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After a month of basketball action, the NBA Trade Rumors are circling around the Sacramento Kings as Nemanja Bjelica continues to miss out on a place in the team's lineup. After 16 games, the Kings are languishing in the West with a 6-10 record and will likely be looking to use the time before the trade deadline to improve their roster around superstar De'Aaron Fox.
The faith that the franchise has placed in their young stars has brought into question the future of Bjelica, who having been a regular starter in Sacramento may be moved out in the near future.
Despite having a career-year for the Sacramento Kings last season, the latest NBA Trade Rumors are suggesting that the franchise are looking to move Nemanja Bjelica on to make room for developing talent that suit the trajectory of De'Aaron Fox's career.
In a report for the Sacramento Bee, Jason Anderson revealed that sources within the Western Conference side are expecting the Kings to explore trades for the power forward. In the midst of a rebuild and looking at developing their younger talent, the Sacramento Kings have removed the need for the 32-year-old Serbian in their roster.
Nemanja Bjelica has appeared in ten games off the bench for the Sacramento Kings this season, though has sat out the last six. Coach Walton has repeatedly cited personal reasons as the grounds for the forward's exclusion though sources told Anderson that there are no personal issues from Bjelica's point of view, thus triggering the NBA Trade Rumors.
Despite the unusual nature surrounding Bjelica's absence, Walton has made it repeatedly clear that there are no issues between himself and the player:
“Me and him have talked. Again, we’re all on the same page as far as where we’re at, he’s not sitting out due to a lack of trust with us. There’s some personal stuff and I’m just going to leave it at that, but we have been in communication and we are very confident in the player he is still.”
It is clear to see that Nemanja Bjelica is not in the Sacramento Kings long-term plans. While the Kings defense has suffered since the forward fell out of favor in the starting line-up, there doesn't appear to be an obvious way back in for Bjelica with Marvin Bagley III the favored choice.
Therefore, we could see a lot more of Bjelica's name in NBA Trade Rumors in the coming weeks as the Sacramento Kings look to see what they can get for the forward before the deadline. For a player that averaged 11.5 points and 6.4 rebounds from 67 starts last season, the franchise will be hoping to at least gain one young talent or a future draft pick for his services. They may even choose to throw in another piece or two should they seek a star to partner Fox.
