When the Kings first brought in De'Andre Hunter, there was at least a little room for patience. The season he arrived was already wrecked by injuries, and Sacramento fans were willing to give him some benefit of the doubt.
But that cushion is disappearing fast. With younger, better options pressing for playing time, the real question is why Hunter is still in the starting five at all.
The rough start to his Sacramento tenure wasn’t entirely in his control. Hunter was dealt to the Kings by the Cavaliers at the 2026 trade deadline, and then halfway through his second game with the team, he suffered an improbable eye injury that shut him down for the rest of the season.
This year is really the first time fans have gotten to see him as a full-time part of the Kings’ roster, and so far it has been underwhelming. He’s logging 24.7 minutes a night and putting up just 5.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.0 assist, with no blocks or steals.
Box scores don’t always tell the entire story, but in this case they pretty much do. Hunter has been aggressively mediocre, and the Kings keep giving him a starting spot anyway. That setup no longer makes much sense, and a change in the lineup feels overdue.
The original plan had been different. Before injuries changed the picture, Sacramento intended to start Ben Simmons at power forward and Keegan Murray at small forward. But Simmons is out for the season and Murray won’t be back any time soon, so the Kings shifted to Precious Achiuwa at power forward and Hunter on the wing.
Achiuwa belongs in the lineup. He’s the real backbone of this rebuild and has already shown he can hold up on both ends. Hunter, by contrast, seems to give Sacramento little more than the occasional rebound, and rebounding isn’t exactly a problem for this team with Achiuwa and Domantas Sabonis already there.
The bigger issue is the minutes crunch behind him. Nique Clifford and Alex Karaban need runway at small forward, while Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell will likely be in line for power forward minutes when they return from injury. Keeping Hunter in a starting role cuts against that development path.
Sacramento needs to prioritize rookie and sophomore growth now, not settle for the kind of veteran production that won’t matter much once Hunter’s contract runs out in April if he isn’t moved before then. As things stand, starting him is a dead-end decision for the Kings, and it only gets harder to justify from here.
In Other News...
Kings Already Face A Bigger Darius Acuff Jr. Problem
Darius Acuff Jr.s early development is already shaping up to be one of the bigger long-term talking points around the Kings. Bobby Gerould noted that the rookie needs room to work through mistakes while he sharpens his decision-making, which is the kind of patience every young guard needs but not every team is eager to afford. For Sacramento, the question is not just how Acuff looks in flashes, but how the organization plans to support his growth without boxing him in too soon.
Gerould also pointed to the roster fit the Kings will need around him, emphasizing size, defensive ability and experience from major college programs as key ingredients. Domantas Sabonis remains part of that equation, but the broader challenge is building enough defensive structure around Acuff to cover for the learning curve that comes with a young perimeter creator. In other words, this is already about more than one rookies development, because the kind of center and complementary pieces Sacramento finds could end up defining how quickly Acuff can become what the Kings need him to be. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Already Facing Bigger Questions Than Fans Expected
The Kings were already in a tough spot before the schedule really had a chance to settle in, and a 130-103 loss to the Spurs only deepened the early unease around the team. Sacramento is 0-4 to open the season, and this one came with several key players unavailable because of injuries, leaving the roster thin and the defensive issues even more obvious as San Antonio pulled away at home.
De'Andre Hunter led the Kings with 24 points, but individual scoring was never enough to keep pace once the game got away from them. For a team that expected to spend these first weeks finding rhythm and identity, the concern now is less about one lopsided night than how quickly the Kings can get healthy and stable enough to stop the slide. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Winless Start Is Fueling A Frustrating Sacramento Debate
The early-season struggle in Sacramento has not been subtle. The Kings are still looking for their first win, and the offensive issues have been hard to miss, with too many possessions ending in isolation and not enough ball movement to keep defenses guessing. Even with strong scoring nights from players like Darius Acuff Jr. and Zach LaVine, the attack has often looked fragmented, leaving the team stuck near the bottom of the league in efficiency.
For a fan base that has seen enough uneven basketball, the larger concern is whether this is a temporary slump or the start of a longer problem. Sacramento does at least control its first-round draft pick next year, which adds another layer to every rough night, but the pressure is obvious: the Kings need a more connected offense if they want to avoid letting this season drift into something far worse. [Read more 🡒]