The Sacramento Kings have been one of the more pleasant surprises of the first few weeks of the 2018-19 NBA season as they currently hold a 6-4 record to begin their campaign. Their core of De'Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, and Willie Cauley-Stein are leading the charge for this young group. Absent from all of this, however, is 18-year veteran forward Zach Randolph, who has not played a single minute for the Kings this season.

Despite this, Kings GM Vlade Divac maintained that they have no plans of trading Randolph for now, per James Ham of NBC Sports.

“Any opportunity for us to improve, we’ll look at it, but we’re not focusing (on trading him),” Divac said. “We’re happy that he’s around those young guys.”

With the Kings in a full-on youth movement this season, there likely won't be a place for Randolph on the rotation. Sacramento has plenty of options at the four spot, with Marvin Bagley III and Harry Giles as the team's top young prospects to develop. Moreover, Nemanja Bjelica has emerged as a solid starter and stretch four for the team. With this, Randolph has not seen any time on the floor at all, and that will likely continue.

However, the Kings are not ready to part ways with Randolph. Head coach Dave Joerger spoke with him prior to the start of the season, and clarified with him his role on the team.

“I need you to be supportive, I need you to be that veteran and positive and help our young guys and lead by example,” Joerger told Randolph, who took the news professionally.

Right now, Randolph serves as a veteran presence and a guide for Sacramento's young players. However, while the Kings continue to maintain that they don't intend to trade him, it wouldn't be surprising if we see him playing for a contender at some point this season.