Kings finalize three-way deal with Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics. Who’s coming and going?
The Kings finalized a three-team trade with the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, officially sending guard Delon Wright to Atlanta in exchange for veteran big man Tristan Thompson.
League sources told The Sacramento Bee the Kings agreed to the deal July 30, but it wasn’t completed until the NBA free agency moratorium ended Friday. The Celtics acquired Kris Dunn, Bruno Fernando and a 2023 second-round pick from the Hawks as part of the deal.
Thompson, 30, is a 6-foot-9, 254-pound power forward/center who spent nine seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers and one with the Celtics, starting 472 of 673 career games. Thompson averaged 12.0 points and 10.1 rebounds in 2019-20 with the Cavaliers, but his playing time dipped last season in Boston, where he averaged 7.6 points and 8.1 rebounds in 23.8 minutes per game.
Thompson will make $9.7 million this season in the final year of the two-year, $19 million deal he signed with the Celtics in 2020. Thompson will likely serve as a backup behind Richaun Holmes, who will stay in Sacramento on a new four-year deal worth up to $55 million.
Thompson shares a 3-year-old daughter with reality television star Khloe Kardashian, but the couple recently broke up, according to various reports.
The Kings suddenly find themselves with a lot of depth at the center position. They also have Alex Len, who is returning to Sacramento on a two-year, $7.65 million deal; Damian Jones, whose $1.98 million salary becomes guaranteed if he is not waived by Tuesday; and rookie second-round draft pick Neemias Queta.
The Kings are parting ways with one of the best backup point guards in the league in Wright, 29, who was moved to make way for rookie first-round draft pick Davion Mitchell. Wright was a solid trade-deadline addition for the Kings, who acquired him in the deal that sent Cory Joseph to the Detroit Pistons.
Wright averaged 10.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals in 27 games for the Kings. He will earn $8.5 million next season in the final year of his contract, meaning the Kings added about $1.2 million in salary in the deal to acquire Thompson.
