The Sacramento Kings just watched another piece of their point guard past come back to haunt them. No, it wasn't Tyrese Haliburton. It wasn't even De'Aaron Fox. This time, we're talking about Davion Mitchell.
The Toronto Raptors have used the No. 39 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft to select Alijah Martin, finalizing the last piece of the trade that sent Mitchell to Toronto just about a year ago to the day.
The second-round pick, originally acquired by Sacramento from Portland, was quietly included in the deal, one that the Kings made primarily to shed salary at the time to bring in Malik Monk.
Now, with Mitchell thriving in Miami and the Raptors adding a young prospect to their roster, this trade looks even worse for the Kings in hindsight. And in a cruel twist of irony, the Kings now find themselves searching for help at the very position they once had an embarrassment of riches.
Updated Davion Mitchell trade details after latest draft pick
Kings received:
Jalen McDaniels
Raptors received:
Davion Mitchell
Sasha Vezenkov
Alijah Martin (2025 second-round pick)
The Kings originally selected Mitchell ninth overall in the 2021 NBA Draft. For a time, he was part of a loaded guard trio alongside the aforementioned De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton. But one by one, Sacramento shipped them all out.
Haliburton was the first to go, traded to Indiana in 2022 in the blockbuster deal that brought back Domantas Sabonis. Fox was the last of three, as he was dealt earlier this year to San Antonio in a three-team deal centered around Zach LaVine. As for Mitchell, he was practically given away for free.
The Kings traded Mitchell, Sasha Vezenkov, and this year’s No. 39 pick to the Raptors for Jalen McDaniels in June of 2024 in a move made to clear salary. McDaniels never played a regular-season minute for Sacramento.
He was flipped to San Antonio a few months later in a cap-clearing move. In the end, the Kings gave up a former lottery pick, a EuroLeague MVP, and a top-40 draft pick for… nothing.
Meanwhile, Mitchell has thrived since leaving Sacramento. After a decent stretch in Toronto, he was dealt midseason to Miami and immediately became a key rotation piece.
In 32 games with the Heat, Mitchell averaged 10.6 points and 5.4 assists on over 50 percent shooting from the field and 45.7 percent from three. Yes, we're talking about the same Davion Mitchell who shot under 33% from deep over three years with the Kings.
With the Kings now lacking a reliable point guard to run their offense, Mitchell’s resurgence, and the Raptors’ use of this pick, only adds to the pain. What once looked like a surplus of talent at the position has turned into a glaring hole of their own making.
The Haliburton and Fox trades understandably draw all the headlines, but it’s the unnecessary and boneheaded loss of Davion Mitchell that might be most infuriating.
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