With the 2026 Emirates NBA Cup creeping closer to the start of the 2026-2027 NBA season, the Sacramento Kings are staring at a group that looks brutal on paper. A run to the tournament title feels far-fetched, and even getting a single win out of group play would be a major lift.
The cup was built to make the opening stretch of the season matter more. Before Christmas, the league wanted games that carried some extra bite, since the calendar quickly turns to All-Star Weekend, the trade deadline, and then the playoffs. And by the source’s account, it has done exactly that.
Last season, the Knicks pulled off the rare double of winning the cup and the NBA Championship, becoming the first team to do both in the same season. They beat the Spurs to claim both trophies.
For Sacramento, the road to Las Vegas starts in group play, where the Kings have been drawn with the Blazers, Lakers, Warriors, and Spurs. The Clippers are not in the group, which is likely tied to a scheduling issue. The semifinals and finals are played in Las Vegas, but first a team has to get out of its group.
That is where things get messy for the Kings. All four of their group games are set for November, running from the 6th to the 25th. The format sends the top team from each of the six groups into the next round, with one wildcard from each conference also advancing.
Sacramento’s path to that stage looks narrow. The group is tough enough that the Kings are expected to have a hard time beating three of those opponents, and a win over the Blazers is their clearest shot at avoiding an 0-4 finish.
There’s also the timing issue. The source makes the case that the cup comes too early for this version of the Kings, who need time to find a rhythm with a roster that is still changing. That point matters even more for Darius Acuff Jr., who needs time and game reps to grow into the point guard Sacramento needs.
Anything can happen in a short tournament, but based on this setup, the Kings look like a long shot to move beyond group play. The bigger picture, though, is that a couple of seasons from now, after more time to sort out the pieces of this rebuild, the answer could look very different.
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Simmons still brings name recognition and, at his best, a unique set of skills for a guard-sized facilitator, which is why the conversation is even happening. But the Kings are also dealing with the obvious downside, since his injury history has cost him significant playing time and made any commitment a careful one. A short-term deal would make sense if Sacramento decides the upside is worth the gamble, though the team is clearly still sorting out how much risk it is willing to take on. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Reset Will Feel Different When Two Former Players Return
The Kings summer reset came with a familiar kind of pain for a team trying to claw its way back into relevance. Sacramento waived veteran DeMar DeRozan and traded Devin Carter to Atlanta as part of a cost-cutting push aimed at creating financial flexibility, a clear sign the front office is treating salary commitments differently after consecutive losing seasons. DeRozan later landed a one-year deal with Denver, and his next trip through Sacramento will carry a little more edge than a routine regular-season stop.
Carters return should stir a different kind of reaction, since the Kings moved him before he had much of a chance to become part of the long-term picture in Sacramento. Still, both players are now set to come back to face the team that let them go, which is the kind of calendar detail that tends to make a rebuild feel more real when the games actually arrive. For a franchise trying to turn a financial reset into a competitive one, those reunions will be reminders of the roster churn that came with the shift. [Read more 🡒]