The Sacramento Kings acquired the draft rights to University of Connecticut forward Alex Karaban after a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first round of the NBA Draft on Tuesday night.
Cleveland initially selected Karaban with the No. 29 overall pick before sending his rights to Sacramento, as reported by Shams Charania of ESPN.
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In exchange, the Kings traded their No. 34 overall selection and a future second-round pick to the Cavaliers.
Financial Implications for Cleveland
According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland. com, the Cavaliers explored trading the selection to move into the second round.
The transaction allows the cap-strapped franchise to potentially sign the No. 34 pick to a rookie-minimum deal rather than a first-round rookie scale contract, generating financial savings.
Karaban joins the Kings after a historic collegiate career where he set UConn program records for wins with 126, games played with 151, starts with 150, and minutes played with 4,906.
The 6-foot-7, 225-pound forward averaged 13.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists last season while helping lead the Huskies to their third national title game appearance in four years.
The Southborough, Massachusetts resident finished eighth on UConn's all-time scoring list with 1,880 career points and made 292 career three-pointers.
Synergy Sports data shows Karaban ranked in the 99th percentile in off-screen usage, primarily scoring off spot-ups and movement.
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The two-time national champion previously considered entering the professional ranks after both his sophomore and junior seasons before electing to return to school.
