The Sacramento Kings and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year

It’s only fitting that one of the worst years in Kings history has ended with one of the worst losses in Kings history, as the Kings fell to the L.A. Clippers by 41 on Tuesday.  The Kings are now 8-25, second to last in the Western Conference behind just the New Orleans Pelicans, and fourth worst in the league. They’re on pace for just 20 wins, and that’s not even factoring the fact that they could end up much worse down the stretch if they manage to trade off some of these veterans like DeMar DeRozan.  How did the Kings manage to turn sour so quickly? Let’s take one last look at the awful year that was 2025.

De’Aaron Fox traded for Zach LaVine

The end of an era began on February 3rd when the Kings shipped De’Aaron Fox to San Antonio in a three-team trade that saw the main return being Zach LaVine.  The Kings and Fox were heading to an almost inevitable breakup ever since firing Mike Brown, and his preferred destination was San Antonio.  However instead of seeking youth and draft capital in return for the biggest star, the Kings decided instead to use the trade to also dump Kevin Huerter and acquire Zach LaVine from Chicago.  LaVine had been having an excellent year with the Bulls, but had already had a clear history of not working out in combination with DeMar DeRozan, and was also older and more expensive than De’Aaron Fox. The Bulls had been trying to trade LaVine for years, but it wasn’t until the Kings came calling that they were able to find a taker.  The Kings really had no reason to rush into this decision, and the fact that they didn’t manage to get a single young player in return (especially from a team loaded with young talent and draft picks like the Spurs) was terrible asset management. It seemed as if Kings ownership and management thought that by swapping Fox for LaVine they could stay competitive, when the writing was on the wall that this team was heading towards a reset instead.

Monte McNair & Wes Wilcox leave

To make matters worse, the Kings let Monte McNair and Wes Wilcox make the decision to trade Fox, almost certainly knowing that one or both of them would not be with the team in the long term. This is a decision that should have been given to whomever the next GM was as the Kings could have waited until the summer to trade Fox.  But instead, Vivek Ranadivé let his lame duck front office ship the team’s greatest asset out for marginal return, likely due to his own desire to acquire Zach LaVine.  McNair’s departure thus ended on an extremely sour note after it had started out so promising, but his tenure will largely be remembered as more of a flash in the pan than for anything sustainable.

Scott Perry returns

With yet another Play-In defeat and the departure of the old front office, Vivek turned to a familiar face to hand the reins of the team to in Scott Perry, who had been with the Kings front office for one summer before leaving for a job with the New York Knicks.  Perry’s first order of business was the draft, where he has seemingly done well so far, as both Nique Clifford and especially Maxime Raynaud have shown promise so far.  His track record after the draft leaves much to be desired for so far, as the Kings sent Jonas Valanciunas out in a salary dump so as to acquire yet another guard in Dennis Schröder, signed Drew Eubanks for frontcourt depth and also added Russell Westbrook on a veteran minimum deal after failed negotiations with the Warriors to land Jonathan Kuminga.  The Kings also extended Keegan Murray to a 4 year, $140 million deal, but have yet to make a decision with regards to Keon Ellis, who now faces unrestricted free agency this summer if the Kings can’t figure out an extension in the next couple of months.  Perry has preached patience and a willingness to see a rebuild through, but the big pieces have yet to fall on that front.

One of the worst starts in franchise history

Nobody expected the Kings to be good this year, but it was also very unexpected that they would end up this bad.  The Kings actually performed fairly well under Doug Christie the prior season, going 27-24 to end the season, and that was all without a true Point Guard on the roster.  However the losses of Jake LaRavia and Jonas Valanciunas, as well as injuries to Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray, plus the roster glut of guards 6’5 and under have led to one of the worst products in the NBA.  The Kings are one of the worst offenses and defenses in the entire league and arguably are worse than their record given that all but one of their wins was by six points or fewer.  The team’s net rating actually puts them as the second worst team in the NBA, with only the Washington Wizards having a worse net rating.  To make matters worse, the team is constantly injured, with the once stalwart Domantas Sabonis having missed most of the season already with various injuries (and currently dealing with a torn meniscus in his knee) and Zach Lavine dealing with a high ankle sprain. 37 year old Russell Westbrook has arguably been the team’s best player.

What does the future hold?

Now all of that isn’t to say that there aren’t any bright spots.  For one, the Kings seemed to have gotten one of the steals of the draft in Maxime Raynaud, who has done well with his increased opportunity and starting role in Sabonis’ absence.  Raynaud is averaging 10.6 points and 6.3 rebounds overall this season, but his numbers as a starter are even better as he’s up to 14.6 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 30.5 minutes.  Those starter numbers would put Raynaud as the rookie leader in rebounds (he’s 5th anyway) and the 4th highest scorer (currently 9th).  Nique Clifford hasn’t had as much on court success, but he’s starting to come into his own as well, averaging 8.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals over his last six games as he’s gotten a bit more opportunity.  The Kings are also well positioned to have a high draft pick in what looks to be a very good draft, with three elite prospects near the top in Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, Duke’s Cameron Boozer and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa.  Even if the Kings don’t manage to get one of those guys, there’s still several talented players near the top.

The Kings will also likely be moving on from some of their veteran players and bigger names over the next couple of months.  While players like Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis might be more difficult to trade with their contracts, I fully expect the Kings to move on from guys like DeMar DeRozan and Malik Monk by the February deadline.  The Kings likely won’t be receiving the equivalent in terms of talent in any such trades, but that’s what happens in rebuilds and acquiring assets or flexibility is paramount now.  Rebuilds don’t have to take 16 years like they did the last time, but they have to be done right. There can’t be any more short term thinking.  Landing a future star in the draft can definitely speed things up, but this is still going to be a multi-year process.  Take a look at teams like Detroit for example.  The Pistons were absolutely terrible for five straight years, a couple of those even after they acquired Cade Cunningham with the first pick.  But now the Pistons followed up a strong season with an even better one, currently sitting atop the East at 25-8, more wins than they even had during those terrible five years.  They’re also built to last as well, with just four players over the age of 30 and multiple core players under the age of 25.  Hopefully it doesn’t take the Kings another five years, but I’d rather it did take five more terrible years to build something sustainable than for the Kings to continue on the path they’ve been on where they seek shortcut after shortcut simply to be mediocre.

Will this time actually be any different? The odds are probably stacked against us as long as Vivek Ranadivé’s impatient self is ultimately in charge, but hopefully this time he’s learned his lesson and lets this rebuild actually play out.

So goodbye 2025, and hello to 2026 and hopefully much better years ahead.