The Sacramento Kings spent the 2026 offseason doing the kind of work that rarely gets applause but often defines a rebuild: cutting money, clearing room, and trying to make the roster easier to manage down the line. That approach earned them a “C” grade from the New York Times, a fair reflection of a summer built more around restraint than splash.
Sacramento entered the offseason in a brutal financial spot. Jason Jones of The Athletic pointed out that the Kings were among the NBA’s worst teams when it came to payroll, with more than $200 million in active cap heading into the 2026 offseason. For a team that tanked for a shot at the No. 1 pick, that kind of number was a heavy drag.
General manager Scott Perry’s first priority was clear: get younger and create flexibility. He started by sending Devin Carter and a 2033 second-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks, a move that dumped Carter’s remaining $12.5 million over the next two seasons and pushed Sacramento under the luxury tax. That mattered, because the Kings were in no position to keep paying penalties while trying to reset the roster.
Perry followed that by waiving DeMar DeRozan, the veteran forward and the NBA’s 16th all-time scorer. The move saved the team $15 million and moved Sacramento further below the tax line. DeRozan had been guaranteed $10 million of his $25.7 million salary for next season, and he had long looked like the most likely veteran piece to be moved out of the picture.
The bigger financial decision still hanging over the franchise is what to do with Domantas Sabonis or Zach LaVine, the two highest-paid players on the roster. LaVine opted into his $49 million player option, while Sabonis is owed $94 million over the next two seasons. For now, the most likely outcome is that Sacramento keeps both, especially with the trade market drying up.
There was at least one notable swing that never came together. Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren met with the Kings about a sign-and-trade, but Detroit had no interest in moving its 22-year-old All-Star and is prepared to match any offer sheet he receives.
If the veteran exits were about subtraction, the draft was about planting a few seeds. Perry added three rookies: Darius Acuff Jr. at No.
7, Alex Karaban at No. 29 and Emanuel Sharp at No. 45.
Acuff Jr. looks like the most intriguing of the group. He turned in a standout freshman season under John Calipari at Arkansas, and there’s real optimism around his upside. Dylan Cardwell called his rookie teammate generational, and former Kings star DeMarcus Cousins is also excited about what he can become.
Karaban and Sharp bring something Sacramento has lacked: a history of winning. Both have been part of multiple deep NCAA Tournament runs over the last several years, a useful trait for a team that has not won since 2023.
This wasn’t the kind of offseason that changes the conversation overnight. It was a reset, not a sprint. Monte McNair needed multiple seasons to build the Kings into a playoff team in his previous run as general manager, and Perry is facing the same long road now.
In Other News...
Kings Summer League Already Created One Real Winner And One Concern
The Kings Summer League run has already offered a useful early snapshot of the roster battle ahead, with Sacramento taking the California Classic and its first game in Las Vegas before dropping the next two. Even in a small sample, there have been clear takeaways: second-round pick Emanuel Sharp has looked like the kind of two-way guard who can stick, bringing defense and shooting that have stood out in a crowded evaluation period.
The rest of the group has been more uneven, which is exactly why these games matter for a team trying to sort out the edges of its roster. Darius Acuff Jr. has flashed enough offense to keep people watching, but the defensive lapses that were part of the pre-draft conversation have shown up again, while Marquel Sutton and Dylan Cardwell have each given Sacramento reasons to keep them in the mix as the calendar moves toward the regular season. [Read more 🡒]
Kings May Already Be Turning The Page On Keegan Murray
Keegan Murray was supposed to be part of the Kings long-term core, and for a while that looked like a straightforward bet. Sacramento locked him in with an extension in October 2025, then kept pushing forward with a rebuild built around new draft picks, trades and signings, all while Murrays 2025-2026 season was interrupted by injuries and uneven play whenever he was available.
Now the bigger question is less about whether Murray can help and more about where he fits in a reshaped roster. The Kings are clearly searching for a new direction, and rookie point guard Darius Acuff is already getting attention as a possible centerpiece of that next era, which leaves Murray in an awkward middle ground: still valuable, especially on the defensive end, but no longer as easy to project as the future face of the franchise. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Loss Leaves Fans Asking One Big Question About This Approach
The Kings Summer League trip through Las Vegas has been less about the final score and more about figuring out what kind of identity this group can build on the fly, and Tuesdays 82-76 loss to Boston only sharpened that conversation. Sacramento dug itself a deep hole early at the Thomas & Mack Center, missing 18 of its first 19 shots and going scoreless for nearly seven minutes before finally finding a rhythm.
Alex Karaban gave the Kings a reason to keep pushing, finishing with 21 points and eight rebounds, and Sacramento even clawed back from a 16-point deficit to make things uncomfortable late. But Boston had the steadier answer when it mattered, with Hugo Gonzalez posting 24 points and 10 rebounds, leaving the Kings with another reminder that the margin for error is thin when the offense starts this slowly. [Read more 🡒]