At the beginning of the 2024-2025 season, the Kings looked a lot different. Former Coach of the Year Mike Brown was at the helm of a young team with big potential under two stars in De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.
What a difference a year makes.
Now, the kings are going into the 2025-2026 a much different team. Mike Brown is the head coach of the Knicks. De'Aaron Fox is in San Antonio playing point guard alongside Victor Wembanyama.
The only one left from that trio is three-time All-Star and three-time rebounding leader Domantas Sabonis. And he won't hang around forever, waiting on the Kings to finally build a contender.
The state of the Kings
At this point, there are very few people who have a positive outlook for the Kings going into this season. Their unbalanced roster and lack of desire to fix it have put them in a terrible place.
Out of everyone on the roster, the person who is most keenly aware of this is Sabonis. Not only did he lose his head coach and point guard last season, he has also lost the possibly the best backup center in the league, Jonas Valanciunas.
On top of that, the Kings seem disinterested in developing young talent. Instead, the front office appears more focused on bringing in aging stars whose prime years are well behind them.
Sabonis could be the next out the door
Domantas Sabonis is 29 and has been in the league for just under a decade. That puts him in that perfect spot of being still in his prime but having the right amount of experience to know how to use this time effectively.
The Kings were smart enough to lock him down in a five-year contract in 2023. That means Sabonis is a King through the 2027-2028 season. That doesn't stop him from asking for a trade. Plus, he's a great player so other teams will show up with offers.
If the Kings' front office doesn't get their collective heads on straight, their best asset is going to start looking for the door. At the very least, Sabonis will hit free agency in the summer of 2028.