Previewing the Sacramento Kings for the 2026-27 Season

1 hour ago

3 min read

The Sacramento Kings have been on a downward spiral over the last few years, and last season was about as low as an organization can get. After making the Play-In the year prior, the Kings followed it up with a disappointing 22-60 campaign.

They also did not get the best lottery luck, landing the 7th overall pick. Luckily, things went their way on draft night, and they were able to get the No. 1 player on their draft board, Darius Acuff Jr. GM Scott Perry was very pleased with Acuff falling to them at No. 7.

The Kings stayed relatively quiet for most of the offseason. They did not make any major moves but definitely made some tweaks to the roster. This team still has a nice veteran presence, and that is balanced out by a young core of players who could end up representing the future of the franchise.

The Roster

Point Guards — Darius Acuff Jr., Ben Simmons, Elfrid Payton, Adam Flagler (Two-Way Contract)

Shooting Guards — Zach LaVine, Malik Monk, Emanuel Sharp

Small Forwards — De’Andre Hunter, Nique Clifford, Daeqwon Plowden

Power Forwards — Keegan Murray, Precious Achiuwa, Alex Karaban, Jonathan Mogbo (Two-Way Contract)

Centers — Domantas Sabonis, Maxime Raynaud, Dylan Cardwell

Biggest Questions

One of the biggest questions surrounding Sacramento is simply whether they can stay competitive throughout the course of the season.

This is a team that is very young but still has a strong veteran presence with Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, and even Ben Simmons. It is also a team with solid depth all around. I do not see one major weakness in the roster construction. It is more that the roster is weaker overall compared to most teams in the Western Conference.

Another big question is the young talent. Obviously, you have the rookies headlined by Acuff, and you cannot have super high expectations for rookies right away. However, players like Maxime Raynaud, Nique Clifford, Dylan Cardwell, and even Jonathan Mogbo are younger players who have shown flashes.

The question is whether any of them can turn into major building blocks for this franchise moving forward. We should get a much clearer picture of that throughout the course of the season.

The last major question is what this organization will look like a year from now. This roster has the potential for a major overhaul, possibly at the trade deadline, and if not, it could happen during the following offseason.

This is more than likely the final season in Sacramento for LaVine and Sabonis if the team continues to struggle. The Keegan Murray contract has also looked very bad up to this point, and if he does not have a major year, there is a scenario where the Kings eventually have to attach draft capital to move off his contract.

Doug Christie also does not have a cold seat by any means. The organization could look for a new voice in the locker room after this season if improvement does not occur. We all know how owner Vivek Ranadivé has been with coaches. He has been one of the most aggressive owners in the league when it comes to making coaching changes, so Christie's situation will definitely be something to watch.

Prediction Markets

Some of the current future betting lines for the Kings are as follows:

Regular-season win total: 20.5
To win the NBA Finals: +100000 (tied for worst odds)
To win the Western Conference: +70000 (worst odds)
To reach the Conference Finals: +30000 (worst odds)
To reach the Conference Semifinals: +12000 (worst odds)
To win the division: +20000 (worst odds)
To make the playoffs: +2200
To participate in the Play-In: +1400
To win the NBA Cup: +100000 (worst odds)
Photo Credit AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

These are basically the worst betting odds of any team in the NBA. The prediction markets have the Kings finishing last in the Western Conference and potentially with one of the worst records in the entire league.

If that does happen, though, they could put themselves in a good position in the NBA Draft Lottery and have a strong chance of obtaining a high pick in next year's draft.

Final Prediction and Outlook

I think this season will once again be another development year for Sacramento. They have had a lot of these over the last 15 years or so, but there just is not enough on this roster for me to believe they can make the Play-In Tournament.

I believe the ceiling for this team is around the 10 seed while hovering below .500. The floor is under 20 wins and finishing last in the Western Conference.

I think Sacramento will position itself nicely for the following offseason while continuing to focus on developing its younger talent. I also think Doug Christie will be gone after this season if the team does not show enough improvement.