The Austin Comets acquired four-time All-Star guard Darius Webb on Tuesday in a three-team deal that sends two first-round picks and two rotation players to Sacramento and Orlando. The trade pairs one of the league’s most reliable scorers with its best young center and makes Austin the clear favorite in the Western Conference two weeks before opening night. It also signals, as plainly as a front office can, that the Comets believe their moment is now.
The deal had been discussed for weeks, according to people familiar with the talks, and nearly fell apart twice over the number of draft picks involved. It came together late Monday night after Orlando agreed to join as a third team, taking on salary that Sacramento did not want and giving the Comets enough room under the league’s spending limits to complete the trade.
The deal, piece by piece
Three-team trades can be hard to follow, so here is the basic structure as reported by the teams on Tuesday afternoon:
- Austin receives guard Darius Webb from Sacramento.
- Sacramento receives Austin’s 2027 and 2029 first-round picks, a reserve forward from Austin and a future second-round pick from Orlando.
- Orlando receives a backup guard from Austin and cash considerations, and absorbs a portion of Webb’s salary in the process.
- All three teams waived or released players to make room on their rosters.
The two players leaving Austin were both regular members of the rotation last season, averaging a combined 17 points per game. Their departure thins out the Comets’ bench, a trade-off the front office says it was willing to make.
Why now
Austin won 52 games last season but lost in the second round, scoring just 94 points per game in the series. Webb averaged 27.4 points a year ago. The math behind the move is not complicated. The Comets had one of the league’s best defenses and a dominant young center, but in the playoffs, when opponents slowed the pace and took away easy baskets, Austin too often had nobody who could create a good shot on his own.
Webb is exactly that kind of player. He can score off the dribble, draw fouls and make the right pass when defenses send a second defender at him. Coaches around the league have long described him as one of the hardest guards to guard late in close games, because he is comfortable from midrange, at the rim and behind the three-point line.
We have a window. You don’t wait when you have a window.
Comets general manager Felicia Grant
Grant told reporters at a news conference that the team had studied its playoff loss closely over the summer. Her staff found that Austin’s offense ranked near the bottom of the postseason in points per possession during the final five minutes of close games. Adding a proven closer, she said, was the top priority of the offseason.
The cost
The Comets give up their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks. League sources say Sacramento had been asking for three. Austin held firm at two, and the addition of Orlando’s second-round pick helped bridge the gap.
For a contender, late first-round picks are often worth less than they appear, because they usually land in the 20s of the draft order. But picks also serve as trade currency, and Austin now has fewer of them to use if it needs another move at the deadline. The Comets also lose two dependable bench players, which could matter during the long regular season, when injuries pile up and depth is tested night after night.
How Sacramento sees it
For Sacramento, the trade is the latest step in a full rebuild. The team traded two other veterans over the summer and is now expected to lean heavily on young players this season. A person close to the front office said the team was happy to get two first-round picks for a player who would have been 32 by the time the club was ready to compete again. Sacramento now owns 11 first-round picks over the next seven years.
How Webb fits
On paper, the fit looks natural. Austin’s center does most of his work near the basket, setting screens and rolling hard to the rim. That gives Webb the kind of partner he has rarely had in Sacramento, where the team often surrounded him with players who needed the ball to be effective. In Austin, Webb will be the primary ball handler in late-game situations, with the center as his main option on pick-and-roll plays.
There are open questions. Webb has spent most of his career as the clear first option, and Austin’s coach likes to move the ball and share shots. The team’s young wings, who took on bigger roles last year, will likely see fewer touches. And Webb, while durable, missed 11 games last season with a sore knee. Keeping him healthy for April and May will be a priority, and the training staff is expected to manage his minutes during the regular season.
Webb said all the right things in a short phone call with Austin reporters on Tuesday evening. He praised the center’s growth, said he was excited to play for a winning team and added that he would happily take fewer shots if it meant a deeper playoff run.
Key takeaway: Austin traded future flexibility for a better chance to win this season and next, a classic contender’s move with clear risk and clear reward.
Reaction around the league
Rival executives reached by reporters on Tuesday were split on the deal. Several called it a fair price for a player of Webb’s caliber, noting that All-Star guards rarely become available and almost never come cheap. One Western Conference scout said Austin was “the one team that could absorb Webb without changing who it is,” because the Comets’ defense and center give them a foundation that does not depend on any single scorer.
Others were more cautious. A front-office official from an Eastern Conference team pointed to Webb’s age and recent knee trouble and suggested that the 2029 pick, in particular, could look expensive if the Comets decline sooner than expected. Draft picks several years out are hard to value, he said, because nobody knows what a roster will look like by then.
Fans on our live poll were more decisive. Within two hours of the announcement, more than 70 percent of voters said Austin won the trade, and most picked the Comets to reach the finals.
What comes next
The Comets open the regular season at home in two weeks, and Webb is expected to be available for the first game after he completes a physical later this week. Oddsmakers moved Austin to the top of the Western Conference shortly after the trade was announced, ahead of Denver and Los Angeles, which had been considered co-favorites.
Austin still has one open roster spot and is expected to sign a veteran guard to help replace some of the lost depth. Grant said the team would look at free agents and players waived by other clubs in the coming days, with an eye toward someone who can defend and shoot from the corner.
For fans, the trade changes the mood heading into the season. Austin has been good for several years without breaking through. With Webb, the expectation is no longer simply to make the playoffs. It is to reach June. Whether the cost was worth it will be decided in the spring, but for now the Comets have made their bet, and the rest of the conference has been put on notice.
Follow our live score strip on opening night, and look for our full Western Conference preview, with every team ranked, later this week.
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