The Kings’ starting five could be more intriguing than the outside world wants to admit, but the path to proving it is full of land mines.
Sacramento is coming off a rough 2025-2026 season, and the reasons were easy to spot: a lopsided roster and an injury mess that wrecked the team’s ceiling. The health part was especially brutal. The Kings’ projected starters never logged a single minute together all season, which says plenty about how little chance that group had to develop any kind of flow.
That’s why the conversation around Sacramento this year starts with one simple question: can the starters stay on the floor?
The answer matters because the Kings are being pushed to the bottom of just about every projection. That’s not hard to understand.
Sacramento’s last 20 years have been a churn of coaches, players, and front office turnover, and the organization is still trying to find the kind of steady base that winning teams take for granted. The general manager has experience, but he has only been in Sacramento for a year and a half.
The head coach is still relatively new to the job. And the roster is packed with rookies and sophomores.
Still, there is a version of this lineup that works on paper. The expected starting five for 2026-2027 is Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, De'Andre Hunter, Keegan Murray, and Darius Acuff Jr.
That group has talent. It also comes with obvious baggage, since four of the five missed significant time last season while Acuff was still in college.
If everything clicks, Sacramento could at least get a respectable showing out of that unit. But the doubt is baked in, because the Kings have given everyone plenty of reasons to doubt them.
And then there’s the trade factor. LaVine and Sabonis both want out and are on the trading block, and Hunter could also be moved. Even one deal would force Sacramento back to the drawing board with the starting five.
That kind of turnover wouldn’t automatically be a disaster. The Kings have enough rookies, sophomores, and young players to keep building toward the future. But it would mean the lineup still hasn’t been formed into something stable, and that remains the biggest hurdle.
In Other News...
Jerry Reynolds Just Floated A Risky Kings Option Worth Watching
Jerry Reynolds has never been shy about weighing the Kings next move, and his latest thought exercise put a familiar high-risk name back in the conversation. Reynolds said he is skeptical about Sacramento pursuing Ben Simmons, but he also made the case that there is a version of the deal that could make sense if the price is right. For a Kings roster built around Darius Acuff Jr., Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray, the appeal is easy to see: Simmons still brings size, passing and defensive versatility that could fill a very specific need if the contract and expectations are manageable.
The catch is the same one that has followed Simmons for years, and Reynolds did not ignore it. Fit remains the central question, along with where Simmons is in his career now and whether the Kings would be wise to attach any meaningful risk to the idea. Even so, Reynolds contrasted Simmons NBA resume with the uncertainty that often comes with other recent lottery picks, which is why the discussion matters at all for Sacramento. If the Kings are looking for a swing that could raise their ceiling without costing them heavily, Simmons is the kind of name that forces the front office to at least think it through. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Fans Just Got Another Brutal Reminder Of Their Team's Climb
The Kings have spent much of the past two decades trying to climb back into the kind of consistent relevance that once felt routine, and the stretch since Rick Adelman left has been especially punishing. Sacramento has made just one playoff appearance in that span, a reminder of how hard it has been to put together both stability and sustained success. Even with Vivek Ranadive now in his 13th year overseeing the franchise and Scott Perry making encouraging moves through the draft and broader rebuild, the bigger picture still looks like a team trying to turn progress into something lasting.
Bleacher Reports latest outlook only adds to the frustration, projecting Sacramento to sit at the bottom of its power rankings over the next three seasons. For a fan base that has already waited through years of turnover and near-misses, it is another harsh reminder that the climb back is still very much a climb. The organization continues to frame the work as a long-term project, but the outside view suggests the Kings still have a long way to go before the rest of the league believes the turnaround is real. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Just Took A Chance On Ben Simmons Again
Ben Simmons is heading back to the NBA, and the Kings are the team giving him the next shot. The former No. 1 overall pick has agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with Sacramento, bringing a three-time All-Star into a roster that is trying to reset and add some structure as it rebuilds.
For Sacramento, the appeal is obvious enough: Simmons still brings size, ballhandling and the kind of veteran presence young teams often need. He has not played since April 2025 and sat out the previous season, so the question is less about the rsum than the return itself, and how much of that old impact the Kings can still count on. [Read more 🡒]