Kings trade Shumpert to Rockets, acquire Burks from Cavaliers in three-way deal
The Kings on Wednesday traded Iman Shumpert to the Houston Rockets in a three-team deal that will bring Cleveland Cavaliers guard Alec Burks to Sacramento.
Reports of the trade surfaced about two hours before the Kings were scheduled to play the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Rockets will send guard Brandon Knight, forward Marquese Chriss and a 2019 lottery-protected first-round pick to the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers will send guards Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin to the Rockets.
Shumpert is a 6-foot-5, 220-pound guard who started 40 games for the Kings this season at small forward. He was averaging 8.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 assist and is in the final year of a four-year contract that will pay him just over $11 million this season.
Shumpert, 28, had a big influence on some of the team’s young players, helping to change the culture and chemistry of a long-struggling organization. He was a member of Cleveland’s NBA championship team in 2016 before the Kings acquired him in a trade last season.
“He’s been a terrific pro for us,” Kings coach Dave Joerger said Wednesday. “He’s also given us some personality. We have a lot of nice guys that are young and still developing who they are as a player and who they are personality wise. ... He’s given us some personality and a guy who can be vocal and guys can kind of get behind until they kind of develop those skills where they can be out in front as leaders.”
Burks, 27, is a 6-6, 214-pound guard who averaged 10.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 51 games for the Utah Jazz and Cavaliers this season. He was traded from Utah to Cleveland in November and is in the final year of a four-year contract that will pay him nearly $11.3 million this season.
Burks had a big game against Sacramento shortly after he was acquired by the Cavaliers, posting 22 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in a 129-110 loss to the Kings in Cleveland. He’s a career 35.8-percent 3-point shooter, but he shot 45.8 percent from beyond the arc over 15 games for the Cavaliers in January.
This story was originally published February 6, 2019 at 6:49 PM.
