The wait for fall and cooler temperatures continues in Sacramento, as does the wait for anything else to happen with the Kings roster. As of right now, the 2025-26 Kings will largely be the same squad that finished 40-42, good for 9th place in the Western Conference last season. That resulted in getting blown out on its home floor in the play-in tournament and missing out on a lottery pick.
And ESPN is now slating the Kings to be even worse next season. A recent article predicting the standings for both conferences has the Kings finishing with a 37-45 record and 12th place in the Western Conference. No real explanation for the drop other than this matter-of-fact statement:
“Sacramento will have a full season under new coach Doug Christie, who will try to get the best out of Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan with Dennis Schroder at point guard.”
Pretty much says it all. A talented bunch of players that resembles more of a fantasy basketball team, than a team that fits in real life.
ESPN has the Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, and San Antonio Spurs all finishing with better records, with only the Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz finishing worse than the Kings.
Assuming Ja Morant can stay healthy and out of trouble, the Blazers can build on their late season improvements and the additions of Jrue Holiday and Yang Hansen (it will be a while until we see Damian Lillard), and the Spurs taking the leap most expect them to, it is tough to argue against the prediction of a 12th place finish. Of course, a full training camp and an actual point guard should help the Kings, but how many more wins could we reasonably expect just from that?
At best, we are likely talking about another play-in appearance, which is not an achievement.
You tell me in the comments. Agree with the prediction?
37 wins? ESPN is being generous.
The funny thing is that I, like many others, have been so down on this team and dropped my expectations so low that the Kings may actually be able to exceed them now lol.
We talk about this team like its going to win 10 games but then you look at the roster and Domas, DDR, Lavine, Monk, Keegan and Keon are all still right there. Theres still a decent amount of talent, its just not winning anything meaningful. 37 wins doesnt sound crazy.
Might be the most talented group of players to only win 35-37 wins.. this really shows the importance roster fit and makeup
Sabonis is an All-Star caliber Player
Derozan – multiple all-star appearances
Lavine – stony and consistent scorer
Keegan – has all-star potential
Schroeder – played on a decent German Olympic Team
malik means king in Arabic
we have 4 olympians and 3 players with multiple All-Star appearances
You’re right about fit/roster construction, but it also shows just how talented the NBA is right now. 4 olympians and 3 all-stars sounds impressive, but other teams count in MVPs and All-NBA players. Titles used to be won by 6-8 great players, now title teams have 8-10 of them.
And it’s not just about depth of talent, but the difference between good and great. For example, Sabonis is a truly ELITE basketball player. 6’11” handling the ball in transition off the rebound and dishing dimes or throwing down the jam. Truly unicorn level stuff. But then you watch a guy like SGA/Luka/Giannis/Jokic play and realize there’s still an ocean of difference between Top 0.1% and Top 0.01%.
The best of the best are better than they’ve ever been, and a lot of the guys we consider role players now may have been superstars if they played 20-30 years ago.
It has brought about more parity – the difference between a play-in team and championship contender is about as thin as ever – but has also left us without true dynastic dominance that becomes the stuff of legend. Depending on your perspective, it may be a good thing, or it may be time for an expansion.
Barring major injury or catastrophic implosion, this seems reasonable.
Last season, Sacramento finished 9th in the Western Conference, with a 40-42 (.488) record (13-18 Mike Brown (.419) and 27-24 Doug Christie(.519) with the well reviewed roster changes.
After the trade for incoming Zach Lavine and Cidy Sissoko and the off loading of De’Aaron Fox and Kevin Huerter and Jordan McLaughlin (also adding Jake LaRavia and my favorite short term add of all time, Jonas Valanciunas), Coach Christie posted a 12-15 record (.444).
Are the Kings better than 37-45 (.451)?
Seem legit, I’ll throw in a +/- 2 (35-39 wins). Hope I’m wrong, but I’ve only predicted more losses than wins once and that was what seems like a generation ago, but was only the Beam Team season.
Vegas currently has them at 35 wins, and that is assuming the current roster is what it is and things perform relatively normal. I’m sure their odds makers take into consideration chance of injury and the intricacies of the schedule, but if this team has Keegan or Domas miss any significant time, they are screwed.
The start of the schedule is brutal…like 4-16 brutal. It wouldn’t surprise me if the locker room blows up and things tailspin with demands for trades or Doug getting canned. If everyone somehow makes it through December, I can see 35 wins after a painfully quite trade deadline.
That’s a dream season. I only wish they would finish 12th. But somehow the vehicle find a way to be in the worst possible spot in the NBA. The 10 seed.
He’s an idiot. Barring some stroke of luck or him leaving it’s mediocrity when we need the number one pick.
honestly, I’m so bummed he’s the owner. It’s taking away my desire to watch this team or to be a fan. And that stinks.
If Sacramento starts 4-16, but Christie features players like Ellis, Raynaud, Clifford and Isaac Jones, I will give Doug an A grade and hope he stays the course. If the team goes 10-10 but gives DDR & Lavine thirty-five minutes while Eubanks and Saric play a ton, I will endorse DC’s removal, even while understanding that this course may not be the one he wanted to follow.
“The 12th seed is just a twisted ankle by the 11th seed late in the season from being right behind the 10th seed for that last play-in spot. This is why we need to add Westbrook and Kuzma for the homestretch push” -Vivek…probably.
And 10th seed if also a team like the Clippers (following the Kawhi story) falls off sharply.
That would be fantastic!!!
I like your style and want to offer you twenty-eight million dollars to do absolutely nothing.
But local media talking heads are telling me they could even be a playoff team, not a play-in team, but a top 6 team, lol.
When the local media made those predictions they were at the local bar after each had 6 beers,
They do it live on the radio almost everyday.
The thing is, fans just don’t understand. The expert talking heads know what’s coming this season.
For a team that is projected to get worse for the 3rd consecutive season and yet we get told by Kings media that they could be a playoff team is just strait gaslighting by the organization and their sycophants.
If defense wasn’t a thing the local media might be right.
To me, success for this season means that Vivek’s ego gets nailed, that the national narrative calls him out for being the fool that he is, and that he becomes too embarrassed to show his face in public. I think deflating his ego will go a long way to getting him to loosen his grubby fingers from the steering wheel. Success for this franchise has little to do with win-loss record anymore, it has more to do with how soon can they get rid of Vivek’s meddling.
While I don’t know how we get there, I agree that the end of Vivek’s meddling is the only way for this team to be successful. I’m still boycotting this season for the first time since I became a fan 25 years ago. I’m not spending a dollar on this franchise.
I salute you. Too many fans complain but don’t put their money where their mouth is. I haven’t spent a dime on this franchise in years and don’t plan to anytime soon.
Like this hasn’t happened yet?
Not nearly as much as it needs to.
I have a chance to see Kings-Heat in Miami. Is it worth it?
Lol
sounds like you get to watch nba basketball. Only you can determine if that value is worth it to you at the price. I just like that money goes to me arrison over Vivek.
Either way, you’re still spending time in Miami so you’re ahead regardless.
Plus you get to watch the game for cheaper, and like Nathanssj said you money isn’t going to Vivek.
Too generous! I have Phoenix ahead of Sacramento. This roster doesn’t fit nor plays defense. I’ve got more in the low 30s even high 20s range. Praying for worse in a loaded draft.
If that’s going to be the case then at least trade Monk, Derozan and Sabonis. Sabonis to the Pistons where he has a chance to succeed. He deserves at least that. I feel sorry for the young guys but maybe with some good young returns for the 3 above and a couple of picks things might brighten up a bit. It will take time but IMO it’s worth it. Of course it all hinges on Vivek getting out of the way.
Agree, Sabonis deserves better . He is the best of what the NBA is supposed to represent . Super competitive, totally unselfish and always team first . Very few like him !
Sacramento wants to win. Vivek just wants your money.
Prediction checks out.
So the West’s bottom 4 are
Utah – actively tanking
PHX – The latest in the New owner thinks he knows more than the rest of the league club
NOP – Run by Dumars
Kings – Run by the king of the Owner thinks he knows more than the rest of the league club and Perry a Dumars disipel.
Makes perfect sense.
Vivek going to the WH.
Trump to host tech CEOs for first event in newly renovated Rose Garden
Maybe he can get ICE to take care of the “illegal” Faker and Dub fans overrunning our home court.
Maybe he can get some National Guard troops in here to stomp out the crimes perpetrated by our front office.
Maybe we should hope he forgets to bring his citizenship papers and it’s a trap?
3:1 they try to deport Vivek for the sin of being brown.
Just about half of the folks on that guest list are foreign born and brown.
This guy gets it.
BREAKING: The Federal Government to buy 10% stake in struggling NBA franchise for eleventeen trillion dollars.
Increasing our ticketing tariffs for outside Sac, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado counties should pay for it.
And everyone who enters G1C gets a Nobel prize!
“Locals Only” prices will be cut by 1500%.
It may be tough to win in the NBA with only chain-smoking white guys with beer bellies and hemorrhoids.
that is a serious sin these days. I would like to skip the crime of being brown and focus on poor ownership
Heh. Vivek is not a tech CEO and TIBCO wasn’t a particularly prominent company relative to the other ones who will be there. His claim to fame at this point is being the owner of an endlessly failing NBA team, so not sure how he even managed to get there.
Kissed the ring, I’m guessing
Be aware- this is a honey trap set by Stephen Goebels Miller, Kristi Noem and Tom Homan- get all the foreign born brains in a room- or in this case a Rose Garden and bring in ICE. I think the dismissive little fella is a bad owner but does not deserve this. No one does.
The “running it back” description is, in my opinion, pretty off-base. When a team trades away its best player, even if little else changes, you certainly aren’t looking back twelve months and credibly suggesting that you want to do what you did the previous season. The Kings and their style of play will be markedly different.
If you could replace Fox with a player of similar talent, modus operandi is still going to change because Fox’s speed creates a dynamic that can’t be reproduced. This new player might be very good, but it will be in a substantially different way than Fox. Our kid Swipa gave the Kings something that few other teams could replicate.
Twelfth place is fine with me, and frankly, I hope that turns out to be too optimistic. For me, the season will be about who gets to play. If Lavine and DeRozan get thirty-five minutes and Ellis and Clifford get very few, that will be disappointing, even if Sacramento should manage forty-five wins. That’s a number that likely gets you bounced in the first round, and has little benefit to the organization.
Same thing goes with Eubanks and Saric eating a lot of backup minutes while Raynaud and Ike Jones pile up DNPs. The difference here, of course, is that no matter how many minutes Saric and Eubanks play, you still aren’t getting forty wins. Lavine and DeRozan can carry a team for stretches, neither of the new bigs have ever been capable of it.
OT: Lyles signing with Real Madrid per SI.com
Kinda puzzled by the lack of interest in him. Hes got great size, length, and touch. Plays physical and competes on defense. Helps on the glass. Good guy and hard worker. Team player. Not a superstar by any means but I’m surprised absolutely nobody thinks this guy can give them some good minutes for cheap.
I, for one, would say he’s better than any of Isaac Jones, Saric, Eubanks, and Raynaud.
He’s likely going to get more money and playing time with Real Madrid. Seriously, would you rather be a starter for a European powerhouse like Real Madrid and live in a cosmopolitan city or take a vet minimum to come off the bench in a city like Detroit or SLC? Real Madrid might be the best Euro team of the last decade.
I’m a fan of Lyles and was hoping he’d come back for all of the reasons jwalk laid out above. But Adam also makes excellent points! I hope Trey has a great time over there, Madrid is a wonderful city.
A read an article some days back (I wish I could find it again) that mentioned that one of the side effects of the new CBA apron rules could be middling talent being squeezed out of the NBA and foreign leagues being the unintended beneficiaries of it. The article cited the relatively lackluster free agency this summer and the number of free agents that haven’t signed.
Maybe this move by Lyles of evidence of that and maybe that is why Adam Silver has mentioned the possibility of an NBA Europe league instead of NBA expansion?
I agree. Could probably stay here for the minimum, so maybe he can get a few million more in Europe?
I like him as well. Agree with better than except perhaps Jones who may be emerging. (hope springs eternal)
One of my favorite Kings recently. Dude is willing to scrap and brings a book everywhere. Wish him the best of luck and he’ll love Madrid. Such a lovely city.
The win total and placement in the west is *exactly* where I landed yesterday in thinking it through. Get out of my head ESPN!!
Hate-watching worked for my sanity last year so I’m going to take that 4-16 prediction from above and run with it.
I feel the 4-16 start the season is a very real possibility. Games 3-18 are absolutely brutal.
I’m going 32 wins. This team is completely mismatched and they’re all going to be miserable losing together.
Perry gets an F for his first offseason. He’ll be gone in three years and the team has a near zero chance to even win a playoff series during that time.
I think this is the real reality they face.
We need a poll of who is going to get out of Basketball Hell first. My money is on a DDR demand for trade, but I could see Monk beating him to the trade block. Sabonis and LaVine will likely stick around, in large part due to their contracts, but I could also see some total Kangz move of Keegan and Keon for some big name win now player. Some bullshit move like LaVine and Keon for Paul George or Sabonis and Keegan for Joel Embiid.
IMO the Kings should trade Sabonis to the Pistons. With them they have a chance to advance in the East. He deserves a better chance. We in return could get some young talent and a first or two.
Agreed, but I’ll go as far as
He’ll be gone in three years and the team has a near zero chance to even
winplay a playoffseriesgame during that time.Perry is a 2nd tier vice assistant president to the general assistant manager clown. He has 0 chance of success. He has almost no more insight into winning basketball than many that post here. He was smart enough to accept the payday that the idiot owner offered him, so he has that going for him. I would have taken the money as well. He 100% knows that he is a figurehead who does the bidding of a 4th rate fantasy basketball player with money.
I’m gonna make a radically different take. I think there are some teams definitely better than us no matter what we do:
Nuggets, Wolves, Thunder, Rockets, Lakers (as currently constituted).
I think there are a few teams that I’d bet my left two lugnuts we’re better than this year:
Portland, Utah, NOP, Phoenix.
That leaves us in a glut in the middle where I don’t see any of the teams in this pack being head and shoulders better this year:
Spurs, Mavs, Clippers, Grizzlies, Warriors.
I think the warriors are just the Gold Plated Kings. Poorly constructed, bigger names than talent, and Steph can still splash it, but he’s winding down (in his own words). Butler might play 40 games, but I’m not terribly concerned about them. The Grizzlies just traded their second or third best player for a lot of picks and not a lot of present. The Spurs are gambling that Fox and progression are enough to elevate that team to real serious status, which may or may not happen. The Mavs are the Cooper Flagg show until Kyrie gets back, and there’s no guarantee he’s going to be playing well this year. The Clippers are in potentially hot water skirting the cap, and they’re deeper, but if the league comes down on them for Kwahi things, it could go south REAL quick.
That’s also assuming perfect health for all teams.
I’m not saying the Kings are knocking on the door of the five seed this year. What I am saying is that 12th is the least possible outcome here, and There’s a chance of being better than a lot of other teams this year. There’s a chance LeBron gets traded and things shift, or another spat of major injuries tanks a team. There’s even half a chance that the Kings needed a shift away from Fox and Brown and something better is coming with what the Kings have on the table.
Light beams. Crush dreams. Go Kings.
I really do appreciate your optimism, but if you are banking on other teams being hurt or pulling a Kangz like move for the Kings to rise in the standings, you are kind of admitting the Kings just aren’t that good. If they need the help of others to under perform then we are kidding ourselves on the expectations of this roster.
to that end, you could be 100% right. The Kings do have a lot of talent on paper. To the casual observer DDR, LaVine, Sabonis, Monk, Dennis, etc are all very good NBA players, especially if you are assembling a fantasy points league. IMO, put them on the same roster, however, they are a bunch of mismatched styles where the sum is less than the parts.
I’m not one for rooting others to fail so my side can rise. I’d rather just get behind a good ball club and take pride in them. Sadly, I can’t say this about this bunch.
I don’t know that I’m rooting for them to fall or be hurt. I’m mostly pointing to the fact that these are other flawed teams. I think the odds of the Kings winning a playoff series this year is about the same as those middle teams as well.
Of the middle of the pack teams you list:
Clips, Ws, Grizz all were better than the Kings last season and I don’t see that changing this season.
Dallas was 1 game worse, but knocked us out in the play-in. I don’t see us being better than them this season.
The Spurs were 6 games worse without Wemby and Fox and they also improved themselves this offseason. I will be very surprised if we end up better than them this year.
I think you’re sleeping on Portland. They were only 4 games worse than us last season, had an impressive 2nd half and I think they got better and we got worse over the offseason.
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