Rating the Jonas Valančiūnas trade: Why Kings get high results by adding Wizard Center
Washington Wizards Center Jonas Valanciunas (17) sailed into the Charlotte Hornets forward in the first half of the NBA basketball game in Charlotte, North Carolina on Monday, February 3, 2025 Myers Bridge

Jonas Valanciunas should strengthen the bench in Sacramento. (AP Photo/Nel Redmond)

In unexpected and somewhat random situations, the Sacramento Kings acquired center Jonas Valančiūnas from the Washington Wizards for the recently acquired Sidy Cissoko and two second-round picks.

Let's rate the transaction:

First of all, a little housekeeper. The Kings will be able to leave Sikoko soon because he is not packing with another player.

(This needs to be mentioned, as several teams are looking to potentially move away from recently obtained works, so if you want to be the subject by tomorrow’s deadline, it’s better to block this information.)

Valančiūnas is not a player involved in trade rumors, although his name appears in the early stages of the season, both the Lakers and the Warriors.

Now, he is the King, and given his scoring ability and elite rebounding ability, he will be efficient on the bench.

Valančiūnas has only 20.1 minutes per game this season, scoring 11.5 points and 8.2 rebounds in these limited outings.

For a Kings who almost had to rely on Domantas Sabonis for rebounding, he himself rebounded at a ridiculous elite level, and his fellow Valančiūnas provided the roster with the necessary and very important ones that were included on the roster.

The Lithuanian duo will undoubtedly grab most of the team’s rebounds for the rest of the season, just as both will provide a hard screen for the newly-acquired Zach Lavine.

While we can debate all day long whether the king should be rebuilt rather than stay competitive, they chose at least one direction and added quality to this particular path.

Given how the king chose to proceed, it felt like a rock solid A.

As for Washington, they got two second-rounders and a worthwhile Sissoko. This is different from the early increase of the day, when they accepted AJ Johnson and drafted the interest from the Milwaukee Bucks in the Khris Middleton-Kyle Kuzma swap.

This is a lesson for rebuilding the wizard, rightfully so. They compete effortlessly and using Valančiūnas' contracts make them both young and complement the draft cabinets, which is logical, good business.

Adding Cissoko to the roster of already-owned Frenchman Bilal Coulibaly and Alexandre Sarr will surely be appreciated by the former Spur, who has never completely cracked the spin in San Antonio and is now looking for new shots.

With the second half of the season beginning, it’s time for Washington to throw something on the wall to see what’s stuck. Cissoko is worth at least one or two for the rest of the year.

The Wizards are doing a great job here, so the B+ seems to be a fair result given their situation.