During the course of the Sacramento Kings' unsurprising loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the same problem reared its ugly head. Once again, the Kings ran their starters ragged while barely giving minutes to their bench. It's a major issue with an incredibly simple solution the team is avoiding.
So far, Sacramento has only one win in 2026-2027. They aren't the only team with a solo victory in the league. It's also not a surprise considering where the franchise is and how much work needs to be done to turn the Kings into even a .500 team. Getting to the Finals is a pipe dream at this point.
One of the major problems holding the Kings back is their reluctance to put any faith in their bench. Sacramento has a tendency to run their starters for huge minutes every game, even if it's not proving to be successful. And it's safe to say that strategy is not winning games for the Kings these days.
To be fair to the coaching staff, their bench isn't always reliable. Part of the reason for that is the minimal in-game minutes they get, combined with low usage rates when they are on the court. All of this has been particularly evident in the first couple of games in November.
Kings' bench need more time and more trust
Sacramento's only victory so far in 2026-2027 was against the Mavericks to open this month. What was interesting was that the bench got better minutes and usage than they had been getting, making them bigger contributors to the game. Malik Monk, Leaky Black, and Emanuel Sharp came through.
All of that disappeared in the next game, last night's loss to the Lakers. Minutes declined a bit, as did usage, and the same benchers didn't play as well. That being said, it was nice to see Dylan Cardwell back on the court. The question is what kind of minutes will he get once Maxime Raynaud returns.
The Kings' organization is not showing any confidence in their bench, and that is impacting their performance negatively. Nique Clifford, who still needs development, is averaging 3.5 minutes per game in November. That's better than Alex Karaban and Jonathan Mogbo, who are getting none.
Sure, Sacramento needs to build their starting five and give them a chance to gel. The bench needs the exact same thing. Considering there are active plans to move on from two, if not three, of the current starters, putting this much time into them honestly doesn't make a lot of long-term sense.
Add us as a preferred source on Google