Oct 24, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Anjali Ranadive and Sacramento Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive court side during the second quarter against the Utah Jazz at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
The season’s barely started, and yet it already feels over. The Kings are now just 3-7, and just suffered two straight drubbings at home to clearly superior teams. With a brutal stretch upcoming, the Kings might find themselves at the bottom of the West sooner rather than later, but first let’s take a look at the week that was.
**There’s no hiding from this Mr. Ranadivé**
Late in the 3rd quarter of last night’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, [a visibly upset Vivek Ranadivé](https://streamable.com/5dqeib) left his courtside seats with GM Scott Perry. The Kings would go on to lose the game 144 to 117, the second straight blowout loss at home. Instead of chants of “Sacramento” or “Light the Beam” as was so often heard through the last few years, the boo birds were out, rightly disgusted by the product on the floor. Not that long ago, this was a team that looked to have one of the brightest futures in the league, but now it just might be one of the bleakest. This is nothing new for Kings fans, particularly under Vivek Ranadivé’s stewardship. In 12 years as an owner, the Kings have one playoff series to boast about, that now looks more like luck than anything else given what has come since. This is one of the most poorly built rosters in the NBA, with little youth or draft capital to get truly excited about.
This isn’t a hindsight is 20/20 thing either. If Vivek and/or GM Scott Perry truly thought they were building a winning product this offseason, they were delusional. Given the looks of disgust on Vivek’s face, it’s hard not to think that this isn’t what he thought he was signing up for, but if that’s the case, that’s almost worse since it implies he believed that there was a good team here. Anybody can see this is an aging roster of non-complementary pieces. There’s not enough size, not enough defense and not enough shooting. The Kings are trotting out 4 guard starting lineups with 36 year old DeMar DeRozan at Power Forward. They’re having Russell Westbrook guard opposing bigs because it’s their best option. They’re preaching defense and then not playing one of their only defensive guards until the entire crowd chants for him to come into the game late in the 3rd quarter with the game already out of reach. Doug Christie may be out of his depth, but he’s also being asked to cook a Michelin Star meal with two carrots, a dozen rotten eggs and a live hand grenade.
Long term, it’s probably a good thing that the Kings are losing these games and that they lose as many as possible this season. This team needs to be trying to hit a hard reset as soon as possible. But for Vivek Ranadivé, I would encourage him to look long and hard at this product he’s fielding and has fielded over the years. There’s plenty of blame to go around for where we are at now, but there’s only been one constant that entire time and some point, he has to take responsibility for the mess he’s created. This is your team Vivek. Own it.
**Disappointing Dennis**
The marquee signing of the summer for the Kings was giving 32 year old Dennis Schröder a 3 year, $44 million contract to be the new starting PG for the Kings. So far that’s been an incredibly poor investment in my estimation. Schröder is averaging 12.7 points while shooting 39.2% from the field and 28.3% from three. He is averaging a team-high 6.5 assists, but has the worst offensive rating of any of the Kings starters. Russell Westbrook is outplaying him on a minimum contract, and to make matters worse, the Kings traded Jonas Valanciunas to Denver to make cap room to sign Schröder. The Kings could have definitely used Valanciunas so far this season with their lack of size and with how banged up Sabonis has been already (he’s clearly not 100%) but instead they opted to add yet another aging guard. Yes, Schröder may be fatigued from playing all summer for Germany, but even still the Kings had probably hoped for better production than this. Instead Schröder is being force fed playing time and getting in the way of playing time for younger guys like Keon Ellis or Devin Carter.
**Russ Appreciation**
I’m still not a fan of the Russell Westbrook acquisition for the Kings, but I can’t say it’s because I don’t think Russell Westbrook is a good player. Russ is still showing that he has it at the age of 37, averaging 15.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists while shooting 46.6% from the field and a blistering 45.1% from three. Against the Warriors with so many stars out on both sides, he was the best player on the floor, tallying his first triple-double in Sacramento with 23 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists on 9-13 from the field. He also sealed the game with a clutch strip at the end. Westbrook always plays at 100 miles per hour but he’s always trying his hardest and it’s easy to appreciate that, especially when it seems like other players simply go through the motions at times. I still think the Kings shouldn’t have gone out of their way to get him, but it’s also kind of crazy that no other NBA team thought he was worth spending a minimum contract for because he’s clearly still got plenty of gas left in the tank.
**Precious Achiuwa a solid acquisition, but what took so long?**
With injuries piling up and a clear need for size, the Kings signed Precious Achiuwa this week while waiving Isaac Jones. Precious has been solid in his three games so far with the Kings, even getting into the starting lineup against Minnesota. But it’s kind of crazy that it took these kind of injuries or desperation for the Kings to feel they needed to add someone like him when it was inherently obvious in the summer. Why on earth did the Kings re-sign Doug McDermott to simply ride the bench when they could have just signed Achiuwa instead. They might have been able to keep Jones in that scenario and have some actual depth and youth upfront, not to mention a training camp to adjust. Instead for the second straight year the Kings are bringing a vet in off the street (last year being Jae Crowder) to try to address a glaring problem that was there all summer.
**Yes, I do think the Kings will be in on Ja**
Reports came in last week that the Ja Morant situation in Memphis is being watched closely around the league with the Grizzlies struggling and Morant getting suspended by the team after reportedly getting into it with head coach Tuomas Iisalo. The Grizzlies aren’t doing much better than the Kings right now at 4-7, and Morant is having the worst season of his career, averaging 19.2 points but shooting a putrid 35.8% from the field and 14.8% from three. Morant seems incredibly likely to part ways with the Grizzlies at some point, and the always reliable Sam Amick mentioned that the Kings were among the teams monitoring his situation. Morant has two years left on his deal after this one and is just 26 years old, but he also has an extensive injury history and deteriorating efficiency, not to mention his off-court issues. But we’ve seen this story before with the Kings and thinking they can reform malcontents such as Chris Webber and Ron Artest. Could Morant revive his career in Sacramento? It’d be a gamble but one I definitely could see a desperate Kings team making. I’d also expect the Kings to be monitoring situations like Trae Young and Zion Williamson as well. Personally I think the Kings should be looking to improve through the draft before trying to rehabilitate stars, but that’s never really been this team’s MO.
**Upcoming Kings Schedule:**
* Tuesday, Nov. 11th vs. Denver
* Wednesday, Nov. 12th vs. Atlanta
* Friday, Nov. 14th at Minnesota
* Sunday, Nov. 16th at San Antonio