Word has since trickled around the league that Beal would welcome playing with Sabonis, although one source with knowledge of the situation maintained Beal has not actively encouraged the Wizards to acquire him. League personnel say the Pacers are seeking a package similar to or greater than the haul Nikola Vucevic drew for the Orlando Magic last season. Only Sacramento, New Orleans and Washington have been linked by league personnel as Sabonis suitors with significant interest.
The Kings were not willing to entertain the thought of trading De’Aaron Fox last summer when they started surveying the market for a transformational move to alter the course of the franchise, but the situation in Sacramento has changed. A league source told The Sacramento Bee the Kings have stepped up their pursuit of Indiana Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis and they are including Fox in those discussions. Fox was so far off the table he wasn’t discussed when the Kings approached the Philadelphia 76ers about Ben Simmons last summer, sources with knowledge of the talks told The Bee, but now Fox is reportedly part of those conversations as well.
Brian Windhorst on the Pacers: They might trade one, they might trade two players. I would think Caris LeVert and Myles Turner, most likely in that order, from what I understand. I know there's a lot of discussion about Sabonis out there, that there's a lot of people claiming various things. I haven't heard Sabonis' name in the trade market.
League sources told The Sacramento Bee the Kings have not engaged the Pacers in talks for Sabonis or Turner since last week when The Athletic reported Indiana is open to discussions. The website reported the Pacers are receptive to trade talks for guard Caris LeVert and either Sabonis or Turner as they move toward a rebuild, but the Kings have not shown interest in either of Indiana’s big men, sources told The Bee.
Scott Agness: Sabonis is not trying to get traded either. He's not trying to push his way out. He's good with it here. He likes this team. He likes most of the people around it and playing for Rick Carlisle. He bought a house here over a year ago. He's now a married man. He has a lot of frequent visitors. So I don't think he's looking to get out of here, doesn't mean he wouldn't embrace it.
Although it was previously noted in this space that several executives expect the Indiana Pacers (22-12) to eventually break up their frontcourt of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner, the team itself is happy with the old-school pair of big men.
There is no lack of interest in Sabonis, who averaged 14.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists last season as the Pacers — who lost Oladipo to a season-ending ruptured quad injury in a game against Toronto on Jan. 23 — pulled off such a surprising campaign (48-34; lost in the first round to Boston). Thus far, sources say the Pacers’ asking price in talks with several teams has been too high.