The Sacramento Kings desperately want out of the Domantas Sabonis business, and the Raptors are the most likely team to take him. Unfortunately, Jakob Poeltl is in the way. Toronto wants to send him to Sacramento and the Kings do not want him. It could end up [stopping this deal dead in its tracks](https://aroyalpain.com/if-there-one-place-domantas-sabonis-not-going-apparently-canada).
If a team is on the hunt for a center who rebounds like a madman and scores well when the offense is run through him, look no further than Domantas Sabonis. The Lithuanian-American five can collect some big numbers when put to work properly.
Keeping that in mind, you might be asking yourself [why the Kings want rid of him](https://aroyalpain.com/domantas-sabonis-injury-saying-everything-about-his-place-on-kings) so bad. The reasons are threefold. First, they don't want to run their offense through him anymore, which decreases his value. Second, he doesn't really play defense, which is important to Sacramento these days.
The third reason might be the biggest. He is the second most expensive player on the roster, and is under contract with the Kings through 2028. Basically, Sabonis is one of two high-priced members of the roster with terrible contracts who are holding up the rebuild process in Sacramento.
That's where the Raptors come in...hopefully
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Toronto is the most likely partner for a Sabonis trade, mainly because they need his offensive prowess at the five and have the defensive capabilities already in place to make up for the rest. Back in Sacramento, the Kings simple aren't potent enough on defense to cover for him.
The Raptors trade package reputedly includes R.J. Barrett, Jakob Poeltl, and draft picks. Sacramento love two-thirds of that, the odd man out being Poeltl. He's a reasonably good center who is injured a lot and on a bad contract with an extension that definitively overpays him through 2030.
This is almost the exact scenario the Kings are trying to get away from by trading Sabonis in the first place. The difference is that Domantas is a former All-Star and a better center than Poeltl. That's why the Raptors want to move Jakob and bring in Domantas, which will not work for the Kings.
Honestly, the Kings would be better off keeping of Sabonis than taking on the insane contract the Raptors gave Poeltl. If they can't pull a trade off with the Raptors before the deadline, they're better off waiting until the offseason and testing the trade market for Sabonis then. Poeltl is a deal breaker.