The Sacramento Kings are off to a slow start this season and now plans that were likely have been accelerated, as the team is planning to ship off veterans to help speed up the rebuilding process and that means names like Jimmer Fredette, Chuck Hayes, John Salmons and Jason Thompson could all get moved in deals.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Kings are looking to trade away veterans this season to help get the rebuilding process moving and that means players like Fredette and others could be on the trading block. The report says that Kings will "aggressively" look at making a deal and the main things in return that the team wants are draft picks and young players and with teams looking to add depth and veterans around the league, they may find some solid trade partners. Other players like Kenneth Faried and Rajon Rondo will need big packages to get deals done, but the Kings ones likely will be better for teams with needs.
The Kings were already expected to make moves like this during the season and with a new general manager, coach and owner in the front office, it looks like it's time to sell things off. There are many teams in the league that will be interested in trading for veterans, including the Knicks, Bulls and Cavaliers and one of the main reasons the team likely wants to trade Fredette is the fact that they have a backload of players at his position with Isaiah Thomas and Ray McCallum along with Greivis Vasquez.
The team opted not to pick up the option on Fredette and that is another sign that they want to trade him and reports came out over the summer that the team was close to a deal with the Cavaliers and a report from USA Today said that the Kings were talking to two teams over the summer about a possible trade. Fredette now is in line to be an unrestricted free agent after the season after they declined the $3.1 million option on him and along with Hayes there are a number of teams that could be interested in his services.
The Kings have young players in Ben McLemore and Marcus Thornton and with DeMarcus Cousins in the middle there is a nice young core and they will be getting the chance to get draft picks and other young players in deals if they choose so. Fredette is most likely to move and depending on what team he goes to, the Kings could get some solid draft picks back. Fredette has not been great since being taken 10th overall and last season he averaged 7.2 points and 1.3 assists and while his 36 minutes stats were better at nearly 20 points, it's not enough production for the Kings to keep him. Fredette averaged just 14 minutes last season and he has been relegated to a role player this season.