Zach LaVine’s time with the Sacramento Kings is already on the clock, but the cleanest ending may be the simplest one: let the contract play out and move on.
That’s the conclusion that keeps making the most sense for a team that has already turned the page. Sacramento is in the middle of a rebuild built around getting younger, faster, and more committed on defense, and once Scott Perry took over as general manager, LaVine quickly looked like a mismatch for where the franchise is headed. The previous front office, according to the source reporting, never really had a clear plan for him either.
The part that’s no longer up for debate is that LaVine is not part of the long-term picture. The real question is how the split happens. His contract has made him hard to trade and even harder to buy out, which leaves the Kings with a pretty straightforward path: keep him for the full season and let the deal expire.
On a recent episode of The Hoop Collective, Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon floated the idea of a mid-season buyout. Their thinking was simple enough: if the Kings want to move on, this would do it. But for Sacramento, it doesn’t really solve much.
If the Kings waived LaVine at the trade deadline in February 2027, they’d still be on the hook for roughly $20 million. And because his deal is expiring this season, they can’t stretch that money. In other words, they’d still be paying the bill in 2026-2027.
The roster benefit is limited too. Yes, a buyout would open a spot, but Sacramento wouldn’t have the cap room to go out and sign anyone meaningful.
The Kings also don’t need to buy LaVine out just to create playing time for younger players. They can simply bench him and give the rookies more run.
There’s another piece to this, too. The most likely free-agent targets for Perry appear to be Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Duren, and if those names are going to be in play at all, that’s a 2027 offseason problem. Paying LaVine to go home a few months earlier doesn’t help Sacramento get there any faster.
The only scenario where a mid-season buyout would make sense is if the Kings were suddenly making a real push and needed room for someone who could help immediately. But that doesn’t line up with where this team is headed. The projections have Sacramento winning 19 to 21.5 games, and even a massive leap from there wouldn’t be enough to put them into the NBA Playoffs in 2026-2027.
So the practical answer is the boring one, but the right one: keep LaVine around, use what he can still offer, and let his veteran presence take some of the pressure off the rookies and sophomores while they adjust to NBA life.
In Other News...
Ben Simmons Just Put The Kings In A High-Stakes Debate
After being away from the NBA for more than a year, Ben Simmons is back with a new opportunity in Sacramento, and the conversation around him has already turned into one of those debates every team would rather have in theory than in practice. Around the league, voices like Richard Jefferson, Draymond Green and Patrick Beverley have weighed in with different takes on what Simmons still can bring, which only adds to the curiosity surrounding how the Kings plan to use him.
Scott Perry appears to have a clear role in mind, seeing Simmons as a backup point guard who can add defensive versatility and give Sacramento more lineup options. The appeal is obvious for a team looking to squeeze value out of the margins, but the bigger question is whether Simmons can settle into that job and give the Kings something they have been trying to find, or whether the discussion around his return will keep growing louder than the role itself. [Read more 🡒]
Kings May Have Let Another Point Guard Fix Slip Away
Mac McClungs next stop is overseas, with the high-flying guard signing with Basquet Girona of Spains Liga ACB after a five-season journey that wound through 11 different NBA and G League teams. For Sacramento, it is another reminder of how often the point guard conversation circles back to the same issue: the Kings have had trouble finding a steady answer there, even as McClung kept putting up the kind of production and accolades in the G League that usually force a team to take a longer look.
McClungs rsum includes multiple G League MVP honors and a championship, but the NBA part of his career never turned into the kind of long-term foothold that seemed possible at various points. That is where the Kings regret angle comes in, because a player with his burst, confidence and rsum might have been worth a deeper commitment for a team still searching for reliable backcourt stability. Instead, Sacramento watches him move on to Europe with the same familiar question hanging over its own point guard plan. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Fans Have A Real Reason To Watch Jalen Duren Standoff
The restricted free-agent market around Jalen Duren has started to shape up as one of the more notable front-office storylines of the summer, and Sacramento has a real reason to keep an eye on it. Detroit has reportedly put a five-year offer on the table worth around $190 million, while Duren is said to be pushing for a deal that clears the $200 million mark over the same span, a gap that reflects how quickly the price tag on young big men has climbed.
For the Kings, the intrigue is bigger than just another name on the market. Sacramento is among the teams reportedly interested in Duren, and he has multiple serious suitors as the October 1 deadline for signing the qualifying offer gets closer. With no final decision yet, the next move could help determine whether the Kings stay in the hunt or watch a prized target come off the board. [Read more 🡒]