Report: Sacramento Kings trade Thomas Robinson to the Houston Rockets

Update: 9:46 pm PT

Thomas Robinson reflects during a break in action against the Warriors on opening night. (Photo: Steven Chea)

According to multiple reports, the Sacramento Kings have traded Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia, Tyler Honeycutt and a future second-round pick to the Houston Rockets for Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich, Toney Douglas and cash considerations of up to $1 million.

The deal was first reported by USA Today Sports and Yahoo! Sports.

“We are excited about the addition of Patrick, Toney and Cole,” said Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie in a prepared statement. “They will add skill and depth along with the potential for a different look to our roster. We all want to thank Francisco, Thomas and Tyler for their efforts and contributions.”

Robinson was the fifth overall selection of the 2012 NBA Draft, but has struggled to translate his game to the pro level.  The former Kansas Jayhawk averaged just 4.8 points and 4.7 rebounds in 15.9 minutes per game this season and has struggled to find consistent minutes in Keith Smart‘s rotation.

The 31-year old Garcia had spent his entire eight-yea careerr with the Kings after being selected with the 23rd overall pick in the 2005 draft.  Garcia had his best year in a Kings uniform during the 2008-09 season, averaging 12.7 points per game.  But in the following offseason, he suffered a catastrophic injury to his right wrist during a freak workout accident.  In 462 games for Sacramento, Garcia posted 8.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.4 rebounds.

The seldom used Honeycutt played a total of 24 games over the last season-and-a-half for the Kings after being selected with the 35th pick in the 2011 draft.

The 6-foot-9, 235 lbs. Patterson is the apparent centerpiece of this reported deal for Sacramento.  The 23-year-old Kentucky product is having a breakout season, averaging 11.6 points and 4.7 rebounds in 26 minutes per game.  A true stretch four, Patterson shoots an impressive 51.9 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from long range.

Douglas averaged 8.1 points in 49 games off the Rockets bench after coming over from the Knicks last summer.  Aldrich was the 11th overall selection in the 2010 draft, but has never found a spot in the NBA.  This is Aldrich’s third team in three NBA seasons and he has played a total of just 528 minutes in 74 career games.

In a separate deal, the Rockets also traded Robinson’s former Jayhawk teammate Marcus Morris to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a 2013 second round pick.

Editor’s note: The deal was thought to be a three-team trade involving the Kings, Rockets and Suns. The Rockets instead made two separate transactions with both the Kings and Suns.

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Reaction to Thomas Robinson-to-Houston trade

Storified by Jonathan Santiago· Wed, Feb 20 2013 21:49:24

WowJason Thompson
Someone pointed out that cash should always be listed first and capitalized when it comes to Kings deals – CASH ($1 million to be exact).Sam Amick
Damn homie!!!!Isaiah Thomas
Kings move was all about cutting costs and not something management enjoyed doing, a source said.Marc J. Spears
And it starts………..chuck hayes
The Seattle ownership group, which has a deal to purchase the Sacramento Kings, was briefed on trade before its completion, source tells Y!Adrian Wojnarowski
Houston-Sacramento deal for Thomas Robinson came together within 48 hours, hatched on Monday and completed today, league source tells Y!Adrian Wojnarowski
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