Zach LaVine’s time with the Sacramento Kings has gone about as badly as it possibly could, and that’s what makes this season so important for him. His stock has taken such a hit that he’s now staring at the final year of a contract that runs through 2026-2027, with unrestricted free agency looming and plenty to prove before then.
The timing of LaVine’s arrival could hardly have been worse. Sacramento was already dealing with the fallout from the firing of Mike Brown, the departure of De’Aaron Fox, and everything else swirling around the organization. Instead of landing in a stable spot, LaVine wound up in the middle of a mess.
Now he’s on a rebuilding team led by a rookie head coach he really doesn’t seem to get along with. That combination has helped produce what might be the worst stretch of LaVine’s career, and it has also made him extremely difficult to move because of how much he’s being paid.
The Kings would probably like to deal him at the trade deadline and recover something before he walks. But that may be wishful thinking. The more realistic outcome is that LaVine finishes out the deal and leaves on his own, unless the two sides somehow figure out how to make this partnership work.
For LaVine, the assignment is simple even if the situation isn’t. He has to make this season count.
He opened 2025-2026 on a hot shooting streak, but things quickly unraveled. Doug Christie’s demands on the defensive end have clashed with what LaVine does best, while his shot opportunities have been trimmed down. That’s a tough combination for any scorer, especially one trying to rebuild his value.
Health is part of the equation too. LaVine missed almost 50% of last season because of injuries, which made it nearly impossible to find any kind of rhythm. If he’s going to reset his market, he has to stay on the floor and take full advantage of every chance he gets.
That means buying into Christie’s approach, whether he likes it or not, and rediscovering the shot-making and volume that have defined his best stretches. The league needs to see that Zach LaVine can still help in different ways if he wants next summer’s free agency to go better than his Sacramento run has gone so far.
In Other News...
Tyrese Haliburton Just Revealed A Draft Night Twist Pacers Fans Will Feel
Tyrese Haliburtons draft-night path had a little more intrigue than most people knew. In a recent revelation, he said he and his agents reached out to the Phoenix Suns before the 2020 NBA Draft in hopes of landing there and teaming up with Devin Booker, but Phoenix went in a different direction and selected Jalen Smith instead. Haliburton ended up going 12th overall to Sacramento, setting in motion a career that quickly took him far beyond the usual lottery-night what-ifs.
He later became a franchise cornerstone with Indiana after the Kings traded him away, turning into an All-Star-level guard and an All-NBA talent before his career hit another sharp turn with a torn Achilles that wiped out his 2025-26 season. Now healthy again and preparing for his comeback, Haliburtons disclosure adds another layer to a draft story that already looks very different in hindsight, especially for Pacers fans who got the version of him that blossomed in Indianapolis. [Read more 🡒]
Kings First 10 Games Will Show If This Rebuild Feels Different
The NBAs 2026-27 schedule has now given the Kings their first real measuring stick, and the opening stretch looks like the kind that can reveal a lot before autumn turns to winter. Sacramento is set to see a mix of heavy hitters and more manageable opponents right out of the gate, with matchups against the Spurs, Heat, Lakers and Mavericks balanced by games against the Grizzlies, Clippers, Blazers and Pelicans.
For a team trying to show its rebuild is headed somewhere new, the first 10 games may matter as much as any midseason hot streak. Projections have the Kings tracking toward something similar to last season, but a steady start against a schedule that includes both playoff-level pressure and chances to bank wins would be a meaningful sign that this group is starting to look different in ways that last. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Stat Race Could Reveal A Major Shift In The Rotation
The Kings rotation is already drawing a surprising amount of interest for a season that still sits out ahead, because the usual statistical pecking order may not look all that usual by the time 2026-27 arrives. Domantas Sabonis still profiles as the safest bet to lead the team in rebounds and assists, while rookie Darius Acuff Jr. could immediately push into the scoring conversation and Dylan Cardwell looks like the front-runner to anchor the blocks category.
What makes the exercise more revealing for Sacramento is how much it depends on unresolved playing time questions around Zach LaVine and Emanuel Sharp. If those two are featured more heavily than expected, the whole stat race could tilt in a different direction, and that would say plenty about how the Kings are choosing to build their nightly rotation. [Read more 🡒]