The Kings are heading into 2026-27 with the same uncomfortable label hanging over them: expected to be bad. That’s the blunt read from an anonymous NBA scout, and the roster construction gives plenty of reason to believe it.
Sacramento’s victory beam, the purple laser that shoots above Golden 1 Center after wins, became one of the league’s best postgame signatures during the team’s 2022-23 breakout. But that season now feels like a distant peak. Since then, the Kings have slipped backward hard, parting with coach Mike Brown and dealing De’Aaron Fox, only to later watch the two face off in the 2026 NBA Finals.
Only three players remain from that “Beam Team” group: Malik Monk, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis. Around them, the Kings are trying to piece together a new version of the roster, but the expectation around the league is still grim.
“Everyone expects Sacramento to be bad, and they will be,” an anonymous NBA scout told Sports Illustrated. “But if Sabonis is healthy, they are going to win some games.
He raises the floor on whatever team he is on. He can help a bad team compete and win a game, but he's never going to get you over the level you need to win consistently.
But he can get a triple-double one night, and if someone else gets hot, maybe they can win a few games that way.”
Sabonis isn’t the only veteran still standing in Sacramento. Zach LaVine is back too, and he gave the Kings a steady scoring punch last season, averaging 19.2 points in 39 games while shooting 39% from three.
“LaVine is statistically one of the best off-the-dribble three-point shooters in the league, which is honestly a key stat these days,” an NBA scout told SI. “But yeah, they’re going to be bad.
Some nights they'll be able to get hot and win some games. You'll have to scout them.
You'll have to scout how you're going to play LaVine.”
The bigger long-term swing, though, comes with the No. 7 pick in the 2026 NBA draft, Darius Acuff Jr. After averaging 23.5 points and 6.4 assists for John Calipari at Arkansas, Acuff arrives with real upside and should be the centerpiece of Sacramento’s development plan this season. The expectation is that he starts next to LaVine, De’Andre Hunter, Murray and Sabonis most nights, even with Ben Simmons now in the mix after signing in early September.
“I'm guessing they're going to let Darius Acuff Jr. do a lot, and he may end up being a great player,” an NBA scout told SI. “But I'm guessing he's going to be one of those guys with a lot of turnovers and bad shot selection this year.”
Murray remains one of the few holdovers from the Kings’ rise, but his last season was a rough one. Injuries limited him in 2025-26, and when he did play, his three-point touch fell all the way to 27.7%. He now enters his fifth NBA season after once drawing Rookie of the Year votes as a first-year player in 2022.
“I think Murray probably hit his ceiling two years ago,” an NBA scout told SI. “Two years ago, I noticed he really became more aggressive.
He went from a three-and-D guy to a guy that was really attacking. I think he's a good player.
… Maybe without DeMar DeRozan he'll have some more opportunities to catch on the run and get downhill or attack closeouts. He has to shoot it better.
But if he has that aggressive mentality and can shoot consistently, he's like a low-end starter, high-end bench guy. But I don't think he's more than that.”
Sacramento’s offseason brought more turnover around the edges as well. Russell Westbrook chose retirement, DeRozan was waived and then signed with the Nuggets, and the Kings also moved on from Carter, the No. 13 pick from two years ago.
To restock the young core, the Kings came out of the 2026 draft with Acuff and UConn’s Alex Karaban. Karaban, who won two national championships in four seasons at UConn, was selected by Cleveland and then traded to Sacramento for two second-round picks. He isn’t locked into coach Doug Christie’s rotation, but his three-point shooting could earn him minutes.
Simmons gives the Kings one more low-cost flyer, and he reportedly wants to stay in Sacramento for multiple years if the comeback goes well. For now, though, the overall picture remains the same: the Kings are projected to sit near the bottom of the Western Conference.
Even so, Acuff should have a real shot to enter the Rookie of the Year conversation alongside Cameron Boozer, A.J. Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Caleb Wilson. And next summer, Sacramento can finally begin another reset in earnest, when the contracts of LaVine, at $48.9 million, and Hunter, at $24.9 million, come off the books.
In Other News...
Former Kings Guard Devin Carter Suddenly Has A New Career Question
Devin Carters path has taken another sharp turn since leaving Sacramento, and it has left the former Kings guard in a more open-ended spot than he expected. After being dealt to Atlanta, Carter is now available on the open market, which puts his next move squarely in the hands of teams looking for backcourt help and a young player with some recent production under his belt.
Carter averaged 8.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game last season, numbers that help explain why there is already buzz around him as a potential pickup. The big question now is less about what he did in Sacramento and more about where his next landing spot will be, with interested teams beginning to sort through the possibilities. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Frontcourt Plans Suddenly Hinge On One Jalen Duren Question
Sacramentos search for frontcourt help may be coming down to one name and one timeline. Jalen Duren remains a restricted free agent with the Pistons, and the Kings have already shown strong interest in the young center as a potential fit alongside their core. The appeal is easy to see: he is still in the early stages of his career, and his profile lines up with what Sacramento has been trying to build.
The complication is that the contract talks in Detroit have not moved much, leaving his next step unsettled. If Duren reaches the open market, Sacramento is expected to be a more serious player next offseason, but for now the Kings are stuck waiting to see whether his decision changes the entire shape of the market. For a team still trying to firm up its frontcourt plans, that single call could matter a lot. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Rebuild Could Hinge On A Future Free Agency Window
The Kings long-term roster planning may be pointing toward the 2027 offseason, when Sacramento could have a real chance to reshape its core with cap room instead of piecemeal moves. The team has been tied to a future run at free agents Jalen Duren and Jonathan Kuminga, two young players who would fit the kind of retooling path a front office often targets when it sees a window opening on the salary-cap side.
What makes the idea more intriguing is the timing around Sacramentos own books. Several key contracts are expected to come off the ledger by then, and that could leave the Kings with the flexibility needed to chase high-end talent rather than settle for stopgaps. Duren and Kuminga would both be premium additions if they reach the market, and for a franchise trying to balance competitiveness now with a clearer path forward, that offseason could end up mattering as much as anything happening on the court. [Read more 🡒]