The Sacramento Kings' 2025-26 season has gone from bad to worse-and with a 12-38 record heading into the trade deadline, it’s safe to say things haven’t gone according to plan in Northern California.
Injuries have certainly played a role. Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray-two of the franchise’s core pieces-have missed significant time, suiting up for less than half of the team’s games. That kind of absence from your top talent is tough for any team to overcome.
But let’s be honest: the Kings’ problems run deeper than the injury report.
This is a team leaning heavily on Russell Westbrook in 2026. That’s not a knock on Westbrook’s career-he’s a future Hall of Famer-but at this stage, he shouldn't be one of your top three players if you're trying to build something sustainable.
DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine are still capable scorers, but neither is built to carry a franchise at this point. They’re complementary pieces, not cornerstones.
With the season slipping away, most expected Sacramento to embrace a rebuild and start moving veterans for future assets. DeRozan, LaVine, and Westbrook were all logical trade candidates. Even Sabonis, with his sizable contract, was floated as a possible piece to move-though finding a team willing to take on that deal would be a challenge.
Instead, the Kings made a different kind of move.
On Saturday, Sacramento sent guards Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for veteran wing De’Andre Hunter. In a separate deal, they offloaded forward Dario Šarić and the $4 million-plus remaining on his contract to the Chicago Bulls.
So what’s the takeaway here?
The Kings didn’t exactly go into asset-collection mode. They didn’t land a pick.
They didn’t clear the deck for a youth movement. Instead, they brought in another veteran-Hunter-who, in theory, adds some defensive presence on the wing.
But in practice, this feels like a short-term patch rather than a long-term plan.
The logic seems to be: get slightly better on defense, maybe win a few more games, and try to stabilize a season that’s already spiraled. That’s understandable if you’re in playoff contention.
But for a team sitting at the bottom of the league standings? It’s a curious choice.
There are a couple of silver linings, though.
Keon Ellis was likely gone in free agency anyway, and he wasn’t part of the regular rotation. Moving Schroder also gets Sacramento off the hook for his guaranteed money next season, which gives them a bit more financial flexibility moving forward. And with Ellis out, the Kings can now convert undrafted standout Dylan Cardwell to a standard NBA contract-an opportunity he’s earned with his play.
Still, for a team that could’ve used this deadline to pivot toward the future, this trade feels more like a sidestep. No picks.
No young prospects. Just another veteran added to a roster already heavy on aging talent.
Best-case scenario? De’Andre Hunter plays some of the best basketball of his career, and the Kings flip him next season for a pick or a young player. But that’s a big “if,” and it doesn’t change the fact that this move doesn’t align with the kind of long-term vision Sacramento desperately needs.
The Kings didn’t get worse with this trade-but they didn’t get meaningfully better either. And in a season like this, that might be the biggest missed opportunity of all.