Domantas Sabonis is proving to be quite the conundrum for the Sacramento Kings. He's injured, he's expensive, and he doesn't fit the program. In many ways, Sabonis is the key obstacle that the Kings need to get over in order for this rebuild to take shape, one that is going to keep slowing it down.
If you picture the rebuild process for the Kings like a car driving on a long, winding road through wine country, Domantas Sabonis is like a series of potholes that keep causing damage and derailing the trip. Which is too bad, because wine country is really nice at this time of year.
After this season, Sabonis still has two years on his contract worth nearly $100 million dollars. And as the Kings found out at the trade deadline, the number of teams willing to take the former All-Star for that kind of money is incredibly small. It would help if Domas was even remotely good on defense.
That massive salary prevents the front office from signing new players. Plus, he has been injured for most of the season, only playing in 19 games. To put that into perspective, Joel Embiid has played 31 games this season and Zion Williamson has been in 40. Those two are always injured.
Domantas Sabonis is a big part of why this Kings' season was terrible
Basically, 2025-2026 Sabonis is expensive, untradable, rarely plays, and is only half a center when he's actually on the court. The Kings need to move on from him, but they are going to have to be patient. Unless they get really lucky, he'll likely be a King until his current contract runs out.
That makes the rebuild a lot more complicated, though not impossible. Having Sabonis around means a roster spot is taken up, not to mention a large chunk of the salary cap. It just means the front office is going to have to be smart and creative about their moves while working around Sabonis.
The other downside is that they are going to have to play him. With the amount of money the Kings are on the hook for, they can't afford to leave Sabonis on the bench. That doesn't mean they have to start him, but they also cannot avoid putting him on the court.
Domantas Sabonis can still score and rebound like a madman, but the Kings need more than that from their starting center. He's not the right fit anymore and needs to find a different team where his gameplay is part of the program instead of derailing it.