As NBA trade rumors continue to mount ahead of the February trade deadline, Sacramento Kings big man Domantas Sabonis is among the latest.
If it wasn’t clear from their decision to trade De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs for a package that included a slew of draft picks, Sacramento would soon have to shift from retool mode to full rebuild mode.
Veteran standouts Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan have already seen their names floating around in trade rumors this year, and now it’s their teammate Sabonis’ turn.
The Suns and Wizards have been mentioned as potential suitors for Domantas Sabonis, in addition to the Bulls, per @sam_amick.
If Phoenix were to pursue Sabonis, a trade package would likely revolve around Jalen Green and Mark Williams. Washington could offer a tapering salary,… https://t.co/8hC9CXBZi4
— Jake Weinbach (@JWeinbachNBA) December 12, 2025
NBA writer Jake Weinbach cites a report from The Athletic’s Sam Amick, noting that the Suns have been listed on the trade market as a possible suitor for Sabonis.
He expands on that by saying a package for Sabonis would “probably” include soon-to-be 24-year-old center Mark Williams and another recent trade acquisition in injured guard Jalen Green.
Although that framework does work in the NBA trading machineit’s not something the Suns should consider for a multitude of reasons.
A trade from Suns for Sabonis would undermine the defensive identity.
Perhaps the most impactful part of the Suns’ culture change under first-year head coach Jordan Ott was the defense.
After posting a defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 119.3 last season – which ranked a dismal 28th in the league – Phoenix has improved greatly with a new cast, including trade acquisition Dillon Brooks. Through the games played on December 14, the Suns rank 16th in the NBA with a defensive rating of 115.2.
Their remarkable shift in steals per game perfectly illustrates how the Suns are now going after it on the defensive end of the court and taking pride in harassing their opponents.
Whether you find yourself in the middle defensively in a few months may depend on a number of factors, including Ott, but Williams is an important part of that puzzle.
This is exactly why Phoenix traded for the young center and gave up multiple first-round draft picks to acquire him. Williams is a rim-protecting big, an archetype that is increasingly coveted in the modern NBA.
With Williams on the court for Phoenix this season, Sun opponents have an offensive rating of 112.3 per data from Basketball Reference. When he sits, that figure grows to 117.9. That’s a net difference of 5.6 points per 100 possessions when Williams isn’t in the lineup to scare opponents at the rim.
Now the Kings are a porous defensive team compared to the Suns, ranking 27th in the league in defensive rating. But even taking that into account, their defensive rating without Sabonis on the court (118.5) is much better than when Sabonis is playing (128.1). In other words, King’s opponents score nearly 10 more points per 100 possessions when Sabonis plays compared to when he doesn’t.
Trading Williams for Sabonis would put Phoenix in a bizarre world shift, back to the poor defense they had a season ago.
Suns are still waiting to see what Jalen Green’s rotations look like.
Aside from the fact that switching from Williams to Sabonis would represent a huge defensive cut based on the numbers, Weinbach trade speculation also implies that Green is headed to SacTown.
Green was the big chip returning to the desert in Kevin Durant’s blockbuster. Suns fans have only seen five regular season quarters from Green so far as he deals with a lingering hamstring injury.
Phoenix is performing better than expected and turning heads in the NBA with their play, despite Green being injured and wearing street clothes during virtually all of the team’s games this season. What happens when they finally get him back?
The one full game Green played this year gave Suns fans a taste of what he can contribute full-time when healthy. The former No. 2 overall pick scored 29 points on efficient 10-of-20 shooting, including 6-of-13 from beyond the arc. He added three rebounds, three assists and two steals to the box score in the November 6 game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Still just 23 years old (he turns 24 in February), cutting the cord on Green — another former No. 2 overall draft pick — soon after acquiring him would be short-sighted at best and foolish at worst.
Sabonis is 29 years old and is under contract through the 2027-28 season, putting him in a similar camp to Devin Booker that the Suns will ultimately continue to build around.
But for the Suns to sacrifice their youth movement to acquire someone who will only significantly scale back their defensive improvements just doesn’t make sense.
Anyway, let’s see what this grid looks like with Green Healthy. From there, new general manager Brian Gregory and the Phoenix front office can start thinking about next steps.
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