder was Hunter, a perfectly serviceable wing, but he doesn’t necessarily move the needle in either direction. It’s an underwhelming return for what was already a less-than-ideal situation for the team.

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