30 teams, 30 days: Sacramento Kings | 2026 Season Preview

Welcome to my 30 teams in 30 days series, the most comprehensive and informative previews for every team in the NBA. Inside these posts, you’ll get up to speed with every team’s offseason additions and their roster hierarchies, learn whether they’ve addressed their biggest areas of need, ponder over 5 questions that will define their season and then decide whether you agree with my offseason grades and record predictions.

Notable Additions: Russell Westbrook, Dennis Schröder, Dario Šarić, Nique Clifford, Maxome Raynaud, Dylan Cardwell, Drew Eubanks

Notable Subtractions: Jake Laravia, Trey Lyles, Jonas Valanciunas

Depth Chart:

PG: Dennis Schröder / Russell Westbrook / Devin Carter / Isaiah Stevens

SG: Zach Lavine / Keon Ellis / Nique Clifford

SF: Malik Monk / Dae’Qwon Plowden / Doug McDermott

PF: Demar Derozan / Isaac Jones / Dylan Cardwell / Keegan Murray

C: Domantas Sabonis / Drew Eubanks / Maxime Raynaud / Dario Šarić

Roster Hierarchy:

Franchise: N/A

Core: Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray

Key Rotation: Dennis Schröder, Zach Lavine, Malik Monk, Demar Derozan, Keon Ellis, Isaac Jones, Nique Clifford, Russell Westbrook

Rotation: Devin Carter, Drew Eubanks, Maxime Raynaud, Doug McDermott, Dario Šarić

Development: Dylan Cardwell, Dae’Qwon Plowden, Isaiah Stevens

Offseason Overview:

Just two years ago, Sacramento was gearing up to build upon their best season in 2 decades, with the Beam Team instilling the city with some much needed hope. These days are becoming distant memories, as the Kings have quickly regressed into one of the bleakest situations in the league. It’s tough to make sense of any single transaction they’ve made since that special regular season run, but it’s even more confounding trying to sort out the long-term vision for this roster, if such a plan even exists.

SAC has made a litany of contradictory moves in the past couple years, choosing to doggedly try and remain competitive while also making the types of transactions that would usually signal the beginning of a rebuild. Trading away Fox after 2 straight years of middling performances should’ve kicked off a badly needed full-scale reset, but Sacramento decided they would rather have Zach Lavine. This team is starved for young talent, but has consistently: 1) drafted older rookies who are further along their developmental timeline and 2) acquired veterans at those rookies positions, further jeopardizing their development! The Schröder acquisition is head scratching with 3 ballhandlers on the roster and Devin Carter waiting in the wings, the Saric trade to free up that extra $5M for Schröder is preposterous, and signing Drew Eubanks after drafting Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell is just poor asset management.

The end result is a roster that’s misshapen, hodgepodge and extremely unconducive, positioning the Kings for yet another unfulfilling season with their high-usage veterans squandering what little promise their young core holds.

Pre-Draft Areas of Need:

🥇 Defense: 25th in Halfcourt DRTG pre-deadline (-2.6 rDRTG), 28th in Halfcourt DRTG POST-deadline(-5.3 rDRTG)

🥈 Hustle: 29th in Loss Ball Recovery/100 (3.7), 29th in Spot-Up PPP Allowed (1.10)

🥉 Rim Pressure: 29th in Rim Frequency (25.6%), 4th in RIM% (69.4%)

SAC’s defense fell off even more after the deadline, the Murray injury won’t make it any easier. Their inability to contain the ball ed to SAC allowing the worst 3P% in the league, Nique + Dylan work hard on D to help but may not get enough burn.

Season Outlook:

1. Who will replace Keegan Murray in the starting lineup?

Keegan will miss the first 4 to 6 weeks of the season with a torn UCL of the left thumb. Murray is more than the Kings’ best prospect, he’s also their only big wing who fulfills the most important role among the starters. Dennis/Zach/Demar/Sabonis are locked in to the starting lineup, Christie has mentioned the 5th starter could be a game by game decision.

Isaac Jones is the closest player SAC has to Keegan’s skillset and frame, standing 6’8 with a +5 wingspan. Keon Ellis, who should be starting with Murray healthy anyways, could help the starting group massively with his defensive intensity. Nique may be a viable option against wing-heavy teams, Raynaud has gotten practice reps next to Sabonis according to Demar. I fear the Kings may choose to completely ignore lineup balance and opt to insert Monk into the starting lineup instead of Keon/Isaac/Nique/Raynaud.

2. Will Keon Ellis finally be freed?

The Sacramento Kings were +5 points per 100 BETTER with Keon on the floor last season, but he finished 7th in minutes per game. SAC’s top 4 lineups all featured Keon Ellis, Monk/Ellis/Derozan/Murray/Sabonis was the 4th best lineup in the league, beating teams by 20.9 points per 100 possessions, but they only played 390 possessions together.

Keon immediately entered the starting lineup after Mike Brown was fired, then saw sporadic starts until the last 12 games of the season. With Brown as the head coach, Keon played just 19.7 minutes per game with 4 starts in 30 games. Once Doug took over, Keon played 27.1 minutes per game with 24 starts in 50 games. It’s clear Doug valued Keon to a greater extent, but the Kings offseason acquisitions could rob Keon of the role he’s deservedly carved out.

3. How will Christie divide touches between Schröder, Monk, Lavine, Derozan and Sabonis?

The Kings employ FIVE players who are all unequivocally at their best with the ball in their hands. Monk and Lavine are more willing off-ball scorers, which creates synergy with Sabonis’ screening and handoff skills. However, Demar and Dennis are clunky fits as unreliable spot-up shooters who are much less effective off the ball.

Following the Fox trade, Derozan (18.9% -> 25.4%) and Monk (24.8% -> 28.2%) both saw upticks in their on-ball%, Lavine (24%) and Sabonis (16%) remained constant. That leaves very little room for Dennis to come in and orchestrate if SAC insists on this usage split, even if the Kings decide to stagger these 5. The natural adjustment is to separate Schröder and Monk as much as possible, while continuing to play through Sabonis at the top of the key.

4. Does this team have any chance on defense?

The Kings were the 10th worst team in the league in Rim FG% allowed before the deadline, allowing opponents to shoot 0.7% better than league average at the rim, then regressed even further to 5th worst AFTER the deadline (+2.7 rOpponent Rim FG%). It takes meticulous roster construction and a ton of effort to compensate for a 5 who’s a weak rim protector, SAC completely lacks the personnel or principles to cover Sabonis’ weaknesses.

In the last 3 years, Domas has an opponent rim contest FG% diff of -4%, which may seem passable, until the percentiles reveal that’s BELOW average among centers (45th%). He’s capable of impacting shots around the rim with verticality, but is in the SECOND percentile in BLKS per 100 among centers, generating -0.7% LESS stops than his peers (7th%).

With Keegan Murray out for the first 2 months or so, this team will likely see 15-20+ minutes a night without a single hint of perimeter defense, with a lack of size and impact on the backline to compensate. This will surely result in SAC finishing in the bottom 5 defensively, for the 4th time in 6 years.

5. Will Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell get a chance to contribute?

One of the most infuriating things about this Kings regime is their proclivity to draft older prospects, who are generally better positioned to be immediate contributors, just to not play them. Each of these guys have a strong chance at being more impactful than the veterans in front of them in their rookie seasons.

Nique Clifford had one of the best playmaking seasons we’ve seen from a wing draft prospect, with a 98th% AST% (26.8%) among drafted NBA players and the highest AST% among wings vs T100 competition. He’s led the Kings in both total (18) and per 36 assists (6.3) during preseason, showcasing his live-dribble passing ability with skip passes and misdirection lobs.

Maxime’s closeout driving and passing has been a big boost for SAC’s offense, improving their ORTG by 19 points with him on the floor per @oxfox2003. Cardwell’s pre-NBA skillset has translated as well, improving the 3rd worst preseason defense by 18 points when he checked in. These are small samples primarily against other team’s backups, but it’s easy to envision aspects of this impact translating, especially considering Sacramento’s other alternatives at their position.

Record Prediction

Total Wins Over/Under: 35.5 via BetMGM

Floor: 25–57 (-15 wins)

The Kings have weathered “worse” years while stubbornly resisting the clear need for a rebuild, so it’s tough to tell just how bad they would need to be for the governor (Vivek Randive) to greenlight pulling the plug. This fanbase deserves better than to be consistently sold a dream of competitiveness, thus the right thing to do for both Kings fans and the franchise is to bottom out for the next 2 years and hope they can draft better than their previous track record.

Ceiling: 39-43 (-1 win)

Every move they’ve made this offseason says they plan on doing the complete opposite, chasing their 3rd consecutive play-in appearance at the cost of their own draft odds and their younger guys’ development.

Let me know if you agree with my predictions! What are your expectations for the Kings this season?

Overall Grade: D-

Up Next: Los Angeles Clippers