According to Shams Charania, the Sacramento Kings are waiving Isaac Jones to make room for Precious Achiuwa. Bringing in the free agent power forward is the right move, but waiving Jones is not, particularly when there are better options on the roster to move to make room.
The Kings are expected to waive second-year center Isaac Jones to make roster space to sign Achiuwa, sources said. https://t.co/Rl2tiUUh1w
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 4, 2025
When it comes to defense, the Kings are not great. In fact, they would have to work incredibly hard to even be considered mediocre. Keep in mind that in their most recent loss to the Denver Nuggets, the entire team tallied one block. And that came from Nique Clifford, not any of their centers.
Doug Christie has been talking about making the Kings a more defense-focused team since training camp. That's the right thing to do as the Kings are almost always on the wrong side of the points scored/points allowed differential. The problem is that they need more defensive-minded players.
That's where Precious Achiuwa comes in. The Nigerian player has proven himself to be a defensive powerhouse since joining the league in 2019. He became a free agent after the 2024-2025 season, making him an obvious choice for the Kings' roster. Who they've chosen to waive isn't.
The Kings are apparently releasing Isaac Jones
Since the regular season is well under way, most teams have full rosters. That means 15 regular contracts as well as three two-way contracts. The Kings have been full up since finally deciding to pull the trigger on signing Russell Westbrook after multiple weeks of speculation and waffling.
As such, Sacramento appears to gave made the choice to waive Isaac Jones, a second-year center-forward who has seen minimal playing time this season. Between Domantas Sabonis, Drew Eubanks, Dylan Cardwell, Maxime Raynaud, and Dario Saric, the Kings are well staffed at the five.
While releasing a center-forward to create roster space makes sense, choosing Isaac Jones doesn't. He is an excellent young player with a lot of upside. If developed properly, he could become an reliable talent for the Kings. Instead, they should have released Dario Saric who has been a dud.
This is who the Kings traded Jonas Valanciunas for, and spends the majority of his time on the bench. When he is on the court, Saric is just slightly more useful than Devin Carter. Bringing in Achiuwa is one of the best decisions the Kings have made in awhile. It's too bad Jones is paying the price.