Sports media have generally taken a negative view of their outlook for the Sacramento Kings this season. While there is reason to hope for better, there's also a very real possibility things could get much worse. Sacramento has a lot of issues to sort out in a league that is getting more competitive.
With the new season less than a month away, it's that time of year when basketball sites start publishing their projections. Not surprisingly, the Kings aren't generally seen as contenders. More than one outlet has Sacramento in dead last going into 2026-2027. It's not hard to understand why.
This is a team that will arrive in the next season with a roster full of veterans recovering from injuries, young players still finding their pro basketball footing, and a head coach few people seem to believe in. It's not exactly the kind of situation that leads to NBA Championship runs.
Stuck in a hard place
The Kings are still in the early stages of a long-term rebuild process that has several years left in it. While the franchise has scored some wins in the last couple of drafts, they still have to successfully develop those rookies and sophomores into legit NBA players. Some will take less work than others.
Sacramento is also still working under the weight of the massive contracts of Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis. These monetary constraints have held the Kings back from fully exploring the free agent market. Until they can move on from these contracts, they can't move forward.
On top of that, Sacramento is still working through putting together a solid coaching staff. They recently made some positive changes and additions, which was good to see. Doug Christie remains a bit of a question mark, as almost no one felt good about his performance in his first season.
The Kings still have more questions than answers
General manager Scott Perry has been clear since the start of the rebuild that it was going to take a long time. While he may not have said these exact words, he also made it clear that the team would get worse before it gets better. Making the Kings relevant will take more than two solid drafts.
Because of that, the Kings could easily do worse than the projections indicate. The worst of them has suggested that Sacramento could go 18 and 64 this season, with the best putting them at 22 and 60. Sure, they could do better than 22 wins, but it simply won't be by much.
Frankly, doing worse than 18 and 64 wouldn't be a surprise. It also wouldn't be the end of the world. The road the Kings are on is a long and bumpy one. A lot of things will go right and even more will go wrong along the way. It's all part of a difficult process that should yield positive results.
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