The offseason is officially over: Sacramento Kings basketball is back.
Following a tumultuous, dramatic 2024-25 season that saw former NBA Coach of the Year winner Mike Brown (fired) and franchise centerpiece De’Aaron Fox (traded) removed from the organization, Sacramento has gone back to the drawing board for the 2025-26 campaign.
Fox is gone. Zach LaVine will enter his first full season in the home of the California State Capitol. DeMar DeRozan is on the path to becoming a Hall of Famer, but can he lead this Kings offense? Domantas Sabonis is the new franchise cornerstone.
The Kings will tip off their preseason play against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night, giving their veterans a chance to see the floor together for limited minutes before handing over the ball to the bench unit.
Here are a few things to keep an eye on during Sacramento’s first tune-up game.
Preseason: Sacramento Kings vs. Toronto Raptors Info
When: 7:00 PM PT
Where: Golden 1 Center – Sacramento, CA
TV: Kings.com, NBA League Pass (for out-of-market viewers)
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM – Coverage starts at 2:00 PM PDT on The Drive Guys
Tickets: Click here
Be sure to tune in right here on Sactown Sports 1140 for all of your Kings vs. Raptors coverage, beginning at 2:00 PM PST on The Drive Guys before a 7:00 PM PST tip-off from downtown Sacramento.
Changing of the Guard
Entering the offseason, the Kings had a clear hole in their starting lineup that needed to be addressed: Starting point guard.
Following the drama that ensued with De’Aaron Fox’s departure, Sacramento leaned on Malik Monk as its primary ball-handler and distributor for most of the second half of last season before moving Monk back into his Sixth Man role during the weeks leading into a season-ending Play-In loss.
Monk, who has been a staple in the Kings’ second unit for three seasons now, is expected to open up this season in his familiar role as Sixth Man once again, while veteran guard Dennis Schroder will assume the floor general duties as he enters the first year of a three-year, $44 million pact in Sacramento.
Fresh off a summer that saw him earn FIBA EuroBasket MVP honors for Germany, Schroder will enter the season as the fifth starter in a lineup that includes Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray, and Domantas Sabonis.
How will Schroder gel with the four returning starters? Will the Kings get back to a heavy-dribble-hand-off offense under Doug Christie?
Schroder has been a streaky scorer during his 12-year NBA career, but has been a thorn in the sides of countless teams during that timespan thanks to his high-intensity play style. The 32-year-old isn’t a textbook distributor, but can he slide into his new role and help elevate this team on both ends?
Starters won’t play much in this one, but it will be intriguing to see this new-look lineup in action with Schroder in the fold.
The Rookies
Sacramento turned heads during June’s 2025 NBA Draft by swinging a trade into the end of the first round, where they used the 24th overall pick to select guard-forward Nique Clifford.
Clifford was impressive during the Kings’ trip to the Las Vegas NBA Summer League Finals, where he averaged 15.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game on 49 percent shooting from the field and 46 percent from three-point range, earning First Team All-Summer League honors.
Sacramento is thin at the backup small forward spot, meaning that the 6’5 rookie could find himself in the opening night rotation. A strong preseason would bode well for Clifford’s confidence, as well as the confidence of the Kings’ front office that traded into the first round to select the Colorado State product.
Along with Clifford, Sacramento rookie center Maxime Raynaud will also make his unofficial Kings debut on Wednesday night.
Raynaud, a 7’1 center from Stanford, was selected with the 42nd pick in the second round of June’s NBA Draft, although many draft experts and analysts expected the French product to be drafted in the first round.
Although veteran big man Drew Eubanks is currently in line to assume backup center duties behind Domantas Sabonis, Raynaud (an All-ACC First Team selection in 2024-25) will likely get plenty of run this preseason in hopes of adding needed experience against NBA-level talent.
How will Raynaud fare in the paint against fellow bigs? Can he hold his own on the boards? He’s been crafty in practice, but can the seven-footer playmake out of the post a la his teammate Sabonis?
Watching these two rookies in action during the second half will provide plenty of entertainment once the starters clock out for the night.
More Sacramento Kings content from Sactown Sports
“I personally think preseason games are valuable, especially now that we went from four to eight,” Sacramento Kings head coach Doug Christie said after Monday’s practice.
Beginning his first season as the Kings’ full-time head coach, Christie and new general manager Scott Perry have been clear in their goal of creating an identity this season.
What does it mean to be a member of the Sacramento Kings? Their core on-court principles include picking up full-cout defensively and playing with pace.
They even claimed they want to be “the best conditioned team in the league.”
Christie, who earned four All-Defense honors throughout his playing career, of course, also values his group having a defensive orientation.
Wednesday’s preseason debut against the visiting Toronto Raptors is their first chance to see them in action. After beating up on each other for the past week in training camp, everyone is itching to face a real opponent, preseason or not.
“You don’t have a lot of time to figure things out,” Christie said Monday. “So there’s a higher priority on putting things in, on executing, on looking at live game reps versus practice. That’s very, very important. So we’ll be, you know, scrutinizing that tape like we do in practice, but now it’s versus an opponent.”
When asked what he’s most keen to witness, the head coach said, “I mean, it’s just basketball. For me, it’s always defense.”
Doug Christie emphasizes importance of upcoming preseason games
Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule for the 2025-26 season
Preseason
Wednesday, October 8th vs. Toronto Raptors – 7 PM PT
Friday, October 10th @ Portland Trail Blazers – 7 PM PT
Wednesday, October 15th vs. Los Angeles Clippers – 7 PM PT
Friday, October 17th @ Los Angeles Lakers – 7 PM PT
Regular Season
Wednesday, October 22nd – @ Phoenix Suns – 7 PM PT
Friday, October 24th – vs. Utah Jazz – 7 PM PT
Sunday, October 26th – vs. Los Angeles Lakers – 6 PM PT
Tuesday, October 28th – @ Oklahoma City Thunder – 5 PM PT
Wednesday, October 29th – @ Chicago Bulls – 5 PM PT
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