There's no question that fans are tired of the Sacramento Kings being basement dwellers who make terrible decisions. That turnaround seems to be happening under Scott Perry, but the process is only a year old. Making the playoffs this season is highly unlikely, but there's no need to rush things.
Outside of the Kings' brief flirtation with the postseason under head coach Mike Brown, Sacramento has been at the bottom of the league since the departure of the late Rick Adelman. It's been a tough couple of decades for an incredibly loyal fan base, though Knicks fans were on the rough a lot longer.
With Perry pushing a rebuild as general manager, there's actually a bit of hope around the franchise. There have been two successful drafts in a row as well as some solid moves on the free agent front over the last year. It's enough to get that rebuild ball rolling and collect a tiny bit of momentum.
Last season might have been the ugliest, but the final 20 games or so actually started to look half decent. The Kings picked up some late wins, started mounting an actual defense, and got some real momentum going on offense. That being said, they're on step five of a thousand-step journey.
It will be a few seasons before the Kings find the playoffs again
Fans want their team to get better now, but that's just not going to happen. It will take a lot of time, work, and even more roster moves to turn them into a team that makes regular appearances in the playoffs. Becoming championship contenders is going to take even more time and effort.
That process has most certainly started. The Kings are collecting real building blocks for a contender through the draft, free agency, and trades. Regardless, how those moves play out remains to be seen. Not all of these recent pickups will end up being who the Kings need them to be.
What that means is the team has to continue to shuffle pieces around until they find a roster that clicks. A big move remains getting Zach LaVine off the roster to open up payroll space. That's not likely to happen until the end of the 2026-2027 season, when his contract runs out.
At the same time, all of the Kings' potential future success doesn't hang on the contract of one player. What really matters is how the front office manages the overall rebuild and all the moving parts involved in it. That means it will be a minute before the Kings make it back to the playoffs again.
Add us as a preferred source on Google