They say the internet is undefeated. That is not what they’re saying about the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings are getting killed all over the World Wide Web after losing four of their first five games. They held fourth-quarter leads in each of their first four games with closes losses to the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder, but Kings guard Zach LaVine noted that close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
The Kings (1-4) are tied for the second-worst record in the Western Conference and the fourth-worst record in the NBA. Only the winless Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets and New Orleans Pelicans are worse.
Sacramento is 26th in the league in scoring, 28th in free-throw shooting and 29th in rebounding. The current starting lineup of Dennis Schroder, Russell Westbrook, Zach LaVine, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis has an offensive rating of 95.1, a defensive rating of 135.7 and a net rating of minus-40.6.
Sacramento’s future looked bright when the Kings went to the playoffs as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference in 2022-23 –ending the longest playoff drought in NBA history after 16 consecutive losing seasons – but decisions made over the past 12 months could set the franchise back for years. Some critics are suggesting this season is already a lost cause.
NBA Central tweeted: “The Sacramento Kings are now 1-4. Is it time to blow it up?
CBS Sports penned a story about Sacramento’s aging stars and poor roster construction with a headline that read: “The Sacramento Kings are stuck in the past in more ways than one.”
And One Hoops posted a YouTube video titled “The Sacramento Kings Are an Absolute Disaster.”
A recent ABC10 video was titled: “The Sacramento Kings Might Not Win for Weeks.”
Indeed, the road ahead looks daunting for the Kings. They will visit the Milwaukee Bucks (4-1) on Saturday and Denver Nuggets (3-1) on Monday to conclude what could be a winless four-game road trip.
The Kings will return to Golden 1 Center in Sacramento to face the Golden State Warriors (4-2), Thunder (6-0), Minnesota Timberwolves (2-3), Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks (2-3). Then they will go back on the road to play the Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs (5-0), Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies (3-2) and Timberwolves.
The Kings probably won’t be favored to win a game until they play host to the Phoenix Suns (1-4) on Nov. 26 or visit the Utah Jazz (2-2) on Nov. 28, but barring a turnaround they could be underdogs in those games as well.