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<\/p>\nThe 2025-26 NBA season is here! Over the next few weeks, we’re examining the biggest questions, best- and worst-case scenarios, and win projections for all 30 franchises \u2014 from the still-rebuilding teams to the true title contenders.<\/p>\n
2024-25 finish<\/p>\n
Record: 40-42 (9th in West, eliminated in play-in tournament)<\/p>\n
Offseason moves<\/p>\n
Additions: Dennis Schr\u00f6der, Nique Clifford, Dario \u0160ari\u0107<\/p>\n
Subtractions: Jonas Valan\u010di\u016bnas, Jake LaRavia<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Can Zach LaVine help lift the Kings in the loaded West? (Taylor Wilhelm\/Yahoo Sports Illustration)<\/p>\n
The Big Question: Which direction are the Kings headed?<\/p>\n
It seems like just yesterday that the Kings were Lighting the Beam<\/a>, riding good vibes to a 48-34 record and their first playoff appearance since the 2005-06 season. Domantas Sabonis was an All-Star for the first time in the Western Conference, and De’Aaron Fox was an All-Star for the first time ever. They were surrounded by young talent, and their trade of Tyrese Haliburton had not yet come to haunt them.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Two seasons have past since, and though they have made the play-in tournament each time, they do not have another playoff appearance to show for it. Gone is Fox, who they traded for Zach LaVine, someone who has played four playoff games in 11 seasons. Following that midseason deal in February, Sacramento finished the season with a 15-18 record \u2014 owners of a bottom-10 defense \u2014 and lost its play-in opener.<\/p>\n [Yahoo Sports TV is here! Watch live shows and highlights 24\/7<\/a>]<\/p>\n Then, the Kings watched as Haliburton made a miraculous run to the NBA Finals for the Indiana Pacers.<\/p>\n Sabonis, the prize in return for Haliburton, is still there. He is still a great offensive player, capable of posting a triple-double on any given night, and he is still a detriment to fielding a title-caliber defense.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Likewise, LaVine is an incredible individual scorer, but he offers little in the way of defensive resistance. The same could be said of a 36-year-old DeMar DeRozan, another great individual scorer. Problem is, when last LaVine and DeRozan shared the wings together on the Chicago Bulls, they won only 39 games.<\/p>\n In Fox’s stead there is newcomer Dennis Schr\u00f6der, the EuroBasket MVP. His performance as the point guard for Germany this summer was the latest reason to believe in his ability to make a similar impact on the NBA level, but we have 12 seasons of evidence that suggests otherwise, and he is no defensive savior.<\/p>\n This team is not without talent. Everyone mentioned above is a good player \u2014 three All-Stars and the best player in Europe this summer, to be fair. There are also recent first-round picks Keegan Murray, Devin Carter and Nique Clifford, all of whom carry with them considerable promise. Keon Ellis is a 25-year-old member of their core. (It seems they are looking to trade Malik Monk, though he is there, too.)<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n [Get more Kings news: Sacramento team feed<\/a>]<\/p>\n And together this group could generate a top-10 offense, but, man, that defense is going to be hard to overcome, especially in this West. They currently have the 11th-highest projected win total in the West, according to BetMGM<\/a>, which would put them outside the play-in picture for the first time in four years.<\/p>\n So, which direction are they headed?<\/p>\n Best-case scenario<\/p>\n Everyone jells and plays to the best of his ability, and the Kings are a surprisingly exciting offense \u2014 one that moves the ball and scores from all three levels, including the midrange, where DeRozan is still king. They remain committed to defense, even if they are not that talented on that end, and they squeeze out another play-in tournament bid, with a real chance to emerge for a first playoff appearance since 2023.<\/p>\n If everything falls apart<\/p>\n The defense is so bad that the Kings stop playing the sort of offense that can win games and start playing hero ball. Everyone is vying for his next contract, only we can all see that, and none of their top pieces \u2014 Sabonis, LaVine or DeRozan \u2014 holds any trade value. They hinder the development of Sacramento’s recent draft picks, and there is little hope next season will be any different, save for another lottery pick.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n 2025-26 schedule<\/p>\n Season opener: Oct. 22 at Phoenix<\/p>\n The Kings, I fear, are the same old Kings again. Take the under. Pray for pingpong balls.<\/p>\n More season previews<\/p>\n East: Atlanta Hawks \u2022 Boston Celtics \u2022 Brooklyn Nets<\/a> \u2022 Charlotte Hornets<\/a> \u2022 Chicago Bulls<\/a> \u2022 Cleveland Cavaliers \u2022 Detroit Pistons \u2022 Indiana Pacers \u2022 Miami Heat \u2022 Milwaukee Bucks \u2022 New York Knicks \u2022 Orlando Magic \u2022 Philadelphia 76ers \u2022 Toronto Raptors \u2022 Washington Wizards<\/a><\/p>\n West: Dallas Mavericks \u2022 Denver Nuggets \u2022 Golden State Warriors \u2022 Houston Rockets \u2022 Los Angeles Clippers \u2022 Los Angeles Lakers \u2022 Memphis Grizzlies \u2022 Minnesota Timberwolves \u2022 New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> \u2022 Oklahoma City Thunder \u2022 Phoenix Suns \u2022 Portland Trail Blazers<\/a> \u2022 Sacramento Kings<\/a> \u2022 San Antonio Spurs \u2022 Utah Jazz<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2025-26 NBA season is here! Over the next few weeks, we’re examining the biggest questions, best- and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3792],"tags":[208,7,75,247,473,329,193,149,2598,633,3213,1024,187,188,3208,4672,164,194,126,4077,3210,3211,4056,135,150,1267,177,189,121,152,6,470,191,854,8557,179,76,207,472,3150,471,986,477,4055,474,3207,476,278,427,468,3212],"class_list":{"0":"post-317980","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento-kings","8":"tag-atlanta-hawks","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-brooklyn-nets","12":"tag-charlotte-hornets","13":"tag-chicago-bulls","14":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers","15":"tag-dallas-mavericks","16":"tag-deaaron-fox-2","17":"tag-defensive-rating","18":"tag-demar-derozan","19":"tag-dennis-schroder","20":"tag-denver-nuggets","21":"tag-detroit-pistons","22":"tag-devin-carter","23":"tag-domantas-sabonis","24":"tag-golden-state-warriors","25":"tag-houston-rockets","26":"tag-indiana-pacers","27":"tag-jake-laravia","28":"tag-keegan-murray","29":"tag-keon-ellis","30":"tag-kings","31":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","32":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","33":"tag-malik-monk","34":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","35":"tag-miami-heat","36":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","37":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","38":"tag-nba","39":"tag-new-orleans-pelicans","40":"tag-new-york-knicks","41":"tag-nique-clifford","42":"tag-offensive-rating","43":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","44":"tag-orlando-magic","45":"tag-philadelphia-76ers","46":"tag-phoenix-suns","47":"tag-playoff-appearance","48":"tag-portland-trail-blazers","49":"tag-sacramento","50":"tag-sacramento-kings","51":"tag-sacramentokings","52":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","53":"tag-the-kings","54":"tag-toronto-raptors","55":"tag-tyrese-haliburton","56":"tag-utah-jazz","57":"tag-washington-wizards","58":"tag-zach-lavine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}