Getting off on the right foot will be incredibly important for the Sacramento Kings' 2026-2027 season. While the full schedule has yet to be announced, fans now know their season opener is on road against the Clippers followed by the home opener against the Warriors. This will be interesting.
Sacramento is coming off a terrible 2025-2026 that saw them finish with a nausea-inducing record of 22 wins and 60 losses. Current projections show them going 21.5 and 60.5 this season, though the Kings have made roster updates and improvements that should start taking shape quickly.
That's the long way of saying that the Kings could easily outperform expectations. Of course, they could also do worse, which is an outcome no one really wants to think about. A big part of how this plays out is the kickoff to the season, the first two games the Kings play to get it all rolling.
They play five preseason matchups from October 5 through the 16. The Kings' season opener happens on October 21 in LA against whatever is left of the Clippers at that point. Then, they return to Golden 1 Center on October 24 for their home opener against the gap year Warriors.
This could be the start the Kings need
In case you've been living under a rock, the Clippers are embroiled in an investigation regarding alleged under the table payments to Kawhi Leonard that circumvented the salary cap. That investigation is currently holding up a trade with the Raptors that would send Leonard home.
So far, the NBA has been thoroughly dragging their heals on this one, mainly because they're stuck between a rock and a really angry rich guy in the Clippers' owner. However this shakes out, the Kings are likely to be taking on a franchise beaten down by months of scrutiny and negative press.
On the other hand, the Warriors are basically still the same team the Kings beat in their Sacramento home closer for the 2025-2026 season. Golden State has declared this season a gap year for internal development, which sounds like an excuse for making no substantial offseason moves.
While the Kings have a lot of kinks to work out of their slowly changing roster, these are two highly winnable games for them against a pair of weakened California rivals. There's no reason the Kings can't be at least competitive in these matchups, if not win both of them, and start the season strong.
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