Domantas Sabonis still a trade candidate, NBC Sports says

Domantas Sabonis is not on a new team. That’s the first thing to clear up. The actual news here is narrower — the idea of a Sabonis trade is still alive because Sacramento already tested that market before the February deadline, then watched his season end with knee surgery on February 18. That leaves the Kings heading into the offseason with the same question, just messier: build around him, or use him to reshape the roster. (nbcsports.com) ### What actually changed? What changed is the calendar. During the season, Sabonis was a trade rumor with an injury issue. Now he’s an offseason decision with a recovery timeline. NBC Sports tied those two things together pretty bluntly — Sacramento had already listened on him, didn’t find a deal it liked, and then shut him down after meniscus surgery once the season was going nowhere. (nbcsports.com) ### Why was he in trade rumors at all? Because the Kings looked like a team drifting toward a reset. NBC Sports and Bay Area coverage both pointed to league-wide monitoring of Sacramento veterans, with more buzz around Sabonis than DeMar DeRozan or Zach LaVine. That makes basketball sense. Sa(nbcsports.com)a hub big right away. (nbcsports.com) ### How bad was the injury piece? Pretty significant. Sabonis underwent surgery to repair a torn left meniscus on February 18 and was ruled out for the rest of the 2025-26 season. NBC Sports noted he had been diagnosed back in November, tried non-surgical treatment, and only went unde(nbcsports.com), and 4.1 assists. (nbcsports.com) ### So is this “NBC Sports says trade” or just speculation? Mostly the second one. The strongest reporting is that teams had interest and Sacramento was open-minded. That is real. The newer “still a candidate” framing is basically an offseason interpretation of those earlier reports plus the (nbcsports.com)remains one of Sacramento’s obvious trade chips. (nbcsports.com) ### Why does the injury make this harder? Because injuries shrink certainty, and certainty is what trades run on. A healthy Sabonis is easy to picture — elite rebounder, offense-through-the-center passer, nightly double-double threat. An injured Sabonis coming off knee surgery is still valuable, but teams start discountin(nbcsports.com)y directionally right even if the exact market is unknowable. (aroyalpain.com) ### Where does Washington fit in? That part is much softer. The Wizards angle comes from A Royal Pain, which floated Washington as a possible destination if Anthony Davis exits and the Wizards need a center again. That’s not the same thing as active negotiations. It’s a conditional scenario built on another move happening first. So it tells y(aroyalpain.com) are close to anything. (aroyalpain.com) ### What are the Kings really deciding? Basically, whether Sabonis is part of the next good Kings team or the asset that helps create it. If Sacramento still believes in building around his playmaking and rebounding, the surgery is just a delay. If the front office thinks the roster needs a more dramatic reset, this summer is the cleanest time to revisit talks that already existed before the deadline. (nbcsports.com) ### Bottom line Sabonis is still a trade candidate in the simple sense that Sacramento already explored the idea and nothing since then has fully killed it. But the injury changed the shape of the conversation. This is less “trade is coming” than “the Kings’ biggest offseason fork in the road still runs through Sabonis.” (nbcsports.com)