The Sacramento Kings may have found a friendlier road map than the one they faced a year ago.
When the NBA released the 2026-27 schedule Thursday, Sacramento got an opener that drops it straight into a matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 21 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, then brings the home crowd into play two nights later against the Portland Trail Blazers at Golden 1 Center on Oct. 23. The bigger picture, though, is that the schedule gives the Kings a real chance to climb above the expectations attached to them after last season’s collapse.
That collapse was brutal: a 22-60 finish, injuries everywhere, and a roster that never got the chance to settle. All-NBA center Domantas Sabonis missed 63 games, Keegan Murray was out for 59 and Zach LaVine missed 43. Under general manager Scott Perry, the reset is underway, and the team is leaning hard into a younger look.
Sacramento is also working from a much different age profile than it did a year ago. Last season, the Kings were the fourth-oldest team in the league with an average age of 27.3. Now DeMar DeRozan, 36, has been waived in a cost-cutting move, and Russell Westbrook, 37, announced his retirement on Wednesday.
Even with BetMGM opening Sacramento’s win total at 21.5, there’s a case for the Kings to beat that number if the key pieces stay on the floor. Rookie point guard Darius Acuff Jr. joins a lineup that should feature LaVine, Murray and Sabonis, with all three expected to be healthy and motivated.
The schedule itself offers a little room to breathe. Sacramento will have 13 back-to-backs, and the Kings were 4-10 last season on the second night of those situations. Early on, they’ll spend five of their first seven games on the road, but November sets up better, with 11 of 14 games at home.
That’s a much softer landing than the one they had last season, when the Kings had to deal with 11 of their first 18 games against the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers.
Sacramento’s NBA Cup slate also comes into focus with four group-stage games. The Kings will host the Spurs on Nov. 6 and the Trail Blazers on Nov. 13, then head out to face the Lakers on Nov. 20 and the Golden State Warriors on Nov. 25.
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Kings Face A Brutal Early Test Their Rebuild Cant Ignore
November is going to tell Sacramento a lot about where this reset really stands. After a quiet offseason that brought in no major free-agent additions and left the roster stocked mostly with rookies, the Kings are heading into a month packed with games against teams that finished last season with winning records, plus a handful of road trips that will ask plenty of a group still trying to find its footing.
The expectations are already modest, with Sacramento projected for 21.5 wins this season, and the early schedule does not offer much margin for error. For a team in rebuild mode, the challenge is not just surviving the stretch against elite opponents, but using it to learn whether the young core can hold up when the calendar turns demanding right away. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Backcourt Search May Be Down To One Veteran Fix
The Kings search for a veteran backup point guard has shifted again, and this time the pool looks thinner. Russell Westbrooks retirement removed one possible fix from the board, leaving Sacramento to keep sorting through options behind the starter while looking for someone who can steady the second unit and bring some experience to the room.
Victor Oladipo has emerged as the name worth watching after the Kings recently brought him in for a private workout in Sacramento. He has not played in the NBA since the 2022-23 season, but Sacramento is considering him as both a mentor and a backup option, with no signing announced yet as the team continues to weigh how it wants to finish the backcourt picture. [Read more 🡒]