SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 16: Domantas Sabonis #10 of the Sacramento Kings reacts after making a basket against the Golden State Warriors in the first quarter during the Play-In Tournament at Golden 1 Center on April 16, 2024 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
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As if their already poor season couldn’t get worse, the Sacramento Kings have gotten some horrible injury news. Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis has been diagnosed with a partially torn meniscus and he is set to be reevaluated in 3-4 weeks. With Sacramento already sitting with a record of 3-13 this season, this is a huge blow to any hopes they had of potentially turning things around.
Sabonis hasn’t been playing as well as he has in past seasons this year, at least from an efficiency standpoint. This season he is averaging 17.2 points per game on 51 percent from the field and 56.4 percent true-shooting which is about 2 points less, and 8 percent and 9 percent worse from the field and true-shooting.
Sacramento is undoubtedly headed toward a rebuild, and will most likely be sellers at this season’s NBA trade deadline. But with such a massive injury to their big man, this will likely impact the value that he will fetch on the trade market.
After winning 48 games and making the playoffs for the first time in decades back in 2023, Sacramento seemed poised to continue making runs with the duo of De’Aaron Fox and Sabonis leading the charge. But after Fox requested and was granted a trade to the San Antonio Spurs, the vision of their future became murky.
With this injury to Sabonis likely leading to even more losses, Sacramento needs to trade the pieces that still have a semblance of value such as Demar DeRozan and Zach LaVine. Sacramento has been rebuilding for decades and it seems that trend will be continuing this season.