The Sacramento Kings are reportedly set to make bold moves in the next two years, as they set their sight on All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo and Josh Smith, a source close to situation reported on Monday.
Entering its second year under the ownership of Vivek Ranadivé, the Kings are expected to be bullish on the free-agency market and trading front in hope of landing another All-Star caliber player.
According to sources, the Kings have been pushing to acquire the 28-year old Smith from the Pistons. Both teams have been engaging in trade talks since for quite some time, but negotiations were put on a halt before the start of the free-agency period.
However, ESPN NBA correspondent Marc Stein reported that the Kings and Pistons revived their trade talks with the purpose of upgrading the previous trade package of Jason Thompson, Derrick Williams, Jason Terry and draft picks.
"The Detroit Pistons and the Sacramento Kings have resumed trade discussions on a deal that could send Josh Smith to Sacramento, according to sources with knowledge of the talks," Stein stated in his article.
Stein indicated the Pistons attempted to work on a sign-and-trade deal with the Portland Trail Blazers for restricted free-agent Greg Monroe, but the deal died after the Blazers backtracked and signed Chris Kaman to back up Robin Lopez as their center next season.
"Sources said the Pistons also seriously discussed various sign-and-trade scenarios this month that would have landed restricted free agent Greg Monroe in Portland, but the Blazers ultimately pulled themselves out of the race for Monroe by signing free-agent big man Chris Kaman to join Robin Lopez in the Blazers' center rotation," Stein reported.
The Kings believed Smith will be a perfect fit to their already formidable starting lineup of DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay. Smith had a subpar production in the first year of his four-year, $54 million deal, averaging 16.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.
However, Kings top-brass values Smith's defensive prowess highly and are confident the 6-foot-9 forward could help the team improve this particular area immediately.
"Sacramento is looking for better defensive players for a squad that ranked 24th in the league in points allowed per game, and Smith has long been one of the best defenders in the league capable of shutting down forwards and most guards."
There are also speculations that the Kings will try to acquire Smith and then his former prep-school teammate Rondo next via trade or free-agency in the summer of 2015.
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