Sacramento’s expansion-draft puzzle would be a messy one if the NBA does, in fact, move toward adding two new teams. With the league targeting the 2028-29 season for expansion, an expansion draft would likely follow in 2028, and teams would be allowed to protect eight players. That leaves the Kings with some uncomfortable decisions, especially when the roster includes pricey veterans, young talent and a few uncertain bets.
Bleacher Report’s Dan Davale and Grant Hughes ran through the players they believe Sacramento would leave unprotected if that draft happened today, and the list starts with Zach LaVine. That choice is hardly shocking.
Sacramento couldn’t find a trade partner for him, and he carries a $49 million player option. Injuries also defined his last season, when a season-ending surgery to repair a tendon tear in his right pinky limited him to 39 games.
It was the second straight season he ended up with season-ending surgery, after the 2023-24 campaign brought a right foot procedure and just 25 games. On top of that, the Kings added Darius Acuff Jr. with the seventh pick in June, making LaVine’s skill set feel a little less essential.
Malik Monk is another name on the unprotected list, and his future has reportedly been in flux since last offseason, when Sacramento tried to land Jonathan Kuminga from the Golden State Warriors. Monk built a strong run in Sacramento as one of the league’s top sixth men, and he came agonizingly close to winning Sixth Man of the Year before losing to Naz Reid by two first-place votes. Still, the contract matters here: he is owed $40 million over the next two seasons, and Perry has reportedly tried to move that money for more financial flexibility.
The youth movement also creates casualties. Alex Karaban, the 29th draft pick, is viewed as a tough omission, but the Kings’ collection of younger pieces makes him the odd man out.
Maxime Raynaud and Acuff are part of the reason why. Daeqwon Plowden lands in a similar spot.
He’s near the back end of the rotation and appeared in 32 of the 50 maximum games available to two-way players.
Ben Simmons rounds out the group. Perry took a swing on him with a one-year, $3.5 million deal signed two weeks ago, and Simmons brings the kind of size, passing and defense that always makes him intriguing on paper. But he’s also coming back to the NBA after sitting out last season to recover from injuries, and he’s well removed from his peak, which leaves his real impact in Sacramento very much up in the air.
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