The wait for fall and cooler temperatures continues in Sacramento, as does the wait for anything else to happen with the Kings roster. As of right now, the 2025-26 Kings will largely be the same squad that finished 40-42, good for 9th place in the Western Conference last season. That resulted in getting blown out on its home floor in the play-in tournament and missing out on a lottery pick.
And ESPN is now slating the Kings to be even worse next season. A recent article predicting the standings for both conferences has the Kings finishing with a 37-45 record and 12th place in the Western Conference. No real explanation for the drop other than this matter-of-fact statement:
“Sacramento will have a full season under new coach Doug Christie, who will try to get the best out of Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan with Dennis Schroder at point guard.”
Pretty much says it all. A talented bunch of players that resembles more of a fantasy basketball team, than a team that fits in real life.
ESPN has the Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, and San Antonio Spurs all finishing with better records, with only the Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz finishing worse than the Kings.
Assuming Ja Morant can stay healthy and out of trouble, the Blazers can build on their late season improvements and the additions of Jrue Holiday and Yang Hansen (it will be a while until we see Damian Lillard), and the Spurs taking the leap most expect them to, it is tough to argue against the prediction of a 12th place finish. Of course, a full training camp and an actual point guard should help the Kings, but how many more wins could we reasonably expect just from that?
At best, we are likely talking about another play-in appearance, which is not an achievement.
You tell me in the comments. Agree with the prediction?