The Sacramento Kings have hit a hard reset - and the early returns haven’t been pretty. Through the first quarter of the 2025-26 NBA season, Sacramento is sitting at 5-16, marking the franchise’s worst 20-game start in 15 years. It’s a stretch that’s earned them the “basement floor” label in recent league rankings, slotting them at No. 27 overall - second-worst in the Western Conference, just ahead of the struggling New Orleans Pelicans.
So how did the Kings get here?
Let’s start at the point guard spot, where the instability has been symbolic of the team’s broader identity crisis. Sacramento signed Dennis Schröder to a three-year deal with the expectation he’d be the floor general.
But just weeks into the season, he lost the starting job to Russell Westbrook - an 18-year vet who wasn’t even on the roster at the start of training camp. That kind of midstream course correction at such a critical position speaks volumes about the team’s current direction, or lack thereof.
To Westbrook’s credit, he’s held his own. Individually, the former MVP has been solid, bringing energy and leadership to a team that desperately needs both.
But his presence also highlights the bigger issue: Sacramento’s revolving door at point guard. Not long ago, this was a franchise that had De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, and Davion Mitchell all in the building at the same time.
Now, none of them are in Sacramento.
Haliburton, of course, has blossomed into a bona fide star with the Pacers, even leading Indiana to an Eastern Conference title after being traded in 2022. Fox, the Kings’ No. 5 overall pick in the 2017 draft and once the face of the franchise, made his exit before this season and is now with the Spurs. Mitchell, a top-10 pick in 2021, has bounced around and currently finds himself with the Miami Heat after a stint in Toronto.
The roster turnover has been massive, and it’s left new general manager Scott Perry and head coach Doug Christie with the task of rebuilding from the ground up. But the early signs haven’t been encouraging.
Sacramento’s offensive rating sits at 109.1 - a number that might look passable in a vacuum, but not when paired with a 119.5 defensive rating. That’s a double-digit net rating deficit, and it shows up in the win column: just two victories in the last 12 games, and four separate losing streaks already this season.
The Kings have dropped three straight heading into a tough road matchup against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. Houston, ranked No. 4 in the same league-wide rankings that placed Sacramento near the bottom, represents a steep challenge for a team still trying to find its footing.
There’s no sugarcoating it - this is a team in transition, and right now, the growing pains are front and center. The Kings have talent in spots, but the cohesion isn’t there.
The identity isn’t clear. And the results speak for themselves.
For Sacramento, the climb out of the basement starts with stability - at point guard, in the locker room, and in the front office. Until they find that, the Kings will remain a team with more questions than answers.