The Sacramento Kings jumpstarted the busy trade deadline season, following up the Trae Young trade with a deal of their own weeks later to get things restarted with days left to go before the deadline passes. They dealt away Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for De'Andre Hunter in what many assume is the first of a few moves to come for a Kings team that currently has a 12-39 record — sitting in dead last in the West.
The Kings are dismantling their Beam Team bit by bit; only three players from their 2023 playoff team remain, and two of them (Malik Monk and Domantas Sabonis) have been heavily involved in trade rumors.
This continues a steep drop-off for the Kings, and the morale level in the locker room has to be in the gutter. Monk, in particular, expressed his sadness to see Ellis, who he's built a close friendship with over the three and a half seasons they spent together, go.
“That's my dawg, man. Man, I hate seeing anybody that I’m close friends with go, but obviously it was on, they wanted to go, and I feel like the team, (Kings general manager) Scott (Perry), thought it was best for us to let them go. And yeah, man, it sucks seeing all the guys go, especially, like I said, when you’re close,” Monk said, via Brendan Nunes of Sactown 1140.
Full Malik Monk quote where he said Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroder “wanted to go.” https://t.co/r06RAHVb4A pic.twitter.com/CtbdAD7nBG
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) February 3, 2026
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Kings to be even busier on the trade market
Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (11) drives to the basket against the Toronto Raptors during the first quarter at Golden 1 Center.
Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images
The Kings' decision to trade Schroder and Ellis away should only be the beginning. Domantas Sabonis is reportedly drawing serious interest on the market from the Toronto Raptors, while DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine could become targets for teams in need of a scoring punch. Monk could be a good buy-low option considering how inconsistent his role has been this season.
Whatever the case may be, something has to change for this Kings team that's currently flatlining at the bottom of the West standings.