Competitive. Tough. Team-Oriented. Disciplined. Accountable. Professional.
That’s what it means to be a Sacramento Kings player. At least, that is the cultural identity new general manager Scott Perry hopes to create in his first season.
Seemingly every time Perry has addressed the media this offseason, he’s listed all six core principles — and their clear need for a point guard.
On Tuesday, Perry reiterated those staples while sitting alongside Dennis Schroder, their top free-agent target expected to fill that vacancy.
“When free agency was embarking upon us, this was the number one guy in the league for us that was going to fit that bill,” Perry said at Tuesday’s introductory press conference.
YouTube video
After signing a three-year, $44 million deal with Sacramento in free agency, Schroder will have played for one-third (10) of the association. However, some were due to circumstances beyond his control.
For example, he started last season in Brooklyn before being traded to Golden State, who were seeking guard help after De’Anthony Melton suffered a season-ending injury.
The Warriors landed Jimmy Butler in a multi-team deal that rerouted Schroder to Utah, where he was bought out and then signed with Detroit.
Sacramento could provide Schroder with a sense of stability.
“To have a GM and organization prioritize me as their point guard means the world to me,” Schroder said Tuesday. “I want to give it back… leave it all on the floor, and give everything to this organization.”
He averaged 13.1 points and 5.6 assists on 40.6/34.2/83.8 shooting over the last season, not to mention his notable first-round performance against the Knicks.
Now he’ll (likely) join Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis, and Keegan Murray in California’s capital.
Dennis Schroder on Domantas Sabonis:
“He’s unique. How he pushes the pace when he gets the rebound.. Hitting people on backdoor cuts, physical screens, can shoot it… I’m really looking forward to competing with him.”
— Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) July 8, 2025
While Schroder doesn’t possess De’Aaron Fox speed, his quick-twitchy nature can help generate pace, paint touches, and spray threes.
Perry, when asked about Schroder’s stylistic fit on the roster, pointed toward his hometown of Detroit — ironically, where the guard played most recently.
“Where I’m from and how I learned and grew up playing the game in places like Detroit, Michigan, this guy embodies that,” Perry said. “You pick up 94 feet. You are very combative, in a good way, on the court. And so that just really resontated with not only my personality but Coach Christie’s personality, our entire organization, and what we’re building here. The more individuals that we can get like that, who play that kind of way, the closer we get to establishing the true identity that we want for this basketball team.”
In case you forgot, because Perry will remind you, they’re aiming to center their identity around being competitive, tough, team-oriented, disciplined, accountable, and professional. Clearly, they felt Schroder fits the bill.
“This guy, we believe strongly, is going to be the catalyst to that (identity), along with obviously the rest of the team, but you need a leader at that point guard position, and I think Dennis is going to definitely provide that.”
He’s a player who is about to turn 32, having never been selected for an All-Star squad. Undoubtedly, his skill set will benefit Sacramento to have as their starting point guard, but he’s not expected to change the tide in that manner.
However, if he can help them establish an identity that lasts into future iterations of the roster, this will be considered a successful first signing by Perry. But, there’s plenty more work to be done.
“It’s another step in the process of building this team up,” the Kings GM said Tuesday.
“There’s an old saying that Rome wasn’t built in a day. But, you’ve got to start laying the right type of foundation of people, and Dennis is not only a great basketball player, but he’s the type of person that we desire to have in this organization.”
More Sacramento Kings coverage on Sactown Sports
“We’re going to make them feel us, we’re going to communicate, and then we’re going to compete.”
Sacramento Kings 2025 Summer League head coach Dipesh Mistry emphasized those keys as what he’s “really harping on” in their limited practice days before Thursday’s first game in Las Vegas. Monday was their first practice as a group.
Recent selections Nique Clifford and Maximue Raynaud are the rookies that will have the most eyes on them, but Sacramento’s roster has a notable amount of “experienced” players. Their full roster can be seen here.
With minimal time to gain cohesion as a group, Mistry is expecting his roster to play with a defensive intensity that could translate to offensive efficiency in the process.
Read More:
Early Summer League Practice Takeaways: PG Devin Carter, rookies acclimating
Upcoming offseason schedule for the Sacramento Kings:
Monday, June 30th – NBA free agent negotiations can begin
Sunday, July 6th – NBA free agents can officially sign with teams
July 10th-20th – Las Vegas NBA Summer League
August TBD – Release of 2025-26 regular season schedule
September TBD – Start of NBA training camps for the 2025-26 season
Thank you for readingSactownSports.com. Follow us onTwitterandGoogle News, and subscribe to ourYouTubechannel.