The Sacramento Kings have a long history of making bad decisions. At this point, they're basically famous for it. This is the franchise that has regularly shot itself in the foot without provocation, primarily at draft time. Fans have a lot of bad draft feelings swimming around their heads.
That doesn't mean the Kings need to make things worse by bringing back certain players they have already moved on from. There are times when it makes sense to look to the past to try and build the future. It's definitely not the case for these five players.
5. De'Aaron Fox
Honestly, this is a tough one. Fox hasn't exactly been playing well for San Antonio, and had a really rough playoffs. He was the face of the franchise in Sactown for many years. After watching him with the Spurs, it's hard to imagine him coming back to the Kings and leading them to relevancy. For the Kings to grow and develop, they have to do it without Fox on the roster.
4. Alex Len
After bouncing around the NBA for several seasons, Len is now playing in the EuroLeague for Real Madrid. Len spent the better part of four seasons with the Kings and was rather unremarkable. He was an okay bencher at best, but he definitely doesn't fit the new direction. At 33-years-old, his prime years are behind him without question, and they weren't exactly memorable.
3. Marvin Bagley III
If you could consider any player the face of the Kings' botched 2018 draft, it would be Bagley. Instead of using their second overall pick to get Luka Doncic, Sacramento went with Bagley. It's a mistake that continues to haunt the Kings, even though Bagley's been gone since 2022. Even though the Wizards had two runs with him, there's no practical or sensible reason to bring Bagley back to Sacramento.
2. Dario Saric
During the 2025 offseason, the Kings traded Jonas Valanciunas, arguably one of the top backup centers in the league, for Saric. They then proceeded to bench Saric for most of the season, and traded him at the 2026 deadline. That move began the series of events that led Saric out of the league almost immediately. Let's just say he's not super happy with the Kings and leave it at that.
1. Dennis Schroder
Schroder was another player the Kings picked up in the 2025 offseason and traded at the 2026 deadline. He was supposed to be the starting point guard, but that fell apart quickly and he was replaced by Russell Westbrook. Schroder has already been traded again since leaving the Kings and is now on his way to the Hornets. He's another guy with less-than-positive vibes towards the Kings.
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