{"id":658384,"date":"2026-05-08T20:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T20:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/658384\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T20:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T20:07:10","slug":"nba-draft-lottery-is-excitement-for-the-unknown-to-sacramento-kings-gm-scott-perry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/658384\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA draft lottery is ‘excitement for the unknown’ to Sacramento Kings GM Scott Perry"},"content":{"rendered":"

BERKELEY, Calif. \u2013 Sacramento Kings<\/a> general manager Scott Perry<\/a> will be in Chicago on Sunday to see if his franchise catches a much-needed break at the 2026 NBA draft lottery after two decades of frustration.<\/p>\n

The Kings have an 11.5% chance to land the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA draft after finishing 22-60 last season, the fourth-worst record in franchise history. Owners of the fifth-best draft odds, the Kings have a 45.2% chance of landing a top-four pick and a 0.6% chance of falling to ninth, the lowest they could drop.<\/p>\n

Sacramento is due for a break in what is expected to be a talented draft after making just one playoff appearance over the past 20 seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a little excitement for the unknown,\u201d Perry said to Andscape from the Claremont Hotel while on family business late last month. \u201cBut I always try to go into events like this level-headed because the lottery is all about a chance. There\u2019s nothing necessarily strategic about it. It\u2019s about how number combinations fall your way or not. That\u2019s what you\u2019ll find out sitting on that stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cSitting on the stage, you won\u2019t know the results until they announce the names and the number of pick they are. So, we\u2019re going in at five and we\u2019re going to start listening at nine, which is as far as we can drop off. You have to get your mind around not having to hear your team name until hopefully the very end.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kings hired Perry as general manager for his second stint in the front office on April 21, 2025. Perry drafted two players in 2025 who had solid rookie seasons in Kings swingman Nique Clifford and center Maxime Raynaud on the fourth-oldest team in the NBA. Perry also re-signed forward Keegan Murray to a five-year, $140 million contract extension that begins next season.<\/p>\n

On the veteran side, guard Zach LaVine has a player option for $48.9 million next season, forward DeMar DeRozan has a $25.7 million salary next season ($10 million guaranteed) and forward\/center Domantas Sabonis has two years remaining on his deal. Head coach Doug Christie is also returning. <\/p>\n

The Kings need a starting point guard and defensive talent, but first, Sacramento must determine its position in a draft projected to be deep in talent.<\/p>\n

The following is a Q&A with Perry, who discusses with Andscape about the best and worst-case scenarios for the draft lottery, this year\u2019s talent, the type of player he seeks, his selling point to prospects and much more.<\/p>\n

\"ScottScott Perry (right) drafted two players in 2025 who had solid rookie seasons in swingman Nique Clifford (left) and center Maxime Raynaud.<\/p>\n

Have you sat on the NBA draft lottery stage representing a team before?<\/p>\n

I have. One time when I was in New York and once when I was in Detroit. When you\u2019re on the stage, you still don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening. I\u2019m learning just like everybody else was learning at that time what\u2019s going to happen.<\/p>\n

Are you a lucky charm type of person?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been asked that a number of times. I stopped that in my life going back to when I became a head college coach [at Eastern Kentucky University]. You win your first game. You figure, \u201cOK, well, I\u2019m going to keep wearing this tie because it brought me luck with a win.\u201d And then you go on a five-, six-game losing streak and you think, \u201cWell, it\u2019s not the tie.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I will accept [lucky charms] from outsiders who believe in it. I don\u2019t begrudge any of that. I know that a lot of people in Kings Nation have those superstitions. So, hopefully they bestow that upon Kings Nation and we get some good news with the lottery. But, however it falls out, we\u2019re going to be prepared. That\u2019s the big thing.<\/p>\n

The worst-case scenario is the Kings drafting ninth overall. Is there value at the ninth pick in this draft?<\/p>\n

This potentially is a really good draft, a deep draft, potentially. So you have to get comfortable with nine players. That is how I look at it. But it could be fine. You can stay where you\u2019re at, because we\u2019re coming in at five [fifth-best odds]. So, there\u2019s a number of different outcomes that can happen.<\/p>\n

Is this a generational draft?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to reserve judgment on that. And that\u2019s not to try to sidestep the question, but it\u2019s hard to tell. There are a lot of good players in this draft. Again, so much is dependent upon where all these guys land, because so much of it becomes fit, too, wherever they\u2019re drafted. Do they fit with the current coaching staff, the current roster, with the city they\u2019re drafted into? So, there\u2019s a lot more that goes into them becoming successful as players. There\u2019s only a handful of players, in my humble opinion, each year that probably can be great wherever they\u2019re drafted.<\/p>\n

Sacramento Kings general manager Scott Perry wants to build a real foundation \u2013 AndscapeRead now<\/a><\/p>\n

How deep is this draft?<\/p>\n

This is a deep draft. And I\u2019m going into this thing confident that wherever we land, we\u2019ll be able to find somebody that improves our talent base on this roster. That\u2019s what we got to do. We\u2019re in the early stages of building. And at this stage, you\u2019re just trying to add more young talent to the roster. And then from that point, it\u2019s incumbent upon us to develop that young talent. That\u2019s the second part. \u2026<\/p>\n

You need that player, whoever he is. Whether you\u2019re drafting one or nine, you got to help that player get better, because he\u2019s coming into a totally new environment for himself. And it\u2019s incumbent upon us as an organization to develop them and get them better.<\/p>\n

How did you feel about your rookie class from last season?<\/p>\n

I really liked our class from last season. All of those guys got needed experience. And that showed their daily approach to work, their commitment to wanting to get better and their maturity that they showed both on and off the court. They had a real willingness to not only listen and learn from the coaching staff, but also some of the veteran players that we have. That was impressive.<\/p>\n

What you look for in any class is: Did they get better over the course of the season? And the answers to that, when you talk about Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell, who was undrafted and on a two-way contract, who we converted his contract \u2014 each and every one of those players got better. Now, it can\u2019t stop there, though. That\u2019s reasonable for us to expect. And they have the same expectation as well, that they\u2019d be better next year. So, they can\u2019t live on whatever they were able to show this past season. You got to improve on it. If you don\u2019t improve on it, then they\u2019re not moving forward as players, and we\u2019re not moving forward as an organization.<\/p>\n

You have been back in Sacramento for just over a year now. How do you reflect on this year?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve really enjoyed it. Obviously, the first time I was here [for less than three months in 2017], it was a very short stint. And it was during the offseason during the draft and free agency. So, this was my first year getting the chance to be in an arena with the team and really experience the fan base and the community as part of the Kings. I\u2019d always been here as a visitor and was impressed with the energy and enthusiasm of the community, but now being a part of it and the type of season we have with a great number of injuries and not winning as much as we would have liked to win, the support was still tremendous and unwavering. I\u2019m excited about the days ahead.<\/p>\n

When rookies come in and work out before the draft, what will be your selling point about the Kings to them?<\/p>\n

We\u2019re here to build a sustainable winner. And I think any player would be attracted to a place that has stable leadership, like I know that we will provide. And they will get an opportunity to achieve not only their team goals, but individual goals. We\u2019re building this thing for the long run. We\u2019re building this thing to become a very meaningful presence eventually in the Western Conference. But it does take time to get there. But the guys that want to be a part of that and establish something for themselves, it becomes a tremendous opportunity.<\/p>\n

\"ScottGeneral manager Scott Perry (left) expects there will be moving parts from the draft and free agency as he builds a roster for head coach Doug Christie (right).<\/p>\n

Rocky Widner\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Will your roster look different next season? I know Kings fans are quite curious about the veterans and who will be back.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s so many moving parts to that with the impending draft, offseason and free agency. One thing I\u2019ve always preached is we\u2019re going to be both prudent and opportunistic. So, my job and my position as general manager is to explore every avenue to improve this team this year. And we\u2019ve got some work to do both on the financial front and also on the talent acquisition front. We\u2019re going to be on parallel tracks.<\/p>\n

There has been a lot of hype about four freshmen in particular: BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson and Duke forward Cameron Booker. Is there a clear-cut No. 1 pick?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to stay away from that. For me, I have to meet all these individuals. When you evaluate the talent, the player, you can see the talent from afar and you can hear from people who are involved with the talent. But until we, me, as an organization, get a chance to really sit down and meet all these young individuals, it\u2019s hard for me to make a declaration on who\u2019s the top one.<\/p>\n

I say this all the time, I\u2019m going to say it again: You have the talent, and you have the person. And they don\u2019t come in the door separately. It comes in together. So, you\u2019ve got to be comfortable with both. Until I get to that point, I can\u2019t answer that question.<\/p>\n

What would you tell Kings Nation about how they should look at things after such a tough season and some up-and-down years?<\/p>\n

I understand the Kings fans\u2019 frustrations from last season and previous years where I personally was not here. But I would say to them that any organization that you see that\u2019s winning now had to go through a process in the number of years of building. That\u2019s where we\u2019re at right now. Someone like me who\u2019s been a part of some organizations that had to do that and been a part of organizations that have seen it through to a high end \u2014 ultimately when I was in Detroit when we were champions \u2014 understands that it takes time.<\/p>\n

I look at this past season and there is no secret that we were besieged by a lot of injuries to some of the top veteran players that we had. But it opened up an opportunity for a lot of young players, and I thought what those young players \u2014 Raynaud, Clifford and Cardwell \u2014 did, it showed you a glimpse that they can be players that can help a team become a winner one day.<\/p>\n

My philosophy has always been we want to try to build a team that is 10 [players] deep. Depth is important to me. Your better teams now, the teams that sit on top of the league, have quality depth. Now they also have maybe a star player or two. I get that. But you\u2019ve got to have depth. I was very encouraged by our young guys that we have now, and they can be part of us being a sustainable winner. When we turn the corner, I can see those guys being a part of it.<\/p>\n

What type of players are you attracted to for the Kings?<\/p>\n

I talk about six pillars all the time. Competitive, tough, team-oriented, accountable, professional, and disciplined. When you\u2019re dealing with young people, some may have all those six qualities at the beginning. Others may need a little work in there, but they have it inside of them and they\u2019re willing to allow you to help them exhibit all those six pillars. So that\u2019s what we look for. Those six pillars have nothing to do with how well you shoot, how high you jump, how fast you can run. I just know in this league, all 30 teams have some measure of talent.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re fortunate enough to become a good team one day and you\u2019re competing against all the top teams, you\u2019re going to be looking at talented people across from you. The biggest separator is these intangibles that I\u2019m talking about, those pillars.<\/p>\n

Marc J. Spears is the senior NBA writer for Andscape. He used to be able to dunk on you, but he hasn\u2019t been able to in years and his knees still hurt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BERKELEY, Calif. \u2013 Sacramento Kings general manager Scott Perry will be in Chicago on Sunday to see if…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-658384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}