The Sacramento Kings entered the 2025-26 season facing one of two distinct possibilities. Either their surplus of shot creators would make them unstoppable on offense or their dreams would crumble as there simply wouldn't be enough touches to go around and thus offset the defensive concerns.
Unfortunately, the latter of which has played out—until, of course, injuries and the trade deadline revealed exactly what critics knew would happen all along.
Sacramento parted with backup guards Keon Ellis and Dennis Schröder ahead of the trade deadline. It's, unfortunately, also lost Zach LaVine to a season-ending injury. As a result, a season that's been lost since late November has taken a turn for the worst.
The silver lining that's begun to emerge in recent weeks, however, is that the coaching staff has been challenged to move away from veteran-heavy lineups and finally give the up-and-comers a chance.
The roster lacks the necessary level of healthy talent and general refinement to string together wins at this stage, but progress is still being made. The ball seems to be moving more freely, fresh faces are emerging as productive options, and a youth movement has begun to take hold.
Though the Kings were wise to go all-in on building around their All-NBA big man in Domantas Sabonis, they're finally realizing how balance and embracing young players' upside will be essential to success.
Kings finally embracing youth movement in favor of offense-only vets
Six different players have led the Kings in scoring during their seven games since the trade deadline. The only player who has achieved that feat twice is rookie big man Maxime Raynaud, who had 21 points and 19 rebounds against the New Orleans Pelicans and 17 points and 14 rebounds against the Orlando Magic.
Fellow rookie Nique Clifford led the Kings in scoring against the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 30-point game that offered a welcome reminder of why he was a first-round pick.
The other four players who led Sacramento in scoring during that time were DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk, Keegan Murray, and Russell Westbrook. Though three of the four names on that list are veterans, that's a distribution the Kings can happily live with.
Win or lose, the Kings are finally embracing the value of the young players they've drafted and developing them in real time alongside the veterans they may complement or even surpass.
More importantly, since the trade deadline, Sacramento's leaders in minutes are Murray, Clifford, Raynaud, and Dylan Cardwell—all of whom are 25 or younger. Devin Carter, 23, and Daeqwon Plowden, 27, have joined them as key contributors averaging over 20 minutes per game during that time.
DeRozan, Monk, and Westbrook may be on that list, as well, but abandoning the veterans altogether was never the proposed strategy.
Instead, critics implored the Kings to value the athleticism, defensive potential, and offensive development of the up-and-comers on the roster. It was a vital step toward complementing an offensively-inclined group that predominantly featured players past their athletic prime.
While the circumstances that brought the change about are unfortunate, the Kings are finally embracing what they should've from the start.