CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 29: DeMar DeRozan #10 of the Sacramento Kings, Zach LaVine #8 of the Sacramento Kings and Dennis Schroder #17 of the Sacramento Kings look on during the second half against the Chicago Bullson October 29, 2025 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Despite a strong season from Zach LaVine, the Sacramento Kings are seemingly going nowhere fast, with their direction still seen as a major unknown.
The organization, who last year acquired DeMar DeRozan, and have multiple non-spacers in their current rotation, is not only struggling on the court, but are stuck in the middle of nowhere, with very little chance of breaking out of mediocrity.
Inconsistent play
As they enter Friday, the team is 27th in the league in offense, in large part to a low volume of three-pointers, and poor efficiency from, well, everywhere.
They rank 15th in pace, which is almost an accomplishment given how many guys, like DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis, who aren’t highly athletic floor runners.
Their defense, somehow, ranks in the middle of the league, and that’s even more impressive considering their best defender – Keegan Murray – has yet to take the floor this season.
But despite defensive optimism, it’s just not enough to overcome a truly horrible offense, and a roster construction that – at best – is severely flawed, and lacks the necessary two-way players to make a real push towards the playoffs.
Is there a way to move forward this season, and turn the narrative around? Probably. This is the NBA after all, and teams find gimmicks all the time that help them squeeze out wins in the regular season.
Putting a larger emphasis on offensive execution, in particular by minimizing the roles of half-court oriented players, would be a start, but of course a bigger assist would be a trade that sheds them from DeRozan, and brings in a more fluid wing, who doesn’t need the ball all that much to be effective.
How’s the trade market looking?
For the Kings, they don’t have a plethora of options as we speak. They could make Sabonis and LaVine available, but that would surely be a sign of a full teardown – which is an idea that shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.
Unfortunately for Sacramento, most teams that are looking to pivot to such an extent will need blue chip prospects to justify such a detour, which will last years.
Quite simply, they do not have that. Some will point to Murray, who just signed a five-year extension worth $140 million as a player in that camp, but he’s already 25 and about to enter his prime.
This brings us back to the overarching question: What are the Kings doing? Do they even know? There is zero transparency behind their moves over the past year, and whatever logic they’ve applied seem broken, or inconsistent.
We’ll see if they come up with something before the trade deadline in February, because the need for change has become dramatic.
Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.