The Sacramento Kings are one of the worst NBA teams right now, entering play on Friday tied for the fewest wins (one) in the entire league with the sixth-worst point differential. While the 2027 NBA trade deadline isn’t until Feb. 11, there’s already some early intel coming out of Sacramento.

According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, the Kings are open for business with the front office “willing to discuss anyone” on the roster outside of rookie point guard Darius Acuff Jr. There’s excitement in Sacramento regarding Acuff and his future, but a recogniztion that next to nothing on the current roster surrounding Acuff will likely be part of the long-term core.

“Speaking of teams that are open for business, team sources say the Kings (1-10) are willing to discuss anyone not named Darius Acuff Jr. With their prized rookie on a historic pace, averaging 26.2 points, 7.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds, this should come as no surprise. The internal excitement over his start has the Kings, quite naturally, pondering ways to speed up their roster reconstruction with the hopes of building around him.”

The Athletic’s Sam Amick on the Sacramento Kings’ approach to trade talks

Sacramento is more than willing to trade All-Star center Domantas Sabonis, who isn’t happy with his diminished on-court role and would certainly like to play for a contender. The team is also open to dealing veterans Zach LaVine and Malik Monk, even with the NBA’s new tanking rules effectively penalizing teams that finish in the bottom three of the standings.

Unfortunately for Kings general manager Scott Perry, the likes of Monk, LaVine and Sabonis are a “tough sell” around the NBA and not generating much of any interest around the league. While LaVine is still a capable scorer who would benefit from playing a reduced role for a contender, his $48.9 million salary is far too much for another team to take on, even with it being the last year of his deal.

Moving Sabonis could prove even more difficult. As reported back in September, teams around the league viewed Sabonis as a negative trade asset. While injuries last season might have had something to do with that, he is only averaging 13.8 PPG this season, and he is a huge liability defensively. Owed $45.4 million this season and $48.6 million in the final year of his deal (2027-28), teams have seemingly wanted Sacramento to attach draft picks to Sabonis’ contract, and that is something the Kings are adamantly opposed to.

Ultimately, Sacramento might be stuck with LaVine, Monk and Sabonis past the NBA trade deadline. LaVine isn’t going to take a buyout, and with Monk’s deal holding a $21.582 million player option for the 2027-28 season, the veteran guard also seems highly unlikely to leave Sacramento voluntarily by leaving tens of millions of dollars on the table to get to a better situation.