Even though the full schedules have yet to be released, the official dates for the two game preseason series between the Sacramento Kings and rival Los Angeles Lakers have been set, according to a report from Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee.

The Sacramento Kings will face the Los Angeles Lakers twice as part of their yet-to-be-released 2022-23 preseason schedule. The Kings will visit the akers on Oct. 3. The Lakers will come to Sacramento on Oct. 14.

— Jason Anderson (@JandersonSacBee) June 2, 2022

Even though the current NBA season hasn’t ended yet, it’s never too early for Kings fans to start thinking about next year. Especially with the draft now only a few weeks away.

For the first time since the 2016-17 preseason, the Kings and Lakers will play each other twice in October before regular action is underway. The Kings will surely be looking to replicate their preseason success from this year when they finished 4-0 against the Suns, Clippers, Trailblazers, and Lakers.

Thought hey don’t technically matter, these games will be the first time fans get to see the duo of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis in action after having a full offseason of training together. This will also be the first time new head coach Mike Brown and his staff will have the opportunity to lead the Kings in a real contest.

Something everyone will be focused on in this game, aside from seeing the team’s latest additions, will be the progression Davion Mitchell. The standout rookie, already a fan favorite and one of the teams better players, will be looking to avoid the dreaded NBA sophomore slump. He will instead be looking to make the jump to full-time starter and an impact player for Sacramento that helps end their playoff woes. The Kings roster was hazardously shallow last season with really only two reliable players on the roster. An issue the front office is overtly looking to fix.