Preseason trade rumors alert!
According to Michael Scott of Basketball Insiders, the Sacramento Kings have talked shop with the Miami Heat about a deal that would land them Goran Dragic in exchange for Darren Collison and Rudy Gay:
The Sacramento Kings and Miami Heat have discussed a trade of Rudy Gay and Darren Collison for Goran Dragic, league sources told Basketball Insiders.
“Sacramento has to trade Gay,” an Eastern Conference executive told Basketball Insiders. “He’s already informed them he doesn’t like it there. They can’t let him walk for nothing.”
It makes sense that the Kings are trying to move on from Gay, who has made it clear he won’t be returning to Sacramento next season. It also makes sense that they are trying to upgrade the point guard position, which is a mess of talent question marks and off-court liabilities—Ty Lawson recently missed a team flight, and Collison is suspended for the first eight games of the season after pleading guilty to a domestic violence charge.
What doesn’t make sense is the Kings targeting a 30-year-old point guard who has four years and roughly $70.2 million left on is deal. It would be one thing if they were on the brink of contention, but they’re not. There’s no guarantee they’ll be a playoff team with Dragic, who has by and large underachieved since arriving in Miami, just as there’s no guarantee DeMarcus Cousins will be returning to them as a free agent in 2018.
When your foundation is that shaky, this isn’t the type of trade you make, even if you’re giving up a pair of expiring contracts.
Speaking of which, this would be a very clear attempt by the Heat to hit reset, without totally destroying their hopes this season. Acquiring Gay and Collison makes them slightly deeper, and they free themselves from the rest of Dragic’s contract well in advance of next summer’s free-agency extravaganza.
Now let’s see whether this goes anywhere anytime soon, picks up steam once both teams have a hold on their ceilings as is or falls by the wayside entirely as just another rumor.
