As everyone remotely connected to the NBA knows, the biggest thing holding the Sacramento Kings back is the salary cap. That has the potential to change dramatically in the 2027 offseason. There are multiple players who could be leaving, opening up more than $95 million of salary cap to work with.
Considering how close to the first apron Sacramento is and how untradeable some of their biggest contracts are, the Kings have been doing a reasonably good job of pushing this rebuild. They've done well at the draft and managed to pick up some solid veterans to help the young guns develop.
That doesn't change the fact that it's hard to find the next gear without money to spend on players. Sacramento narrowly avoided the first apron luxury tax this coming season after waiving DeMar DeRozan and stretching his remaining salary over the next three seasons.
It's a move that will hopefully allow the Kings to sign a pair of players to veteran minimums to fill out their roster going into 2026-2027. At least one of those players has to be a point guard to be a backup to Darius Acuff Jr. as well as a mentor to the rookie. The Kings have to do a lot with a little.
The payroll landscape changes for the Kings next offseason
Less than a year from now, the money situation looks a lot different for Sacramento. The contracts for both Zach LaVine and De'Andre Hunter are done, and Malik Monk has a player option. Assuming Monk chooses to leave and the Kings let both LaVine and Hunter walk, it's a financial game changer.
Between those three contracts, that's nearly $95 million to work with. Keep in mind that the projected salary cap for 2027-2028 in the NBA is $174 million. Plus, there are other players receiving increases and other contracts to be renegotiated. That reduces that room to roughly $67 million.
Again, that assumes Monk doesn't take his player option and hits the open market. If he decides to stay, you can drop that payroll space to $46 million. That's still a lot of room to work with for a team that has had no cap space for years. And they'll have it in time for the 2027 free agency season.
There are more than a few amazing players who may be free agents next summer, depending on how various player options, team options, and extension negotiations go. What's interesting is that for the first time in a long time, the Kings will actually be in the mix for some of these names.
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