Kings' starting lineup woes perfectly demonstrate everything wrong this season

The Sacramento Kings have had a terrible season, pretty much from any perspective you look at it. A major reason for that is the projected starting lineup from the pre-season, which never actually played a single minute together. It exemplifies everything that went wrong this season.

When opening day of the season was approaching back in October, there were more than a few warning signs that 2025-2026 was going to be tough on Sacramento. The team was still largely the same as what they closed out 2024-2025 with, and there was no sign of big changes coming.

Now that the Kings have entered the last several games of the season, all concerns about the roster and the franchise have proven valid. Nowhere is that more evident than the Kings projected starting lineup and the fact that they were never actually assembled on the court.

The Kings' starting five that never was

One of the few moves Sacramento made in the offseason was to bring in Dennis Schroder as their starting point guard. People tried to stay optimistic, particularly after his stellar EuroBasket 2025 performance. At the same time, everyone knows that Schroder isn't a great NBA starter.

It didn't take long for the wheels to come off. Both Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis have dealt with major injuries that kept them off the court at different times. Schroder was moved to the bench after a few rough games, and replaced by Russell Westbrook as the starting point guard.

On top of that, Zach LaVine also had injury issues as did Schroder and DeRozan. The final nail in this starting five coffin was Schroder being traded to the Cavs just before the deadline in early February. Both LaVine and Sabonis are now out for the rest of the season with injuries, anyway.

The impact of this line never happening for the Kings

You can't predict injuries and have to roll with the punches as they come in. Adjusments will need to be made based on what the game is giving you. At the same time, this ended up being a massive deviation from what the Kings intended for the season which put them on the backfoot from day one.

The constant changes and alterations to the lines threw everything on the team completely out of whack. It seemed like a different roster on the court week after week, particularly the starters. There was rarely anything close to an offensive or defensive rhythm. It's hard to win like that.

Even if that starting five had worked out, it's unlikely that the season would have looked much better for Sacramento. They might have won a couple of more games at best, but even that's likely a stretch. Still, it's sad that the fans didn't see what this group could have done if running at full steam.