Jalen McDaniels was a power forward for the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday. On Thursday, he became a member of the Sacramento Kings.
And his reaction to the news was captured on video, and shared, by none other than trainer Clint Parks.
Clearly, fans weren't the only ones surprised by the trade that sent McDaniels to the Kings for guard Davion Mitchell, forward Sasha Vezekanko and the 45th pick in the NBA Draft. McDaniels was surprised, too.
In the video, Parks can be heard telling McDaniels of the trade, to which McDaniels responded, "Deada— me? Me?!" and Parks confirms, "Yes, you!"
Jalen McDaniels finding out about the trade to Sacramento 😂 pic.twitter.com/UF2FZJDADE
— BASKETBALL ON 𝕏 (@BASKETBALLonX) June 27, 2024
As relayed by Jordan Pagkalinawan of CBS Sports, this isn't the first time a player was captured on video reacting to the news he'd been traded.
"The brief clip is the latest viral moment of NBA players finding out they were traded," Pagkalinawan wrote. "Previous notable examples include former All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins learning of his move to the New Orleans Pelicans during his All-Star weekend press conference — which happened to be in New Orleans — and Derrick Rose being informed that he was traded from the Chicago Bulls to the New York Knicks while being interviewed for a documentary."
McDaniels, 26, appeared in 50 games with the Raptors as a deep-bench reserve, averaging 3.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists, while shooting 34% from the field. So on the bright side, he should get at least an equal opportunity in Sacramento, if not more of one.
"The Raptors, meanwhile, are adding a young, talented defender in Mitchell (and) a disgruntled Vezenkov who asked out of Sacramento," Pagkalinawan concluded.
