Like Shaquille O'Neal at a free throw line, no one is expecting much from the Sacramento Kings this season. That definitely includes the 2026 Emirates Cup. The Kings are in the West C group with the Lakers, Warriors, Blazers and Spurs. It's hard to be optimistic about getting past two of those teams.
If you're not familiar with the NBA Emirates Cup, it's an in-season multi-stage tournament that utilizes games on existing schedule. Teams that make it through the group play stage head to the knockout round and eventually the final tournament in Las Vegas.
The cup has only around since 2023-2024, but it injects a bit of drama and tension into the first half of the season. LeBron James and the Lakers were the first to win it, followed by the Giannis Antetokounmpo and the bucks, and most recently Jalen Brunson an the Knicks.
Upon winning the cup, the Knicks announced they wouldn't raise a banner for it at MSG yet. They wanted the next banner to be an NBA Championship. New York got that, too, making them the first team to win the cup and the chip in the same year. Even better, they beat the Spurs for both victories.
The Kings likely aren't looking forward to this season's cup tournament
Not surprisingly, Sacramento hasn't really been in the mix for the cup. They've only been working on the rebuild for about a year, and they're nowhere near ready to compete for any award in the league. Regardless, the NBA didn't have to do the Kings like this in group play.
Sacramento is in the West C group which also includes the Lakers, the Warriors, the Blazers, and the Spurs. If you're asking yourself why this group only includes four out of the five West Coast teams, you're not the only one. For some reason, the Clippers are in West B with the Wolves and the Thunder.
As it stands right now, no one knows what the Kings are going to look like this season. They've gone through some changes, and have a lot of young guns on the roster. That being said, beating the Spurs or the Lakers seems highly unlikely. Even the Blazers will be tough for the Kings.
Putting Sacramento in this group with the reigning Western Conference champions feels like handing them a loss before the season even starts. The Spurs are the safest best to make it out of West C, while the Kings will be waiting to see what games fill in the missing schedule slots created by the cup.
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