In case you missed the big news out of Sactown, the Sacramento Kings have signed Mason Plumlee with the goal of strengthening their front court. It's a move that makes less than no sense in both the short and long term as it addresses none of the problems the Kings are currently facing.
Before we really get rolling here, I think it's important to make my stance on Plumlee perfectly clear. I have absolutely zero problems with him. He's a tough-as-nails guy who is a decent depth player off the bench. Please don't confuse anything I'm about to write as criticisms of him directly.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, there is no logic to this decision whatsoever. Plumlee is a 36 year old center going into his 14th season in the NBA. For a rebuild that is supposedly locked in on youth, energy, and versatility, this signing sure doesn't fit what the franchise is trying to do.
In 2025-2026, Plumlee played in a total regular 20 games total on the Hornets and Spurs. A combination of injury recovery, a mid-season trade, and falling out of the rotation kept him off the court. When playing, he averaged 1.6 points, 2.7 blocks, and 1.0 assists per game. Great. Just great.
The Kings have solved absolutely zero problems with this move
So, that brings up the question of why Sacramento would sign Plumlee in the first place, and that is a head-scratcher. Presumably, they are concerned about their front court after injuries to Keegan Murray, Dylan Cardwell, and Maxime Raynaud. That's the only rationalization that adds up.
Except it doesn't. Cardwell and Murray are already back on the court. Raynaud should hopefully be in the mix in two weeks at the most. Plus, the Kings have no shortages of centers or forwards to work with. These aren't positions that Sacramento is deficient at by any stretch of the imagination.
Point guard is a completely different problem. The Kings quitely literally have one dedicated PG in rookie Darius Acuff Jr. Yes, he's putting up big numbers and is one of the top rookies in the league. But he also cannot keep this pace up forever with no significant support from the bench.
Signing Plumlee does nothing to solve that problem. Counting Precious Achiuwa, the Kings now have five centers on the roster. Even if you take Achiuwa out of the rotation, the Kings will have Domantas Sabonis, Raynaud, and Cardwell to work with. Plumlee will just end up on the bench full time.
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