There are already a ton of indications that the 2025-26 Sacramento Kings campaign is likely to be a lost season. Keegan Murray is out 4-6 weeks with a thumb injury, Domantas Sabonis suffered a hamstring injury in Wednesday’s preseason game against the Los Angeles Clippers (severity still unknown), Dennis Schroder isn’t playing like the floor general solution/missing piece the Kings have promised, the team isn’t playing the type of defense head coach Doug Christie has been trying to instill in them, the team has 870 guards and no one who can fill in effectively for Murray, the team signed another guard in Russell Westbrook instead of signing someone to help fill Murray’s role.
Did I cover everything? Probably not, but let’s move on.
Thursday, we got another indication that the rest of the teams in the league see the writing on the wall too, and are circling.
Sam Amick reported Thursday that a ton of opposing team scouts have been in attendance at the Kings games this preseason because they expect Sacramento to be selling at the trade deadline.
“There’s a reason that hordes of opposing scouts have been coming to the Kings’ games in this preseason, and it’s not because they’re dying to see if Dennis Schröder can truly unlock the core of Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk and the like. It is, at least in part, because rival teams expect the Kings to be sellers by the time the February trade deadline comes around and need to evaluate their group to decide if their respective teams should come calling.”
Another item of note in Amick’s article is that he reported details of Christie’s coaching contract.
“Per league sources, the deal he signed in the offseason includes two guaranteed seasons and a team option for a third. He’ll earn approximately $2 million annually in the first two seasons, with a significant uptick in salary for the third season should the option be picked up. As first-world problems go, that’s the kind of contract that offers plenty of motivation to earn the next one.”
This article from January of 2025 gives you an idea of the salary ranges of the highest paid coaches in the NBA. Steve Kerr is at $17.5 million per season at the top, and Nick Nurse and Jason Kidd are tied for 10th on the list at $8.5 million.
I definitely am rooting for Doug to succeed, just like many of you though, I worry this is an impossible situation he is in.