When the NBA schedule drops, the calendar can tell you a lot about what kind of season a team is walking into. For the Sacramento Kings, the answer looks rough from the jump.
They open the 2026-27 season on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers, which gets division play started early. The NBA also shifted Sacramento’s home opener from the Golden State Warriors to the Portland Trail Blazers. And while there are pockets of relief, almost every month carries a heavy dose of trouble for a team projected to win 21.5 games after a quiet offseason that brought no free-agent signings.
November stands out as the harshest stretch, even with a seven-game home stand baked in. The Kings have 10 games against teams that finished last season above .500, including the Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics.
Last season, Sacramento went 1-11 against those kinds of opponents. The only win came against the Lakers in the third meeting between the teams, a 124-112 victory on Jan.
Malik Monk was the difference in that one, giving the Kings a major lift off the bench with 26 points and a 7-for-9 showing from three-point range. He hit catch-and-shoot threes in transition and knocked down off-the-dribble looks in the pick-and-roll.
There is at least some reason for optimism at Golden 1 Center during that brutal run. Sacramento won 15 games at home, and the crowd has a way of turning the building into a real edge, with fans hoping to see the purple beam rise after each win.
February may be just as demanding, only this time the grind shifts heavily to the road. Seven of Sacramento’s 11 games are away from home, including one stretch with four straight road games and another with three straight.
The Rockets are part of that picture, and the teams split the series. Dennis Schröder hit the game-winning three in the second meeting to push Sacramento past Houston, and DeRozan reached 26,000 career points in the third matchup. Indiana also comes to the Golden 1 Center before the Kings head out on their second road trip.
The roster has barely changed, with Sacramento’s only offseason additions being rookies Darius Acuff Jr., Alex Karaban and Emanuel Sharp. Acuff has the chance to grow into the future No. 1 option, but the timing is awkward. The NBA’s new lottery reform reduces the odds of landing the No. 1 pick for the three worst teams.
That matters because Sacramento’s 21.5-win projection leaves it in that same neighborhood. If these difficult stretches go the wrong way, the Kings could spend even longer stuck in the middle during a rebuilding phase that already looks fragile.
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Kings Backcourt Search May Be Down To One Veteran Fix
The Kings search for a veteran backup point guard has shifted again, and this time the pool looks thinner. Russell Westbrooks retirement removed one possible fix from the board, leaving Sacramento to keep sorting through options behind the starter while looking for someone who can steady the second unit and bring some experience to the room.
Victor Oladipo has emerged as the name worth watching after the Kings recently brought him in for a private workout in Sacramento. He has not played in the NBA since the 2022-23 season, but Sacramento is considering him as both a mentor and a backup option, with no signing announced yet as the team continues to weigh how it wants to finish the backcourt picture. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Schedule Gives This Rebuild A Better Chance Than Fans Expected
The NBAs 2026-27 schedule gives Sacramento an early glimpse at how this rebuild will be tested, starting with the Clippers on Oct. 21 before the home opener against Portland two nights later. It is a fresh-looking roster under general manager Scott Perry, with the Kings leaning younger after waiving DeMar DeRozan and moving into the season without Russell Westbrook following his retirement.
The calendar also offers a few natural checkpoints for a team trying to reset its identity. Sacramento has 13 back-to-back sets on the schedule and four group-stage games in the NBA Cup, so there will be plenty of chances to see how the new-look group handles travel, recovery and the daily grind of a long season. For a franchise trying to build forward, the structure of the year may be almost as important as the personnel changes. [Read more 🡒]