Despite falling short of earning their third Las Vegas Summer League title, the Sacramento Kings had plenty of encouraging moments from two weeks in Sin City.
From establishing Scott Perry’s ideal identity as the first to start, rookie debuts, to the growth of returning players.
Keep in mind, Summer League is far from a direct indicator of success at the NBA level. If anything, most believe that poor performances in the tourney hold more weight than successful.
But, let’s start with the positives. Here were three encouraging takeaways from Sacramento’s nearly perfect 2K26 Las Vegas Summer League:
Building an Identity: Step 1
Led by Coach Dipesh Mistry, they were one of the most successful teams not only thanks to their talent, but also their on-court identity.
Centered around a defensive orientation, picking up 94 feet, and using defense to fuel their offense. One of their common sayings throughout Vegas was ‘Make Them Feel Us’ (MTFU).
It felt similar to Sacramento’s recent messaging with the main club. During his interim stint, Coach Doug Christie would often write acronyms on their locker room whiteboard. If memory serves correctly, ‘MTFU’ might’ve even made the cut last season.
New Kings GM Scott Perry has also been tirelessly discussing the identity that he hopes to curate in Sacramento next season.
Competitive, tough, team-oriented, disciplined, accountable, and professional.
Perry and Mistry both confirmed that their Summer League style of play (full-court pressure, turning defense into offense, MTFU) is the hope for Sacramento.
“We talked about (establishing that identity) in the onset of this Summer League,” Perry told Sactown Sports last week. “This group, this was the first opportunity to start laying the foundation for that identity. Those six values that we talk about so much.”
Swiss Army Nique
Nique Clifford was one of the stars of Las Vegas. ESPN’s Kevin Pelton called him the best player in Summer League prior to the playoff rounds, ranking above first-pick Cooper Flagg.
Trading up to acquire the 24th overall pick, which was then used to select Clifford, was one of Perry’s first moves as head honcho in Sacramento.
In six games played, Clifford averaged 15.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists on 49.3 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from three on four attempts per game.
Teammates, coaches, and staff often referred to the rookie as a Swiss Army knife due to his versatile and wide-ranging skill set.
Clifford seemed to always recognize when momentum was shifting out of his team’s favor. With impressive ball-handling capabilities, he seemed to take over for stretches.
Off-the-dribble creation often led to patient conversions or smooth reads to open teammates with either hand.
Two-way guard Isaiah Stevens, who played with Clifford at Colorado State, said he believes the wing’s ability to create lies in his pace. Hastily going from start to stop or vice versa, while rarely being sped up in the process, aided his early production.
Keep in mind that Clifford (23) is nearly five years older than Flagg, for example. However, Vegas provided optimism on what the rookie could bring to Sacramento as soon as next season.
Isaac Jones: C or PF?
One of the better stories around the NBA last season, Jones worked his way from an undrafted two-way to a fully-rostered spot.
Lacking depth behind Domantas Sabonis (prior to the Jonas Valanciunas deadline addition), Jones played 304 minutes over 40 games in his rookie campaign.
But, at 6’8 with unideal rim protection for a backline defender, Coach Mistry is attempting to alter Jones’s ideal position.
“I told him, for you to really contribute at a high level in the NBA, you’ve got to play the four,” he said. Mistry, Jones’ developmental coach last season, has a good relationship with the Washington State product.
A big part of that adjustment was three-point shooting, particularly from the corners. Shooting 3/9 from distance in six games didn’t turn heads in that aspect, even if he did hit a huge one late in the championship game versus Charlotte.
As the tournament progressed, Mistry adjusted his lineups. Jones began to see more run at the center position, while their surrounding playmakers set him up.
He excelled finishing plays, averaging 18.3 points and 6.7 rebounds on 64.6 percent from the field. That included a 36-point game in the semi-finals.
36 PTS 👑 6 REB 👑 13/17 FG
A DOMINANT night from Isaac Jones propelled the @sacramentokings to a 5-0 record and into the NBA Summer League Championship Game! #NBASummer pic.twitter.com/cK2XLiyytb
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) July 20, 2025
HoopsHype’s Global Rating listed Jones as the number one contributor of all Las Vegas Summer League performers.
While most of his damage was not done as a four, the second-year players showed he can still make an impact at the center position. It’ll be interesting to see where/if he can fit into Christie’s rotation next season.
More Sacramento Kings coverage on Sactown Sports
Attempting to become the first organization to have three Las Vegas Summer League titles, the Sacramento Kings failed to defeat Charlotte in Sunday’s championship game.
The Hornets secured their first Summer League championship in the 83-78 win.
It was a different story from their semifinals victory over the Toronto Raptors the night prior. Charlotte, led by Kon Knueppel (4th overall in the 2025 Draft) and Ryan Kalkbrenner, got off to a hot start.
Read More:
Kings narrowly fall to Charlotte in Summer League title matchup
Upcoming offseason schedule for the Sacramento Kings:
August TBD – Release of 2025-26 regular season schedule
September TBD – Start of NBA training camps for the 2025-26 season
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