Tough, but fair.
That is what some fans are calling the latest feedback about the Sacramento Kings and their offseason moves, or lack thereof.
With the summer starting to wind down, multiple outlets are revealing their thoughts about the Kings, and the opinions aren't very kind.
No one is happy with the lack of movement in Sacramento
On Monday, The Athletic released their offseason grades for every NBA team, with experts about each squad putting together their thoughts on the hits and misses of the summer. The Kings earned a C grade. In his writing, Sam Amick said he was "tempted to go with an Incomplete here, as the Kings have remained engaged on the Jonathan Kuminga front and, as such, could still have a far different offseason than the one we’ve witnessed thus far.”
If the Kings are able to somehow work out a Kuminga deal, Amick's grade might improve. However, hope about that happening has diminished over the last few weeks, with the Warriors seemingly insistent about receiving a mix of first-round picks and assets for him. They're driving a hard bargain and the Kings might be out of luck. So, it feels like this C grade is as good as it'll get from Amick.
Moving on, things were even worse for the Kings over at ESPN. Kevin Pelton also unveiled his offseason marks and slapped them with a lowly "D+" grade.
"A curious offseason didn't seem to move the Kings closer to a playoff return. Prioritizing point guard after trading De'Aaron Fox in February was reasonable, but Sacramento gave Dennis Schroder a three-year, $45 million deal that might not age well given Schroder's reliance on quickness. That deal forced the Kings to swap Jonas Valanciunas for Dario Saric, who barely played last season, to stay out of the luxury tax," Pelton wrote before giving them a grade that was only above teams like the New Orleans Pelicans and Indiana Pacers.
The offseason isn't over yet but the bottom line is that numerous experts are now calling the Kings out for not being proactive during this hugely important summer break. Some fans might consider it an "incomplete" because players like Kuminga and Russell Westbrook are still on the table.
Sure, the team could still make a run at both of them. But every day that goes by brings the Kings one day closer to a roster that is very similar to the one they had last year. If the summer of 2025 ends with Sacramento only offering Dennis Schroder a hefty contract while signing a couple of rookie upstarts, a lot of people will consider giving them a big "F" on their report card.