File this one under not so surprising—the Sacramento Kings aren’t keen on the idea of helping the Los Angeles Lakers trade for Paul George.
The Lakers have been quite busy as of late in their pursuit of George. Magic Johnson and the front office just traded D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets while shedding cap and acquiring more trade pieces the Indiana Pacers might like.
This might’ve been a reaction to the Kings saying “no thanks” to a deal involving the No. 2 pick, according to NBA.com’s David Aldridge:
Lakers, per sources, engaged Sacramento in talks that would have sent the 2nd pick to the Kings for Sac’s two 1st-rounders (5 and 10) (1/2)
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) June 21, 2017
Apparently this was all a master plan to give the Pacers a package they simply couldn’t refuse:
Lakers would have then packaged one of the Kings’ picks w/27 & 28 along w/player in offer to Indy for Paul George. But Kings said no (2/2).
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) June 21, 2017
But the Kings don’t have a great reason to help out a rival like this. The franchise is trying to smartly move on from the DeMarcus Cousins era and has some nice building blocks such as Willie Cauley-Stein and Buddy Hield to work around. Adding as many high-quality prospects to the rotation and letting the core grow together is franchise building done the right way, especially for a team that won’t be attracting big-name free agents in the near future.
This rumbling speaks to how serious the Lakers are about getting George now as opposed to waiting until next summer in free agency. Also of note is how serious the Kings are about sticking to their rebuilding plan.
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