The Sacramento Kings enter next season with a roster that looks familiar in a lot of places, but the scoring hierarchy could still shift in a big way. With DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook gone and a younger core taking on more responsibility, the offense is set up around Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine and rookie Darius Acuff Jr.
If LaVine stays in Sacramento and keeps his starting job, he has the clearest path to finishing first on the team in scoring. He remains the most established bucket-getter on the roster, and the source points to six straight seasons of 23-plus points per game, with at least 40 games played in each of those years. Even if he doesn’t get all the way back to that level, he should still clear 20 PPG now that he is no longer splitting touches with DeRozan.
Acuff Jr. could be right behind him in a hurry. The 19-year-old is expected to get a real green light as the Kings’ starting point guard, and the volume should be there from day one.
He averaged 23.5 PPG at Arkansas and then put up 20.8 PPG across five Summer League games, which is enough to suggest the scoring instincts are already in place. Efficiency may be a work in progress as a rookie, but the shot attempts should pile up fast enough to put him in the top three on the team.
Sabonis is also positioned for a major rebound after an injury-hit 2025-26 season that limited him to 19 games. Before that, he had topped 18.5 PPG for six straight years, and the expectation here is that he gets back to being the steady offensive force the Kings rely on. Sacramento should keep the ball in his hands often to ease the load on Acuff Jr., and even if Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell cut into his minutes, Sabonis still figures to have plenty of chances to score.
Keegan Murray is next in line. His role should grow now that DeRozan has been waived, but he is still projected as the offense’s fourth option for the moment.
Murray’s numbers from last season - 42% from the field and 27.7% from three - leave room for a scoring jump if his efficiency improves. There’s a path to something in the 17-20 PPG range, especially if his on-ball game keeps developing, but for now he remains behind the Kings’ top three.
Malik Monk rounds out the projected top five. After a down season in which he struggled to make a steady impact, he may be asked to do more as the backup point guard.
The Kings will likely need him to handle the ball, create for others and score off the bench. A return to the 17 PPG mark he reached two seasons ago feels like a stretch, but he should at least climb from last year’s 12.5 PPG.
De’Andre Hunter and Maxime Raynaud could also push for this spot, but Monk looks like the safest pick.
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