The Kings are still in the middle of a roster reset, and that makes this season a crossroads for a few familiar names in Sacramento. By 2027-28, the team could look completely different, and even this offseason the front office has already leaned harder into its young core. More changes are coming, and some players on the current roster may not be around long enough to see the finish line.
Zach LaVine is the obvious name in that conversation, since it would be more surprising to see him in a Kings uniform past the 2026-27 season than not. But the more interesting cases are the others who could be playing for their future right now.
Domantas Sabonis sits near the top of that list. The 30-year-old big man has been in trade chatter for some time, and while Sacramento would benefit from opening the 2026-27 season with him still on the roster, his long-term outlook feels shaky.
When Sabonis is healthy, he’s one of the league’s most reliable centers, and last season’s injuries may have dulled some of that memory. Still, Kings fans know exactly what he brings.
In his first three full seasons in Sacramento, he averaged 19.2 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game while shooting 60% from the field, and he led the league in rebounds every year.
Even with that production, the clock appears to be ticking. Sacramento has rising sophomore centers Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell waiting in the wings, and if Sabonis turns in another strong season, that could only make him more attractive as a trade piece.
De'Andre Hunter is another player with plenty to sort out. Sacramento got him at the February trade deadline, but his Kings stint got off to a brutal start when he suffered a season-ending injury in just his second game with the team.
Now he’s heading into the final year of his contract with a future in Sacramento that’s very much up in the air. The fit still isn’t settled, and the Kings don’t have much certainty about where he belongs in the long run. A move at next year’s trade deadline looks possible, and if that doesn’t happen, free agency in 2027 is right there waiting.
Hunter does have one path to sticking around. If he puts together a strong enough season, there’s a scenario where he returns next summer on a much more team-friendly deal.
Ben Simmons may be the most unusual case of the three. He doesn’t even have a guaranteed roster spot yet, but his long-term outlook with Sacramento is already part of the conversation.
He signed a one-year deal with the Kings as a straight prove-it chance, and ESPN’s Marc J. Spears reported that the former three-time All-Star could be open to staying beyond the 2026-27 season if both sides want it.
"If they give him the opportunity and he does well, and he wants them back, they want him back, and it’s fair, I think he’d want to stay."
Simmons hasn’t looked like the All-Star version of himself in years, but Sacramento gives him a chance to rebuild his value. If he turns into a productive piece again, a longer stay in Sacramento would not be hard to imagine.
In Other News...
Russell Westbrook Could Still Have One More Kings Chapter
Russell Westbrooks lone season in Sacramento might not end up being just a brief late-career stop after all. After finishing his 17th NBA season with the Kings, Westbrook stepped away from playing and has since shifted into business ventures and basketball-related work outside the league, but his connection to the organization has remained a point of curiosity for fans who watched him bring his usual energy to a new setting.
What makes the Kings interest worth following is the path that opened up at the end of his playing days. Westbrook chose retirement after being asked to embrace a mentoring role behind a rookie point guard, and the idea of him staying tied to Sacramento in a different capacity has already started to circulate. A coaching role would be a very different chapter, but it would also fit the sense that his Kings story may not be finished yet. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Let A Former First Round Pick Become This Player
Davion Mitchells path has come full circle in a way the Kings probably did not envision when they took him ninth overall in 2021. After three seasons in Sacramento, he was dealt first to Toronto and then to Miami, where the young guard has steadily reshaped his game by soaking up lessons from veteran teammates and carving out a bigger role than the one he had early in his career.
Miamis decision to keep him around says plenty about how far he has come. Mitchell finished a breakout season as the Heats starting point guard and followed it with a two-year contract extension, a sign that the player Sacramento once drafted for his defensive edge has grown into a much more complete piece for a contender. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Face A Darius Acuff Jr. Debate That Could Shape Both Timelines
Darius Acuff Jr. has already given the Kings something worth weighing carefully: a rookie guard with real scoring ability and a college track record that included leading the SEC in assists. That blend makes him intriguing in Sacramento, where the long view and the win-now push are always overlapping. The temptation is obvious, because a young guard who can get downhill and create for others can eventually become a central piece of a teams identity.
For now, though, the cleaner path appears to run through Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis as the offensive anchors, with Acuff developing into more of a facilitator alongside them. His ability to penetrate defenses and generate assists is the part that could matter most over time, since it gives the Kings a chance to grow him into a playmaker rather than rush him into a role that asks for too much too soon. The debate is less about whether Acuff belongs in the picture and more about how quickly Sacramento wants that picture to come into focus. [Read more 🡒]