{"id":277488,"date":"2026-04-20T22:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T22:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/277488\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T22:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T22:02:08","slug":"sacramento-kings-lose-lottery-tiebreaker-could-fall-to-9th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/277488\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacramento Kings lose lottery tiebreaker, could fall to 9th"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 NBA Draft lottery is one of the most important nights for the Sacramento Kings organization\u2019s future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very important, because it\u2019s the next step for us in what we\u2019re trying to build here,\u201d Kings general manager Scott Perry said of the upcoming lottery.\u00a0 \u201cTo add real talent, add, at minimum, a starting-level player in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Where they end up selecting could very well be the difference between landing a starting-level player, as he mentions, or a franchise-altering talent. Ending the season 22-60, an identical record to the Utah Jazz, left them tied for the 5th-worst record.<\/p>\n<p>To separate the two, the NBA conducts a tiebreaker behind closed doors. On Monday, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NBAPR\/status\/2046334407347257613\" rel=\"nofollow\">the NBA announced<\/a> that Sacramento had lost the coin flip, giving them the 5th-best odds.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The following has been released by the NBA. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xwSJfpkaf5\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/xwSJfpkaf5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBA Communications (@NBAPR) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBAPR\/status\/2046334407347257613?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">April 20, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The difference is not in the odds of moving up, as both teams will share a 45.2 percent chance of a top-four selection, including an 11.5 percent chance of lucking into first overall.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, it\u2019s about how far each could fall in the worst-case scenario where four teams below them leapfrog them in the drawing. Because the Kings lost the tiebreaker, they can fall as far as ninth, while Utah cannot finish below eighth.<\/p>\n<p>Still, there\u2019s a minuscule chance the Kings fall that low, and they\u2019re very much in play for the top spots. This is expected to be a strong class, with potential franchise-changing talents joining organizations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think this is a very strong draft class,\u201d Sacramento general manager Scott Perry said of the 2026 NBA Draft class. \u201cA lot of good young players on the horizon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Most experts have a top four of AJ Dybansta (BYU), Darryn Peterson (Kansas), Cameron Boozer (Duke), and Caleb Wilson (UNC). Ironically, all 14 lottery teams have a chance of drawing into the top four.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s still a strong tier of talent following them, including Kingston Flemings (Houston), Darius Acuff (Arkansas), Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville), Keaton Wagler (Illinois), and more.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s an unfortunate outcome for the Kings, losing a coin flip for all intents and purposes.<\/p>\n<p>Still in play for a top spot, the lottery itself will take place on May 10th at 12 p.m. PST. That\u2019s where Sacramento\u2019s luck will truly impact their future.<\/p>\n<p>When is the next Sacramento Kings offseason date of interest?<\/p>\n<p>The Sacramento Kings will now look ahead to the highly anticipated NBA Draft Lottery, which is set for Sunday, May 10th.<\/p>\n<p>Sacramento hasn\u2019t secured the top pick in the NBA Draft since 1989, when it selected center Pervis Ellison with the first overall selection.<\/p>\n<p>Be sure to stay locked in to Sactown Sports 1140 all offseason for NBA Draft Lottery coverage, NBA Draft previews and analysis, NBA Summer League content, and MUCH more!<\/p>\n<p>More Sacramento Kings content from Sactown Sports<\/p>\n<p>Upcoming Sacramento Kings &amp; NBA Offseason Schedule<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday, April 14th\u00a0\u2013 NBA Play-In Tournament begins<br \/>\nSaturday, April 18th\u00a0\u2013 NBA Playoffs begin<br \/>\nSunday, May 10th\u00a0\u2013 NBA Draft Lottery<br \/>\nThursday, June 4th\u2013 NBA Finals begin<br \/>\nThursday, June 25th\u00a0\u2013 NBA Draft (Round 1)<br \/>\nFriday, June 26th\u00a0\u2013 NBA Draft (Round 2)<br \/>\nTuesday, June 30th\u00a0\u2013 NBA Free Agency negotiation period begins (3 PM PT)<br \/>\nThursday, July 9th\u00a0\u2013 NBA Las Vegas Summer League begins<br \/>\nMonday, July 13th\u00a0\u2013 Free Agency moratorium ends \/ signings can become official<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Thank you for reading\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sactownsports.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SactownSports.com<\/a>. Follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Sactown1140\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMMGengsw2Ki2Aw?hl=en-US&amp;gl=US&amp;ceid=US:en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Google News<\/a>, and subscribe to our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/SactownSports1140\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">YouTube<\/a>\u00a0channel.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sactownsports.com\/newsletters\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-perfmatters-preload=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SactownSportsEmail-300x250-1.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\" class=\"mobile-signup\"\/>\t&#13;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SactownSportsEmail-830x100-1.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\" class=\"desktop-signup\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NBA Draft lottery is one of the most important nights for the Sacramento Kings organization\u2019s future.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-277488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}