The Sacramento Kings’ preseason schedule has two games at home
The Kings will host the Raptors on Oct. 8 at Golden 1 Center.
I was doing the math like I’ve been out here for summer league 20 years, but this might be my 17th straight. Any tips to *** newcomer, *** fan who’s never been to summer league that maybe the Scott Perry words of wisdom and how to survive this place? Well, when you go into the gymnasiums, you probably ought to carry *** jacket. I know that sounds like an oxymoron when you talk about Las Vegas because you’re outside is 110, 115 degrees, but the air conditioning does get quite cold, especially if you’re gonna be sitting in the gym for hours upon hours. Yeah, I mean I’ve seen I’ve I’ve given you *** hard time about it. I’m like you know 12. What, um, I know it’s just so early on in the summer league experience, but. I, I put myself in your shoes quite often because it’s been such ***, you hit the ground running, really. I mean, there’s the personal side of it, trying to find your own happiness and housing and all that kind of stuff. You’re, you just get your, your foundation if you will, but you’re also trying to build an organization as well at the same time. Have you had time to kind of collect your breath and catch your breath *** little bit? Getting closer, not there yet though, all the way show, but no, it’s been terrific. Been in the league *** long time, so knew what to expect coming in the door in terms of all of the tasks and duties that were gonna be in front of me. Uh, I embrace them as part of the journey. I’m excited about where we’re at right now in terms of, you know, the staffing that we’ve done, uh, the players that we were able to draft, uh, our free agency thus far so really, uh, feel good about where we’re at and we’re making incremental steps still got *** long way to go, but the, the first few steps I feel, uh, very confident and positive about and uh just looking forward to watching. These, these early decisions be *** part of the building uh mechanism for this organization going long term. You you’ve had so much experience within this league to take over *** team like at the time that you did. Is it behind the eight ball at all? Do you have enough time to really be able to accomplish the things that you set out and want to accomplish? You gotta make it, you gotta make it enough time, that’s for sure. So I never really thought about it in that way because normally when. There is change within either coaching or front office administration. It normally comes postseason and there’s *** short window from that time to the draft to free agency, um, so kind of used to that, uh, if you will, but in terms of me being able to put forth the true identity that I want to establish for this team, this organization, that’s gonna take more time. That’s not gonna just happen. Uh, overnight, uh, the, the saying goes Rome was not built the day and so, uh, but I am excited about that, not skipping any steps, you know, it, it’s part of my process I wanna make sure that everything we do, we do it thorough, we do it very thoughtful, and then I think when you do that. You have the best chance for *** very positive outcome. Is there anything that stands out? Um, I mean, I know hindsight is always 2020 but maybe the thing that maybe caught you most by surprise, you’re like, man, I wasn’t quite ready for this. I don’t think that there was in the census there’s nothing that has surprised me. The thing for me in this situation, I had been here 8.5 years ago. Now that’s *** long time, but still I had some familiarity with the owner, with the organization, with the community. Now things can change during that time, but there still was *** *** *** comfort level in all of those entities that I knew where I was coming and moving to. And really embraced it, enjoyed it, and you know *** lot more your second time around. For sure, for sure. Um, having gone through the draft, I mean, it’s in the rearview, you were able to trade into the first round and get *** product like Nee Clifford. I’m, I’m curious, wondering, you know, you’ve been around them *** lot at this point. You’ve been around both of the guys, the whole team really, now that you’ve seen him in action, was there anything after seeing him for *** time or two, maybe that scrimmage, maybe *** practice that all of *** sudden kind of went OK. Yeah, I made the right call here. Well, as it relates to Meek, the big thing that I’ve noticed in the practices and in games really is his ability to pass the basketball and handle the basketball, uh, very guard like and so that’s been impressive. He takes on defensive challenges which I love, uh, so in, in the ability in both of these young guys, both he and Max. Have the ability to play alongside other good players because they both are blessed with high basketball IQ and that’s very important for *** rookie coming in the door, so they, they have to learn some things about the NBA game, but their overall knowledge of how to play and play with others, uh, is pretty strong for guys coming in the dorm. How much do you think in Meek’s case. That can help with the roster that you’re building. I mean, it, you guys made no secret, hey, we need *** point guard, and then we’ll get to Dennis Scher here in *** minute, but seeing the ability that he has to, to, to be that, can you envision him playing that type of role with *** within rotational piece this season? Yeah, but when we, when I had the press conference after the draft, um, after the first round, talked about Meek’s versatility and his ability to play 32, or 1 for that matter. So I think that can be *** benefit for both him and us that as training camp comes around and we start playing preseason basketball and um he gets familiar with his teammates and vice versa and coach Christie and staff figure things out, his ability to play those multiple positions can be helpful so. It’s, it’s not for me to determine today where that will be, but I think there’s an openness to looking at him at any of those three per uh per positions. You mentioned uh Doug there. I’m um how’s that looking like? How’s that working relation come along between the two of you? Oh, it’s, it’s been awesome. I’ve enjoyed every minute of every day that we spend together. We talk *** lot of basketball, we talk *** lot of philosophy, we talk *** lot of life, and the beauty of it is. We are aligned in terms of how we see structure and we see the game and uh you know we both like tough minded individuals we both appreciate and want *** defensive oriented basketball team but we wanna play fast is where we want our defense to be able to create good offensive opportunities and you know one thing, and I told you guys when when we hired Doug. Was the fact that he had great presence I felt you know just as *** communicator, his ability, I think to bring people together, bring his players, bring his coaches together and so it’s gonna be exciting to watch him work with his team, work with his staff, and then watch him grow as *** head coach. This is his first opportunity. As *** full time head coach, he had the interim job last year where I thought he did *** very admirable job under some difficult circumstances, but, uh, so just excited about that and uh the the great thing about he and I, neither one of us are big ego guys we’re trying to figure out what’s the best for the collective so that we can enhance our chances at winning. We saw Max, I mean, uh, I don’t think anyone could have his first. Introduction to Kings fans any better than that first quarter that he had in the summer league for that first game against the Magic. Um, what are you seeing out of him and, and is this kind of what you envisioned when you were looking at someone like him? Well, what we knew about Max in evaluating him through the process is that he is. Can play like *** modern day big man and that he can both post up and step away from the basket and shoot. He, like Nickk, we talked about very high basketball IQ. And that really showed in this game yesterday and the one thing he does that not *** lot of players in general, but especially *** lot of young players do, he’s very verbal defensively. His that was very noticeable to the very first workout we had here as *** group preparing for the summer league was his voice defensively, and whenever you’re trying to establish *** good defensive team. You need your back line people, your big people and everybody on the floor, but especially your back line people who can communicate loud, screen left, screen right, calling out all the action for their fellow teammates. He does that naturally. He has, he doesn’t have to be coached to do that. And that is *** that will be *** bonus for him and us as we move forward. So this excited for him and you know, I’m going into the summer league first game for, for both of those guys, you know. That they’re feeling *** little bit of nerves even though it’s summer league, but that’s their first entree to Kings Nation, the Kings fans, uh, their first NBA action. And I thought both of them handled it well and the way Max got out of the gate in particular was great to see. It was great to see him knock down *** couple of those trees as well and and above and beyond anything else that I noticed from him, which may have been *** little bit surprising. Was his ability once he switched out onto some smaller players on on the offensive end, how he was able to move his feet and stay in front of them, that will be the thing that he has to do in consistently at this level and if he can do that, then he has *** chance really to, to be *** very solid contributor for us. Do you get *** sense there’s *** lot of your roster players who are curious, inquisitive about the summer league team and some of the pieces that you’ve you’ve been able to bring in? You know, it’s hard to say with veteran players, you know, veteran players are working out on their own right now and they’re getting ready for the season. They, they, they can remember back when when they were the rookie here during this week, but I’m sure they all have an eye on it just to see uh what kind of potential help is coming in the building. I think what they will find once they get the chance to work with these young guys is just again how strong their basketball IQ is. how High character both individuals are and so there’ll be *** pleas uh uh *** pleasure to work with and what you want from your veteran players is to pour knowledge into the younger players from their past experiences in this league because that’s important that’s how you build *** sustainable winning environment when you have your veteran players. Who can help teach your younger players, not just always being the coaches being relied upon to do that, but you know you got something special when you when your locker room and your veterans start taking that responsibility very seriously and so I’m looking forward to seeing how that comes together once we all get together uh at the start of the. Season, uh, beginning of October. Yeah, absolutely. You, you, you’ve had some, I know there’s still plenty of offseason left. We’re, we’re just in summer league, but you’ve had some free agent acquisitions with Drew Eubanks and Dennis Schroder. You mentioned the importance of *** point guard. Anything, uh, what do you just make of just the experience overall? Anything kind of keep you up at night as you, as you look to still build out this roster? Well, there’s always the unknown about, you know, how your team is gonna perform together, you know, you talk about Dennis Sroer though. We know based on his resume what he brings. He brings *** toughness, he brings an energy, he brings *** fearlessness to the position that I think can help this group. In *** very positive way and help us establish the type of identity that you’ve heard me talk about time and time again, competitive, tough. Team oriented, you know, disciplined, professional. Accountable he’s all those things and so that’s what I’m, I’m anxious to watch him bring that to the table and see how that impacts and, and, and spreads within our ball club because I think that’s *** very important thing, but you all, I, I still stay up at night thinking of ways, OK, how can we get *** little better here and there uh before the season starts, um. So we’ll, we’ll see if we can get there. We’ll see if we can figure something out, uh, but I feel good about where we’re at today and the also you mentioned Drew Eubanks who I think is *** little bit of an underrated pick up for us, um. Because he is very athletic. He’s tough. He has *** reputation of being *** very tough defender at that 5 and 4 position in the league, so I think he’s gonna allow us to be *** little bit better defensively with the second unit. Uh, and it will allow us to play with some pace with that second unit because he, he is that type of athlete didn’t get out and run in open court. I think, you know, so many fans, you know, they hear about whether you hear people mentioned in trade rumors and things like that, obviously you can’t really control *** lot of that stuff, but any narratives out there that is that have drawn you crazy. Easy drive you crazy at all that maybe well I, I look you know we look first of all I don’t read *** lot of that, especially during this time of year, so some of it will make its way to my my desk for somebody on the staff or whatever, but I don’t pay any attention because I know what’s the truth and what’s actually going on and it’s just the the day and age we live in. There’s so much misinformation. Uh, out there in This sports world, uh, when it comes to potential deals and, and again having worked in the media I know how some of that can get started and drummed up if you will, you know, just based on *** theory or *** hypothesis and then all of *** sudden somebody that can be turned into oh this could actually happen. So I don’t, uh, I don’t really pay *** lot of attention, so it doesn’t frustrate me and the more people get to know me. You know I’m very even keeled. I never get too high, I never get too low, um, and I’m gonna always just stay focused on today and moving forward, not look back. I’m not gonna be *** prisoner to any rumors and and things of that nature, uh, this, this isn’t my style. For sure. I think about, you know, looking at. What happened last year before you got here, you know, they change the coach, they move *** free uh the face of the franchise, really, who was *** starting point guard in the league. Is the sample size that you saw from that moment forward and obviously having that need for *** point guard, Malik would fill in for that role, Devin at times. I mean, they would rely on Keon Ellis *** lot of the times also, also, is there kind of *** curiosity to wonder that Realizing there’s *** lot of offseason left, if the roster was to remain mostly intact, to see what it looks like with the addition of somebody like Schroeder with those pieces around. Oh, absolutely, you know, I definitely want to see that just the addition of him and I talked about him being that position being very important and then the person that we were able to get in Dennis Schroeder, um, to see what this current group looks like, um, and, and see what they can do, uh, again, it’s *** new year, so. I really don’t have *** lot to draw on from last year. Yeah, I’ve watched film, I’ve watched them play, you know, live throughout the season, uh, those kind of things, but that’s different than when once you come in the building and you start working with everybody. And you know Doug now is the full-time head coach. He’s not interim, so that’s ***, that’s *** different dynamic of this is gonna be at play here and the new season it’s *** new beginning for this group, but it’s *** new beginning for 29 other groups too, so we have to see how, you know, we’re gonna focus on ourselves and do the very best we can, and I think *** big part of that is establishing that identity of who we’re gonna be, how we’re gonna be, how we’re gonna play. And do that consistently. If we can do that consistently, we’ll give ourselves *** chance. What do you feel is needed right now? Time together, I think time time together, uh, I, I think that’s gonna be an important thing. And then in that time together, I think that will help me, us, our staff kind of determine. More areas of need. Got you. Uh, as we wrap up here, I just have *** few when you first stepped in and we were able to talk to you, everyone’s always saying Zach Levine, DeMar DeRozan, some of the Demona Sabonis, some of the key pieces on the team. I’m kind of curious, maybe some of the ones *** little bit further down. I mean, obviously, you know, I talked to you about *** minute ago about just how much Things are out there all the time, but I realized we never really had *** chance to kind of talk about how you view *** few people, like even Malik Monk, for example, having so much of, uh, you know, he was asked to play *** point guard situation, whether he’s on the team or he’s not on the team, how do you just view him as as *** player? lot of respect for Malik Monk. Remember, you know, scouting him when he was playing uh at Kentucky and uh when he was coming out and. Watched him early in his career at Charlotte, and he had his struggles at that time, but you knew he had an ability. He was athletic, he had the potential to be an explosive scorer. And what I like to see *** lot of times in guys when things don’t work out somewhere how do they respond? So it tells me *** lot about him to have those struggles that he had in Charlotte and then come and find *** home like this here in Sacramento where he was just 2 years ago, very close to being 6th man of the year, uh, tells me something about the growth of him and then. That he was able to look himself in the mirror and say, hey, OK, this is on me. I can’t blame my struggles or failures previously on anybody else but me so I have *** great deal of respect when I see *** young man do that and come out on the other side. So, uh, I’ve had conversations with him both on the phone and in person. He and, uh, it’s been very good, so we, we knew each other *** little bit. Getting to know each other *** lot better now, so look forward to working with them. You had, you were able to pick up the uh the option for Keon Ellis, um, obviously there’s *** decision that you might have to make with Keegan Murray going forward. Are those, you feel good about the position you guys are in with, with both those players and maybe what the future holds for them? But I do, they, they both of those young players have shown uh what they can do in this league. You know, Keegan Murray. Uh, and his size, his ability to shoot the ball from the perimeter, his ability to match up. Really 1 through 4, maybe even 5 on some nights defensively, uh, makes him *** very uh. Important player and unique player in that manner. Uh, I’ve spent *** little time with him before he’s gone back to Chicago because he was around here in Sacramento when I first took over, uh, enjoyed that time, uh, had met him though when I was in New York as GM. We interviewed him during the pre-draft process at the Chicago combine, so I was *** little bit familiar with him. Uh, his dad is from Michigan. It was Mr. Basketball back there years ago. Uh, when I was *** college coach, so, uh, felt like I knew him *** little bit, but, uh, really looking forward to working with him, another high character person, um, as you know, look, we had Keon represent us at the draft lottery. That was. Our choice to do that and have him so that’s to let you know in terms of what we think about him, how we feel about him I think he has *** great upside, tremendous story got going from *** guy who wasn’t drafted to becoming an integral part of *** good basketball team. So, uh just looking forward to getting to know him more and spending more time with him, uh, but and and just seeing them all come together, so, uh, like, like both of those guys and and hopefully. They can be around with the Kings for for the foreseeable future for *** good while. You ever see *** personality like Keegan? Oh yeah, been quiet guys. Oh yeah, no, look, look, when you’ve been in the league and been basketball, you, people forget I coached for 13 years in college before I started in the NBA so I started. Professionally, if you will, as the college as *** profession in *** job, 1988 as *** coach. I can’t tell how many homes I went in uh uh of young prospects and just all the different personalities that you encounter. So while Kegan Murray is is his own unique person, there been similarities to him when you’ve interviewed people who were soft spoken or quiet, um, and so you learn how to. Meet everybody where they’re at and where their personality is so, uh, no, that’s, that’s good. We, we’re gonna see too if we can get him to step outside his personality just *** touch and uh at this coming coming season so we’ll have fun with it. I told, I told people I’d ask because the Monday motivations are, are *** little, I don’t know if they’re cryptic, if you’re pulling them off with *** notepad they come from within but it like sometimes there might be someliminal messages in there. I told them I’d ask so. Boy, the, the, the community is, is looking for any little clue is what you’re telling me, right? Exactly. No, look, it’s, it’s something that. It’s important to me actually that uh I started doing my staffs years ago um and bringing about because again I’m *** person about positive energy and sharing that positive energy uh not only with the people I work with and then once I got *** little active on Twitter I said well let me share these with the community at large or whoever’s following because we got enough negativity in the world today, so yeah. I always go with my father left me and I’ll leave you with this. This is what he raised me on this principle. He was, he said, Son, you make *** living out of what you do, but you make *** life out of what you give. And so that’s just this Monday motivations is *** very small thing, but it’s just *** giving another giving mechanism that hopefully it touches some people in the right way to kick their week off, uh, to *** great start. And so that’s where it’s coming from. So it it it’s, it’s not *** precursor to trades or free agent signings, exactly. But yeah, oh yeah, but hey. We all still can use patience, right? Exactly.
The Sacramento Kings’ preseason schedule has two games at home
The Kings will host the Raptors on Oct. 8 at Golden 1 Center.
Updated: 3:40 PM PDT Jul 21, 2025
The Sacramento Kings released the team’s preseason schedule on Monday.It features two October games at home and games in Portland and Los Angeles. Here’s the schedule: Oct. 8 at home against the Toronto Raptors.Oct. 10 at the Portland Trail BlazersOct. 15 at home against the LA ClippersOct. 17 at the Los Angeles Lakers.All games tip off at 7 p.m. except for the Lakers game, which begins at 7:30 p.m. People can sign up to buy tickets at Kings.com/presale. The schedule release comes a day after the Kings fell short of the NBA Summer League championship with an 83-78 loss against the Charlotte Hornets. In another development, the Kings agreed to a one-year, $3.6 million deal to bring back former King Doug McDermott, KCRA 3’s Sean Cunningham confirmed.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
The Sacramento Kings released the team’s preseason schedule on Monday.
It features two October games at home and games in Portland and Los Angeles.
Here’s the schedule:
Oct. 8 at home against the Toronto Raptors.Oct. 10 at the Portland Trail BlazersOct. 15 at home against the LA ClippersOct. 17 at the Los Angeles Lakers.
All games tip off at 7 p.m. except for the Lakers game, which begins at 7:30 p.m. People can sign up to buy tickets at Kings.com/presale.
The schedule release comes a day after the Kings fell short of the NBA Summer League championship with an 83-78 loss against the Charlotte Hornets.
In another development, the Kings agreed to a one-year, $3.6 million deal to bring back former King Doug McDermott, KCRA 3’s Sean Cunningham confirmed.
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