Leopards never change their spots, and that’s true of the Sacramento Kings. Just look at how they made a mess of things after appearing to turn the page on a laughably forgettable chapter.
De’Aaron Fox, an ascendant point guard in the prime of his career, has been replaced by a 37-year-old past-his-prime Russell Westbrook. The other headliner in the Fox trade, Zach LaVine, is basically in their dog house. Two players they were convinced would be key to their next era, Malik Monk and DeMar DeRozan, are on the trading block. Keegan Murray, who looked like a building block as a rookie, has been devolving. 15-year NBA veteran Doug Christie, who took over as head coach after Mike Brown’s unceremonious firing, routinely makes rotation decisions like he’s never seen a basketball.
‘Approximately’ 10 Teams Attempting To Trade For Kings Wing
Christie’s most glaring misuse of his personnel involves Keon Ellis. A popular 3-and-D wing, Ellis is averaging just 17.3 minutes per game in 2025-26. He’s been as likely to play 10 or fewer minutes (15 games) as 20 or more (15). In fact, he’s racked up four straight DNPs and only played 23 total minutes across the three preceding games.
On the one hand, Ellis hasn’t been shooting as well as normal. After shooting 41.5% from 3 in the first 20 games of the season, he’s been ice cold. In his last 20 games, he’s only hitting 29.5% of his 3s, his only standout performance coming in a six-point win over the Dallas Mavericks. Even so, Ellis converted over 41 percent of his 3-point attempts in 2023-24 and 2024-25. Furthermore, even when Ellis was shooting lights-out in the first 20 games of 2025-26, he was playing just 16.5 minutes per game.
Is Christie jealous of Ellis’s hair? Is he scared to drop out of the top-three in Kings’ all-time steals? Or is it just incompetence?
Keon Ellis On The Move?
Ellis may not be at the mercy of Christie’s whims much longer.
“League and team sources say the Kings continue to draw serious interest in veteran guard Keon Ellis, with approximately 10 teams in pursuit of the 26-year-old,” The Athletic’s Sam Amick reports. “A deal is almost certain to go down before the Feb. 5 deadline, if not much sooner.”
“…The Kings are seeking a late first-round pick in the deal, those sources said.”
Which Teams Could Be ‘In Pursuit?’
The identity of the teams trying to track down Ellis aren’t known publicly. At the same time, his age and skillset make it likely that several of those teams are contenders. Frankly, 3-and-D players are so desirable in today’s NBA, any team hoping to win a ring may want him though. Additionally, his $2.3 million salary is very appealing, though his contract situation could get tricky in the summer. To that point, Ellis is on an expiring deal and will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
The only real clue about which teams the Kings could be negotiating with is that they’re attempting to acquire a late first-round pick. Eight of the teams currently projected to select between picks 20-30 in the 2026 NBA Draft are considered contenders (h/t Tankathon). Those teams are the Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks, currently projected to have the 17th and 18th overall picks respectively, could also be motivated to trade for Ellis.
Where’s Keon Ellis’s Best Fit?
For the sake of argument, let’s say that the 10 teams trying to complete a trade for Ellis are the Raptors, Knicks, Timberwolves, Lakers, Thunder, Celtics, Nuggets, Cavs, Warriors and Hawks. Given Ellis’s top tools, the 3-ball and his point-of-attack defense, evaluating how well those teams perform in those areas could shed light on how motivated they’d be to trade for him.
With that in mind, three of them –Toronto, Los Angeles, and Cleveland –rank in the bottom-half of the league in 3-point percentage. Four of them –L.A., Denver, New York and Atlanta –are in the bottom-half of the league in defensive rating, the Cavaliers firmly in the middle of the pack at 15th. Only two of them, the Lakers and Cavs, are having significant trouble in both areas.
This could be why Ellis’s name has consistently been brought up in trade rumors linking him to California’s favorite son. LeBron James‘s history of maximizing the value of catch-and-shoot wings certainly makes him an intriguing addition. Speaking of James, his former team is a legitimate option.
Cavs Can’t Be Discounted
Ellis (35.7%) hasn’t been dialed-in from 3 this season.
Yet, Cleveland has Donovan Mitchell (38.2%), who is etched into the starting lineup as the off-guard. Jaylon Tyson (45.5%), who has quickly become quite popular in Ohio, is capable of playing either wing spot. Of note, he and catch-and-shoot specialist Sam Merrill (45.5%) have the best 3-point percentage on the team.
However, Dean Wade (31.8%) and De’Andre Hunter (30.6%) are having a rough go of it from beyond the arc. Though they’re more forwards than wings, replacing one of them in the rotation could boost their efficiency. Additionally, motion shooter Max Strus has yet to play at all this season thanks to a foot injury.
The icing on top of the cake, so to speak? Darius Garland is frequently unavailable, leading to lineup shifts that make having Ellis more important. Mitchell or Craig Porter Jr. is likely to get the spot start at point guard when Garland is out. Nevertheless, there are still backcourt minutes that need to be filled. Porter, though an underrated asset, shouldn’t get all of Garland’s minutes.
OKC Isn’t A Likely Suitor
Out of Ellis’s 10 hypothetical suitors, the Thunder may feel the most comfortable sending a late first-rounder. At present, they’re slated to have the 19th and 25th overall picks. As a result of this and their dynastic potential, many may consider them to be a premier destination for Ellis.
Yet, OKC has demonstrated a real reluctance to tinker with their formula and risk losing their momentum. Furthermore, their perimeter rotation of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, Ajay Mitchell and Aaron Wiggins is already deep as is. That’s without even factoring in Nikola Topic‘s return-slash-debut, which is seemingly around the corner. Even if they traded one of those players to get Ellis, there may not be enough minutes to go around.
None of the other aforementioned teams really has that conundrum.
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