The Sacramento Kings endured some royal pains this season and it feels like there's no instant fix on the horizon.
Though the NBA Playoffs are in full swing, the buzzer has sounded for several other teams on the Association's ledger.
As it stands, 14 teams are focused on a different kind of ball during the hardwood holidays, as ping-pong balls will decide their respective fates at the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery (May 10). This year's draft class is stocked with prime talents that will hopefully lead these teams out of the mire, but it's worth analyzing how they got into these situations in the first place.
With that in mind, Ballislife leads into the 2026 Draft Lottery by looking back on the voyages of the damned, going in order of top lottery odds. A not-so-royal engagement awaits in part five with the turn to the Sacramento Kings ...
Team: Sacramento Kings
Record: 22-60
Last Playoff Appearance: 2023
Chance at No. 1 Pick: 11.5 percent
What Went Wrong
It wasn't so long ago that the Kings were staged to be rulers of at least the bottom half of the assured Western Conference playoff bracket. It feels like an eternity ago, but they triumphantly ended a 16-year playoff drought in 2023 and seemed well on pace to escape from a similar denial.
Alas for Sacramento ... but perhaps fortunate for anyone footing the electric bill that features the famous purple "beam" that illuminates the sky above Golden 1 Center ... the Kings haven't been back to the NBA Playoffs since and their current state rivals their position in some of the darkest days of the drought.
On paper, one could pin the blame on the injury bug. Keegan Murray endured a thumb injury during training camp and it all went downhill from there. Murray never shared the floor with Domantas Sabonis, who appeared in only 19 games. De'Andre Hunter lasted just two games before his early Sacramento tenure ended early due to ailments of his own. Devin Carter, Drew Eubanks, Zach LaVine, and more all played 42 games or fewer.
But the Kings' problems were deeper than that. It was bad enough that former head coach Mike Brown was made to be a scapegoat but watching him roll through the Eastern Conference playoffs with the New York Knicks has to sting after the way Doug Christie (who somewhat righted the Sacramento ship struggled to generate any consistency, particularly on the offensive end.
The Kings were so desperate for shooting help they signed Russell Westbrook shortly before the season tipped off. Even that didn't even do much to generate traction, as no one in the Association shot fewer threes than the Kings. Once the season reached its merciful early end, the Kings engaged in a little selling.
Sacramento finally pulled the plug on the Keon Ellis experiment and included the underwhelming Dennis Schröder with him after he struggled to live up to a $44 million multi-year deal. LaVine stuck around and posted some of the more languishing numbers of his career, failing to average at least 20 points a game for the first time in a season where he played at least 35 games since 2025-16.
Even the lottery tiebreaker process frowned upon the Kings: Sacramento tied for the fourth-worst record in the league with Utah but lost a coinflip that doomed it to the fifth spot.
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Top Silver Lining
How general manager Scott Perry navigates this draft and a financial minefield that is veteran front this offseason will likely come to write a good bit of his Sacramento memoir. His first draft, at the very least, managed to find some decent talents before and after the podium was raised.
Several young talents acquired before and after the draft managed to showcase their potential despite the veteran surplus: after an inspiring Summer League, primary pick Nique Clifford started to make a case for an expanded opportunity to end the year, notably averaging just under 20 points and shooting just over 49 percent from the field in his last five freshman showings. Second-round choice Maxine Raynaud became the first of his branding to average at least 12 points and seven boards while playing at least 70 games since Dino Radja. Dylan Cardwell was one of the best, if not the best, among the undrafted gems, shooting over 58 percent inside and picking up 67 blocks.
Sacramento has a lot to do when it comes to solving its contract crunches. It'll obviously take whatever it can get among the affordable deals.
Looking Ahead
One of the primary reasons why the draft lottery is a godsend of an endgame is that the Kings are somehow the third-oldest team in terms of minutes distribution yet put up a win total reminiscent of rebuilding young squads (h/t NBAAge.com). Say what you will about the Kings' recent endeavors, they've at least created the unusual sight of a lottery team dwelling above the second apron, and they could only dive deeper with a presumed top five pick coming in.
That places the Kings in a bit of a tough situation when it comes to adding players. LaVine and Sabonis alone are due over $90 million next season. Perry, having recently celebrated his one-year anniversary at the helm of California's capital, will likely have to ditch the reliable DeMar DeRozan to create some space.
If he goes, LaVine, Sabonis, and Malik Monk are all due three-figure extensions, which could make them lame ducks and prime trade bait at next year's deadline if they can't make the numbers crunch. They probably won't be took heartbroken if LaVine declined his $48.9 million, which allow them further flexibility for personal free agents like Eubanks and Precious Achiuwa.
Is There Hope?
It feels like there are a few more royal pains on the horizon, even with a potential difference-maker coming in through the draft.
Sacramento's playoff drought shouldn't reach 16 years again ... there's simply too many veteran contributors and too much movement in the bottom portions of the Western environment to view anything dire quite yet. But this needs to be a surefire, failsafe selection to at least get the progress ball rolling again. While they may be able to keep some of the familiar faces from the famous 2023 beamed run (keeping Sabonis would hardly be egregious), they need to get more assured building blocks for the road ahead.
Perry was able to coast by fairly undetected during his time in the same role with the Knicks thanks in part to more prominent management making moves with him. Left mostly in charge of own devices with the Kings, Perry has nowhere to hide on the opposite coast and he's running out of scapegoats beyond the obvious Christie.
Past Lottery Looks
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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