The front office didn't do enough.
That's what everyone will be saying about the Sacramento Kings when this season is done. Not enough moves were made in the offseason to try and right the ship. It's a roster that's largely the same as the one they put on the court for the disastrous 2024-2025 season.
Doug Christie is going into his first full year as the head coach of the Kings, bringing with him a renewed focus on defense. But the unfortunate reality is that roster doesn't back his vision up. It's a team dominated by shoot-first guards, not elite defenders.
The question remains why the front office didn't put more effort in over the summer to build a team to match their head coach's strategy. It was an offseason that seemed to be largely focused on making space for Russell Westbrook or holding their collective breaths to see if Kuminga made the move.
In the end, it didn't matter. Neither player is on the Kings' roster. Even if they were, they aren't known for their defense. The only trade of substance brought Dennis Schroder in at point guard to replace De'Aaron Fox who left Sacramento for San Antonio and Victor Wembanyama.
The Kings have the same problems
While the firing of Mike Brown and departure of De'Aaron Fox threw the 2024-2025 season into chaos, those were symptoms of the bigger problem the Kings have been dealing with for years. No coach or point guard could consistently succeed with the Kings' unbalanced roster structure.
Another offseason has come and gone with little done about that problem. There are a lot of talented players on the line up. That doesn't make them a team. Doug Christie can push defense as hard as he wants. If he doesn't have the players to do it, that talk will go nowhere.
The fear is that the blame gets heaped on Christie the way it was on Brown, he gets fired, and the cycle starts again without the root of the problem getting addressed. There is a culture issue in Sacramento and that needs to be dealt with before the franchise can move forward.
Hopefully, things work out for the Kings in 2025-2026. This season could be the next step in building something bigger that's capable of long-term success. But it's hard to look at this specific roster and see a real contender waiting to take center stage in the league.