The Sacramento Kings have made major changes after falling short of expectations over the past two years. They will fall even further this season, according to a panel of experts from ESPN.
ESPN recently released its projections for the 2025-26 NBA season. The outlook isn’t good for the Kings, who have gotten older without fixing the roster imbalance that sent them careening toward play-in tournament losses each of the past two seasons.
ESPN has the Kings projected to finish 12th in the Western Conference with a 37-45 record following three consecutive 40-win seasons. The only teams predicted to finish lower in the West are the Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers are projected to earn automatic playoff berths as the top six teams in the West. The Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies are projected as play-in teams.
In the Eastern Conference, ESPN has pegged the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons as the top five teams. The Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers are expected to vie for the final automatic playoff berth and one of two play-in bids.
The Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Hornets, Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards are expected to be the bottom five teams in the East.
The Kings have taken a big step back after winning 48 games to end the longest playoff drought in NBA history as the No. 3 seed in the West in 2022-23. They finished ninth with 46 wins in 2023-24 and went 40-42 to finish ninth again last season.
Coach Mike Brown was fired in December after the Kings went 13-18 to start the season. Star point guard De’Aaron Fox was traded to San Antonio in February after losing faith in the franchise’s direction. Assistant general manager Wes Wilcox left the organization to take a job at University of Utah in March and general manager Monte McNair was relieved of his duties following a play-in loss to the Mavericks in April.
The Kings hired Scott Perry to replace McNair and chose to keep Doug Christie as their head coach after he went 27-24 as interim coach last season.
Sacramento made a sign-and-trade deal to acquire Dennis Schroder from the Pistons in July. The veteran point guard joins a lineup that features Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis with Malik Monk and Keon Ellis expected to play key roles off the bench.
The Kings have been unable to reach an agreement with the Warriors on a sign-and-trade deal for 22-year-old forward Jonathan Kuminga. They will continue to look for opportunities to balance a guard-heavy rotation between now and the February trade deadline.
ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk offered the Kings a glimmer of hope, writing: “Sacramento will have a full season under new coach Doug Christie, who will try to get the best out of Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan with Dennis Schroder at point guard.”