By Charlie O. Mallonee
Updated with interviews and trade information: Sacramento — It was a wild and crazy Wednesday night for the Sacramento Kings. Two hours before game time, the Kings completed a three-team with the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers that sent Iman Shumpert to the Rockets. The Kings will receive shooting Alex Burks from the Cavaliers.
Then just as the game was getting underway, everyone’s Twitter feeds on press row went crazy as word leaked out that the Kings had just completed another trade that sent Justin Jackson and Zach Randolph to the Mavericks for former Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes.
Charlie O picks the story up from there:
Buddy Hield on the trades and his view of things going forward
De’Aaron Fox is ready to carry on following the trades
The trades
The big deal of the night happened just as the game began on Wednesday night and the Mavericks game was in progress with Harrison Barnes on the floor. The Kings sent forward Justin Jackson and Zach Randolph to Dallas in exchange for the former Golden State forward.
Barnes will become an Unrestricted Free Agent in 2020. He is slated to make just over $25-million in 2019-20 but that is a player option contract which means Barnes could be a rental or an important piece for next season.
The Mavericks get a developing small forward in Justin Jackson who has seen a great deal of playing against the “best of the west” because the Kings needed his talents on the floor quickly. He will be a fine second-unit player for Dallas.
Zach Randolph is a part of the deal to make the money work under NBA guidelines and because he is an expiring contract. Randolph is not likely to wear a Dallas uniform.
The trade that brings Alec Burks to Sacramento is more complicated than the Barnes trade. It is a three-team trade involving the Kings, Rockets, and Cavaliers.
The irony is that it was a walk across the arena to the other locker room deal as Iman Shumpert was traded by the Kings to the Houston Rockets who Sacramento hosted last night. That really did not happen because of NBA rules that require trades be “blessed” by the league office before they can be finalized. Shumpert actually said goodbye to his teammates and left the Golden 1 Center before the game began Wednesday night.
The Kings received Burks who is an eight-year veteran of “the Association”. He has averaged 11.6 points, 5.5 points, and 2.9 assists per game in 34 contests for the Cavs this season. Burks also played for the Utah Jazz. Sacramento received a 2020 second-round draft pick as a part of the trade package.
Cleveland receives guard Brandon Knight, “local product” and former Kings draft pick Marquese Chriss, and a 2019 lottery protected first-round draft pick from Houston.
Cleveland sent guards Nik Stauskas (a former King) and Wade Baldwin who they acquired from Portland for Rodney Hood to the Rockets to complete the deal.
Trades in the NBA are never easy.
Up next
All of the players involved in the trades have 48 hours to report to their new teams. The Kings host the Miami Heat on Friday night when Dwyane Wade will make his final visit to Sacramento as a player. There is a chance that Burks and Barnes could play in that game, but it is more likely they will be playing on Sunday when Phoenix comes to town.
The Rockets returned to Houston after the game on Wednesday. They will play the OKC Thunder on Saturday night on national television. That should be enough for all of the new Rockets to report and be available to play in that game.
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