Just over a year ago, Pete D'Alessandro and company made a huge deal for Rudy Gay in the hopes of securing another star to pair with DeMarcus Cousins. Now it appears they're in search of yet another star, this time at Point Guard. With Rajon Rondo gone to the Dallas Mavericks this past week, Sacramento has moved on to Deron Williams.
Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports:
The Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings are discussing a deal centered on former All-Star guard Deron Williams, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The Nets have been shopping their high-priced star players, and the Kings have been probing the market for an impact point guard.
No deal is imminent, but the talks are ongoing, sources told Yahoo Sports.
The talks have centered on sending the Nets point guard Darren Collison and forwards Derrick Williams and Jason Thompson as part of a multi-player package for Williams, league sources said.
Just about a week ago, ESPN's Marc Stein reported that the Nets had let it be known to teams that Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson were available for trade. Brooklyn is off to a disappointing 10-15 start and wants to shed some of their league leading salary while also getting younger.
Wojnarowski notes that nothing is imminent between either team. The Kings are pretty happy with how Darren Collison has performed so far this season, and his 15.6 points per game and 6.1 assists basically match the production given by the older, slower Deron Williams this year (15.6 points and 6.8 assists). Collison is also shooting better from the field (43.4% to 40.3%) and more importantly is only being paid about $5 million a year for the next two seasons, while Williams is set to make $21 million in 2015 and has a early termination option for 2016 worth $22.3 million.
According to Wojnarowski, the Kings are insisting that center Mason Plumlee be included in any such deal, but Brooklyn is reluctant to do so. The Brooklyn Game's Devin Kharpertian reports that the Nets would not like to include Plumlee in any deal.
source says no official deal was offered by Kings yet. Just talk. Nets major roadblock is they won't give up Mason Plumlee in any deal.
— devin kharpertian (@uuords) December 21, 2014Plumlee is a very long, athletic center who can play above the rim, rebound and block shots. He's also in the second year of a four year rookie contract, making him a valuable commodity. Brooklyn is wise to try to hold on to him, and the Kings are wise to try to pry him from the Nets. I don't see either team bending on this issue, which makes a deal unlikely.
What this does mean however is that the Kings aren't satisfied with the pieces they have and are still in search of a big, splashy move. Whether that's a guy like Deron Williams, Josh Smith, or someone else, Sacramento is still searching for another big name. It's going to be a busy couple months until the trade deadline.