It's official. The Sacramento Kings are the first team in the Western Conference to be mathematically eliminated from the postseason. All that's left is to finish out the remaining 2025-2026 games and start strategizing for the upcoming draft, which will hopefully be the kickoff to a better 2026-2027.
Going into this season, there weren't exactly a lot of high hopes for the Kings. They were coming off a brutal 2024-2025, had a rookie head coach, and were unable to make significant moves during the offseason. That trend continued into the trade deadline when even more minimal moves happened.
This led to a historically bad season. Sacramento currently has a record of 16 wins and 51 losses, putting them dead last in the West and second last in the league. Their losing streak of 16 games was not only the worst this season of any team, but it was also the worst in franchise history.
There are still 15 games left in the season, but the Kings are only projected to win four more games at the most. Even winning all 15 remaining games wouldn't be enough to get Sacramento into the 10th seed in the West and the Play-In. Any postseason hopes are officially done for the Kings.
Sacramento is now playing for the future
That doesn't mean the season is over for the Kings. There's a lot of work left to do in the remaining games, particularly using the time to assess various players and decide who fits the rebuild process moving forward. On a team with so many contracts ending after this season, it's no small task.
In particular, the Kings will assess players like Russell Westbrook, Precious Achiuwa, Killian Hayes, Daeqwon Plowden, and Devin Carter. All five of them could, and should, have roles to play in the future of the Kings, and have proven their value this season.
Naturally, the draft will be a huge part of that process. The Kings have one first-round pick with a real shot at a top-three lottery spot, as well as two second-round picks. On top of that, Sacramento is likely to buy out DeMar DeRozan to free up both roster and salary cap space.
While the rebuild began with the 2025 draft, this is the offseason when it will begin in earnest. Certain problematic contracts will likely remain in place, but there is a lot of work to be done around them. The end of this season is hopefully the beginning of something bigger for the Kings.