Over the last 24 games of 2025-2026, the Sacramento Kings were playing better basketball than what fans were seeing in first two thirds of the season. There are a few reasons for that switch getting flipped, a big one being the veterans sitting on the bench and letting the young guns get to work.
Finishing 14th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 22 wins and 60 losses wasn't the ending to the season the Kings wanted. That being said, it's roughly what everyone else was expecting. To be fair, they actually beat some projections that showed them winning less than 20 games.
Don't forget the Kings had a 16-game losing streak at one point. That was the longest losing streak for any team in the league in 2025-2026 as well as the longest losing streak in the history of the franchise. After they broke that streak, Sacramento had a bit of a gear shift,
Rather suddenly, the Kings started playing reasonable basketball like a team. Out of those last 24 games of the season, they won 10 of them. That's a win percentage of 41.7. It's not great, but it's better than the first 58 games of the season when they were only winning 20.7% of the time.
Big roster changes created big changes on the court
The Kings started playing better as soon as they snapped the 16-game losing streak. By that point, several players, particularly Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis, were ruled out for the season due to injuries. This created room for young players to develop individually and as a team.
With the support and guidance of veterans like Russell Westbrook and Malik Monk on the court, the rookies and sophomores started finding a real groove. And with that groove came an actual defensive presence as well as team effort on offense that included ball movement and spacing.
More than that, these young guns were playing with joy, tenacity, and gratitude. They were hungry, and not just for championships. They were hungry to prove themselves to the franchise and its fans, not to mention the entire league. You can teach any of that.
Guys like LaVine and Sabonis are good players, but they don't fit the system that's developing in Sacramento. They need a different environment to succeed, which certainly isn't the Kings. The more time the young players get to work things out, the better the future will look.
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