The Sacramento Kings are less than two weeks away from opening up the 2025-26 season in Phoenix, and the plot continues to thicken when it comes to Russell Westbrook’s free agency.
Sacramento has been linked to the former NBA MVP since before the free agency floodgates opened in late June, but no deal has come to fruition as the preseason rolls on and the start of the regular season approaches.
Things have been quiet on the Kings-Westbrook front for some time, but ESPN’s Shams Charania re-emphasized the link between the two parties during Friday’s telecast of NBA Today.
“I’m told there is strong mutual interest between Russell Westbrook and the Sacramento Kings,” Charania said. “The Kings have a need for a reserve point guard… He’s got relationships across that organization. Domantas Sabonis he’s close with, played with him. He played with Dennis Schroder as well. DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, they have LA ties.
“[Kings assistant general manager] B.J. Armstrong. He knows B.J. from the agency side, and he has respect for Scott Perry, [the Kings’] new general manager, and Doug Christie, their new head coach. We’ll see if a deal gets done before the start of the season, or during the upcoming season.”
Shams: There is strong mutual interest between Westbrook and the Sacramento Kings
Mentions the relationships Russ has across the Kings org. Is likely waiting on a deal there. pic.twitter.com/LnRCAeimwM
— ᴇʀᴀ 🕷️ (@TheWestbrookEra) October 10, 2025
More on the Sacramento Kings & Russell Westbrook
At 36 years old, with 17 years of NBA experience, Russell Westbrook’s resume is well known: MVP, 8-time All-NBA, 9-time All-Star, 2-time Scoring Champion, and 3-time Assist Champion.
However, he has filled roles on contending Pacific Division teams in each of the last few seasons, both as a starter and reserve. Let’s take a look at his 2024-25 production in 75 games played (36 starts) with the Nuggets:
2024-25 Averages: 13.3 points, 6.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds on 44.9/32.3/66.1
Sacramento has gone through an interesting offseason thus far, filling the starting point guard spot with veteran Dennis Schroder (three-year, $45 million deal), trading into the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft to select wing Nique Clifford with the 24th overall pick, and retaining all three of their large contracts in Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and DeMar DeRozan.
The Kings still have dynamic guard Malik Monk on the roster for at least two more seasons (player option for 2027-28), but Monk has looked more comfortable in a bench role–specifically, a bench role in the two-spot.
Seeing that second-year guard Devin Carter, the 13th overall pick from the 2024 NBA Draft, has yet to seize the backup point guard role, adding Westbrook could fill that void and allow Monk to operate in his usual shooting guard spot.
Monk told reporters during training camp that he has been working on his three-point shot, hoping to return to the 39 percent rate he posted during the 2021-22 season while with the Los Angeles Lakers.
If Monk is going to play off the ball more, adding a ball-dominant distributor like Westbrook could elevate a second unit that finished 28th in bench scoring and 29th in bench assists last season.
How the Kings would add Westbrook appears to be the only holdup. Sactown Sports’ Carmichael Dave followed up Charania’s report by adding that there is a ’70/30′ chance the two sides come to a deal if they can figure out the financial aspects of the contract.
On the Russ front:
At this point, if they can figure out the $, I’d say based on talks it’s 70/30 Russell Westbrook joins the Kings this year.
As a fallback, he has a lucrative offer waiting for him in China, but likely wouldn’t join until after the NBA All-Star festivities,…
— Carmichael Dave (@CarmichaelDave) October 10, 2025
It wouldn’t be surprising to see this drag on into the season, seeing that Sacramento went a similar route last season, even though they were short at the small forward position. One week before opening night in 2024, the Kings brought in Doug McDermott. A few weeks later, they inked Jae Crowder to a deal.
We’ll see if Perry follows that blueprint in 2025, or if he decides to make the puzzle pieces fit and bring in Westbrook before the season opener to get better acclimated with this roster.
More Sacramento Kings content from Sactown Sports
It was an unceremonious start to the preseason for the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, as they fell to the Toronto Raptors at Golden 1 Center.
Although the Kings looked sluggish in their first tune-up appearance, first-year head coach Doug Christie had some interesting comments on how his team approaches each game: Two battles. The game and the fight that his team shows. Against Toronto, Sacramento lost both.
The Athletic‘s Sam Amick joined The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross on Thursday to share his thoughts on Christie’s thought process, contemplate if the preseason-opener is a sign of things to come or just a speed bump, and much more.
Be sure to check out the entire interview with Sam Amick on the Sactown Sports 1140 YouTube page.
Sam Amick on Doug Christie’s approach to his first season as Kings head coach
Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule for the 2025-26 season
Preseason
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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