The Sacramento Kings have at least given their fans a reason to lean in again.
After a brutal 2025-2026 season that ended with a 22-60 record, good for 14th in the Western Conference and 26th in the league, the Kings rolled through the California Classic Summer League undefeated. For a team that spent much of last season buried near the bottom, that kind of start stands out.
The turnaround didn’t happen out of nowhere. Sacramento was once the worst team in its conference and the league before finally snapping a 16-game losing streak. From there, the Kings started to show more life, winning games and playing with more edge than they had for most of the year.
A big part of that shift came from the injury situation. With veterans and starters sidelined, the door opened wider for rookies and other young players. Those younger lineups brought more energy, better defense, and a clear willingness to compete.
That same vibe carried into the California Classic, where Sacramento’s roster was built from last year’s rookies, this year’s rookies, G Leaguers, and other developmental prospects. The group handled its business, going 3-for-3 in the event.
Dylan Cardwell, Darius Acuff Jr., and Emanuel Sharp all met expectations, but the bigger storyline was who wasn’t available. The Kings won those games without 2025 breakout rookie Maxime Raynaud, who was in France with the national team, and without 2026 rookie addition Alex Karaban, who sat out with an ankle injury suffered in practice before the Classic began.
Raynaud is expected back for NBA Summer League, while there has been no update on Karaban. Even so, Sacramento’s young group looked sharp enough to make the missing pieces feel like a bonus waiting to arrive.
If this is what the Kings can do without two of their headline young players, the next step could be even more interesting. The 2026-2027 season is shaping up to be one worth watching in Sacramento.
In Other News...
Charles Barkley Just Delivered A Brutal Verdict On The Kings
Sacramentos rebuild is already looking like a long one, and the roster turnover tells the story. The Kings have moved on from the core that helped fuel their recent playoff run, with DeAaron Fox, Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes and DeMar DeRozan all gone or waived as the franchise resets after a 22-60 finish and a 14th-place showing in the Western Conference.
The hope now is that Darius Acuff Jr. becomes part of the next wave, but even that comes with the usual summer uncertainty. The 2026 first-round pick has flashed enough to keep attention on him, yet his Summer League play has been uneven, which only adds to the sense that Sacramento is still searching for a clear path back to relevance. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Just Made A Big Rebuild Commitment To Their Rookie Class
The Kings have spent the early part of their rebuild making a clear bet on their newest class, locking in three 2026 draft picks on long-term deals and signaling that these young players are expected to grow with the roster rather than wait in the wings. Two of the signings came on standard rookie-scale contracts, while the third was handled through the second-round exception, a structure that gives Sacramento more control as it tries to shape the next phase of the team.
What makes the move notable is how directly it ties the front office to the development plan. Sacramento wants these rookies integrated with the main roster so their growth happens in the day-to-day NBA environment, not off to the side, and that approach adds a little more urgency to how the Kings manage the rest of the roster. There is still some flexibility left to sort through, but the bigger question now is how quickly this group can be folded into a rotation that is still very much under construction. [Read more 🡒]
One Rookie Just Put Pistons Fans On Notice In Vegas
The Las Vegas Summer League has already started sorting out which 2026 rookies look ready for a bigger stage, and Sacramento had one of the more eye-catching showings in the early slate. Among the mix of top picks and undrafted newcomers putting up numbers across the first few days, the Kings got a strong outing from their rookie group in a win that stood out because of how active and efficient it was on both ends.
One Sacramento rookie, the No. 45 pick, led the way with a game-high 21 points while adding defensive disruption and taking care of the ball, a useful sign for a player trying to carve out a role quickly. The Kings also had another summer league performance worth noting in a separate win over Orlando, where a different young player filled the box score with scoring, rebounding and rim protection, giving the front office a little more to track as the summer rolls on. [Read more 🡒]