After defeating the Phoenix Suns in their regular season finale, the Sacramento Kings have finished the 2024-25 NBA regular season 2024-25, and for the second straight season, they are headed to the Play-In Tournament.
As the ninth seed, the Kings will host the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the play-in (which will be played on Wednesday, April 16). If they win, they will travel on the road to play the loser of the game between the seventh and eighth seed. If they win that game, they will be rewarded with the eighth seed in the Western Conference (and a date with the dominant Oklahoma City Thunder).
This path is one that fans of the team have been anticipating for weeks. Throughout that time, everyone has had an idea of how difficult this path to the team's second playoff berth in three years would be (especially with Malik Monk set to miss the entirety of the play-in).
For the most part, the deck seems to be stacked against the Kings. However, there is one storyline that no one is talking about that may end up working in their favor.
Jonas Valanciunas is the GOAT Play-In Player
Do you know how it is cool talking to really old NBA reporters/players who are still with us because they were present for the entire history of the league?
Well, we have a similar example for the NBA's newer after-regular season/pre-playoff feature. With the Kings set to play on Wednesday, veteran big man Jonas Valanciunas has officially been involved in all six of the play-in tournaments in NBA history.
It all started in 2019-20 when the NBA first created the Play-In Tournament for the eighth and ninth seeds to showdown in a one-game winner-take-all battle in The Bubble. At the time, Valanciunas was with the Memphis Grizzlies, who ended up falling to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Then, in 2020-21, not only did the league decide to keep the play-in idea going, but they also decided to expand it and make a whole mini-tournament out of it. In that season, Valanciunas' Grizzlies pulled off what the Kings are hoping to do now, winning two games in a row to clinch the eighth seed.
In 2021-22, Valanciunas did the same thing, but this time with a new team: the New Orleans Pelicans. The following year, he went for the three-peat, but the Pelicans ended up being upset by the Oklahoma City Thunder at home in the first round of the play-in. Last year, the Pelicans got the eighth seed again, but only this time, they took a different path to get there (losing the seven/eight game before winning the eight/nine one against the Kings).
Now, Valanciunas is back with a third different team. Overall, Valancunias holds a 5-3 record in play-in games. Valanciunas is also the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in play-in history.
This is wild: Jonas Valanciunas is heading to his 6th straight play-in tournament, leading back to its inception in 2020.
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) April 10, 2025
He also has the most points AND rebounds in play-in history. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/YbdzqzTn6U
One could argue that Valanciunas is the greatest play-in player of all time. In reality, this is nothing more than a cool bragging right. Still, at the very least, Valanciunas will have his Kings teammates mentally prepared for what to expect in these single-elimination situations. Experience is sometimes overrated, but it can give you a competitive edge if properly channeled. Valanciunas gives the Kings that with his longstanding play-in resume, increasing their chances of emerging from this week victorious.