Once again, the Sacramento Kings’ locker room was rocked by another multiplayer trade yesterday. The Kings made a move to acquire Jason Terry and Reggie Evans from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Marcus Thornton. With the addition of Terry and Evans, the Kings have now had 21 different players suit up in white, purple and black this season.
“It’s the NBA, everybody goes through it,” said veteran Kings forward Rudy Gay of today’s pending trade deadline. “The best teams and the worst teams, they go through it. But no matter what we have to be professional, go out there and do our best for the team that we’re playing at the present time.”
Following last night’s loss to the Golden State Warriors, Kings players were asked about the latest deal to alter their roster. Below is reaction from Isaiah Thomas, Ben McLemore and Gay.
- Thomas says he spoke to Terry before the trade was made. After hearing rumors circulating about the deal, he decided reach out to the veteran guard via text message on Wednesday. Thomas says that Terry replied by telling him that he’d “be seeing him soon.”
- It’s no secret that Thomas has a longstanding relationship with Terry. The 36-year-old guard has been a big-brother figure to Thomas, dating back to their days in the Pacific Northwest. Thomas mentioned that Terry’s father actually coached him from second to eighth grade. “For him to be on the team now is a little weird,” Thomas said.”
- Terry’s best days as an NBA player are likely behind him. But does Thomas think that his mentor have anything left in the tank? “Yeah, a guy that can shoot it like that (can help),” Thomas said. “All he’s gotta do is spot up. And he’s won championships at every level. Not only can he help us on the court, but in practice, in the locker room. That’s a guy that you want on your team.”
- Thomas on losing Thornton, who had been his teammate since he first arrived in Sacramento two-and-a-half years ago: “”It sucks, man. It sucks. That’s the bad thing about the NBA – you lose brothers. Guys that you fight with every day and you go to battle with every day and Marcus Thornton was a great teammate and I know he’s going to do great things over in Brooklyn. Also, you know that’s the business of the NBA and you gotta move on.”
- McLemore on the veteran experience that Terry and Evans bring to the Kings: “Starting with JT, I think that’s another vet in the room that can help us younger guys on what we can do and how to manage ourselves on and off the court, little things like that. Reggie Evans, I think, can be another big part for us as far as (defense) and being out there as an energy guy that’s gonna help us rebound the ball.”
- Earlier this week, McLemore was rumored to be part of a package deal with the Boston Celtics for Rajon Rondo. How has McLemore dealt with the distractions of his first trade deadline? “I’ve been staying focused,” the 21-year-old rookie said. “Staying focused on what I need to do, just getting better each and every day. Playing my game, working hard each and every day and not trying to really focus on that. Just working on myself.”
- Gay’s thoughts on acquiring Terry and Evans: “Well if Jason Terry will be the guy he was in Dallas, that’ll help a lot. And I think Reggie Evans has that tough guy mentality that we also need and you can’t have enough of those guys. And also we just need some veterans in here and that’s good for us. The fact that we have those older guys that (have) won and can teach (us), myself included (can help). Those guys have been in the league longer than me, so I think having those veterans could really help us.”
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