Free agency has already started to reshape the Sacramento Kings’ roster, and two familiar names appear to be on the way out.
Drew Eubanks and Doug McDermott have not been officially moved on from yet, but both are unrestricted free agents and look unlikely to return. Sacramento has already begun making the kind of roster decisions that point in that direction, and these two veterans seem caught in the squeeze.
The Kings have already made one notable move by parting with Devin Carter in a trade with the Hawks that was built purely to clear salary. Shortly after that, Sacramento exercised the team option for the second year of Killian Hayes’ contract, leaving him as a free agent searching for another landing spot. Neither of those decisions came as a shock, especially with the Kings needing to create room in the backcourt after adding two more guards in the draft.
There are still other moving pieces to sort through as well. Precious Achiuwa, Daeqwon Plowden, and Russell Westbrook remain in the mix, and the sense is that Sacramento would like to keep all three. But Plowden and Achiuwa appear to be the priorities, which makes life tougher for the rest of the fringe veterans.
That’s where Eubanks and McDermott come in.
Eubanks was signed to back up Domantas Sabonis, but the picture has changed quickly. With rookies Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell rising into the conversation, he no longer looks essential. If the Kings keep Achiuwa and add Jalen Duren, there simply isn’t much need for Eubanks anymore.
McDermott is in a similar spot. He’s another veteran whose role has been pushed aside by the way Sacramento’s roster is being built.
The Kings have added depth on the wing and at the four with Achiuwa, Plowden, Keegan Murray, and De’Andre Hunter, along with newly acquired Alex Karaban. That crowding leaves McDermott looking more like a luxury than a necessity.
Sacramento still needs at least a couple more forwards who match the shape of its younger, more versatile, defense-first build. McDermott and Eubanks don’t really fit that mold. If the Kings let them walk, though, it would also open up more room for additional free-agent moves.
For now, nothing has been announced officially on either player. But with payroll decisions looming and roster spots getting tight, it feels like only a matter of time before the Kings make it clear where Eubanks and McDermott stand.
In Other News...
Kings Just Made Two Depth Moves Fans Will Want To Track
The Kings kept working the edges of their roster by signing Jonathan Mogbo and Adam Flagler to two-way contracts, a familiar kind of summer move for a team trying to strengthen its depth without sacrificing flexibility. Mogbo arrives as a forward who was drafted in 2024 and spent his rookie season with Toronto, while Flagler comes in as a guard with experience in the Thunder organization and a recent run with the Austin Spurs.
For Sacramento, these are the kinds of additions that can matter later even if they barely register now. Two-way spots often turn into the easiest way to find a useful piece over the course of a long season, and the Kings are clearly adding players with different paths but similar incentives: prove they can stick, earn minutes when called upon, and give the front office more options if the rotation gets tested. [Read more 🡒]
Bucks Explored A Franchise Shifting Move After Giannis News
DeMar DeRozans situation is now one of the more watchable roster questions on Sacramentos summer board, especially as the Kings continue weighing whether theres a workable trade path or whether they have to take a more drastic route. Salary cap limits make a clean deal tough to engineer, and around the league, teams are still sifting through fluid conversations on a few fronts, from Dorian Finney-Smith to possible multi-team constructions involving Marcus Sasser, Isaiah Stewart and others.
For the Kings, the timing matters because the front office is still trying to sort out how to move on without creating a bigger financial mess down the line. If a trade never materializes, waiving DeRozan remains the most realistic escape hatch, but the bigger picture is the same one hanging over several teams right now: the market is active, the ideas are layered, and some of the leagues most ambitious roster talks are still at the stage where interest has not yet turned into action. [Read more 🡒]