NBA Rumors: Kings Could Trade Iman Shumpert, Skal Labissiere, & Justin Jackson To Wizards For Otto Porter, Jr


Since the 2017 NBA offseason, the Sacramento Kings have expressed a strong interest in adding Otto Porter, Jr. to their roster. When he became a restricted free agent, the Kings gave him a four-year, $106.5 million offer sheet only to be matched by the Washington Wizards.

Otto Porter, Jr. won’t hit the free agency market again until the summer of 2021, but the Kings have a shot in acquiring him on the trade market. After struggling early in the 2018-19 NBA season, the Wizards have reportedly made every player on their roster available in trade discussions. According to Jason Jones of The Athletic, the Kings are closely monitoring the situation in Washington and could make a play for Porter once again.

Dan Favale of Bleacher Report created multiple trade scenarios involving players who could be moved before the February NBA trade deadline. In the proposed trade deal that would send Otto Porter, Jr. to Sacramento, Favale suggested that the Kings could offer a package including Iman Shumpert, Skal Labissiere, and Justin Jackson to Washington. The deal works on ESPN‘s NBA Trade Machine.

The potential acquisition of Otto Porter, Jr. will immediately fill the huge void in the Kings’ wing. Porter will give the Kings a capable scorer who also has the ability to defend multiple positions. In the 24 games he has played with the Wizards this season, Porter is averaging 12.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.5 steals on 49.4 percent shooting from the field, and 36.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

The arrival of Otto Porter, Jr. will greatly affect the Kings’ salary cap flexibility until the summer of 2021. So far, Porter has yet to live up to expectations from the contract he signed in 2017. However, moving out of the shadow of John Wall and Bradley Beal in Washington could help him improve his overall performance. At 25, Porter still fits the timeline of the Kings’ young core of De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, and Marvin Bagley III.

“Porter would cannibalize a lot of the Kings’ cap space this summer, but they have money to spare. They can pay his 2019-20 salary ($27.2 million) and carve out between $25 million and max money depending on what happens with restricted free agent Willie Cauley-Stein. Cap space isn’t going far in Sacramento without tendering over-the-top offers anyway. If the Kings are going to pay too much for a player, it might as well be for a 25-year-old who fills a void on the wings and comes off the books just as the Marvin Bagley-Bogdan Bogdanovic-De’Aaron Fox-Buddy Hield nucleus gets more expensive.”

The deal will not only be beneficial for the Kings, but also for the Wizards. Aside from saving money, the Kings would be getting young players Justin Jackson and Skal Labissiere, and a veteran wingman in Iman Shumpert. The departure of Otto Porter, Jr. won’t deeply hurt the Wizards since they still have Kelly Oubre, Jr., who is a younger and cheaper option in the wing.

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