For the Sacramento Kings, this season is basically a wash. The focus is on the future and the upcoming rebuild that will hopefully correct their course. At the core of that is Maxime Raynaud, the breakout rookie center who will definitely soften the impact of the Domantas Sabonis trade.
Way back on November 16, Sabonis suffered a partial tear of the meniscus in his left knee. Being that the Kings were already having a terrible, injury-plagued season, this wasn't exactly shocking news. 2025-2026 is the kind of season where nothing is going the Kings' way,
This past week, Sabonis' injury and recovery progress were re-evaluated. Sacramento announced that he would be out for at least another four to five weeks. At that point, he will be re-evaluated again, though not necessarily by the Kings. He could be wearing a different jersey by then,
The Kings are ready to begin a major rebuild of their roster and are basically having a fire sale of 90% of their roster. That includes big-money All-Stars like Domantas Sabonis. It is possible that fans have already seen him in a Sacramento jersey for the last time. But it might not be such a big deal.
Maxime Raynaud is the next man up
For the first couple of games after Sabonis' injury, Drew Eubanks stepped in as the starting center. It didn't really go well, so the coaches tried out Maxime Raynaud. Thankfully, that did work out as Eubanks also ended up injured and is out for the foreseeable future.
Raynaud has taken to the starting role the way a fish does to water. In last night's loss to the Blazers, he finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block. It's the third double-double of his rookie season. Plus, he has now scored double digits in six out of seven games this month.
With Sabonis likely being traded as soon as the Kings can work out a reasonable deal, his permanent replacement on the starting lineup is obvious. Even if Sabonis does recover from his injury before he's traded and returns to the lineup, the Kings should consider continuing to start Raynaud.
The reality is that Raynaud is the future of the Kings, while Sabonis is the unofficial past. Sooner or later, Domantas will be traded to another team. It's good to know that Sacramento will be in good hands at the five with another double-double machine that's just starting to get rolling.