NBA Insider Labels Sacramento Kings 'Hindenburg of NBA'

Why the Kings May Also Go Up in Flames

To be fair to the Kings, Lowe said this before they extended Keegan Murray. However, the Westbrook signing probably makes the Murray extension a moot point for Lowe and Simmons. Comparing the Kings to a rigid airship filled with extremely flammable helium feels about right to me.

On paper, the 2025 Sacramento Kings are filled with former All-Stars and talented pieces, but the combination of those players feels like it’s one spark away from completely exploding. Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan already had an unsuccessful run together with the Chicago Bulls, Russell Westbrook is 36 years old, and Dennis Schröder isn’t a starting-level player. On top of that, Murray is the only viable wing on the entire roster that features enough guards for two full NBA teams. 

To add injury to insult, Murray is now set to miss the beginning of the season after tearing the UCL ligament in his thumb. Murray’s impact doesn’t always show up in the stat sheet, but there’s an argument to be made that he’s the most important player in Sacramento. Ellis and Murray are the Kings’ best defenders by a long shot, and Murray is really the only player capable of defending the league’s best wings.

Without Murray, the Kings are forced to either go very small or turn to Dario Saric next to Sabonis and DeRozan. Neither option seems sustainable for the amount of time that Murray will be sidelined. If Sacramento doesn’t make a trade for a forward, this season might never get off the ground at all. 

How This Can Turn Into a Successful Voyage

Winning a championship isn’t a realistic goal for Sacramento right now, so success is going to be measured differently than it would be with other teams. Fans are just hoping that the Kings can win a playoff series for the first time since 2004, but even that feels far off right now.

The first step for Scott Perry and the Kings’ front office is re-balancing this roster, and that begins with the guard room. Schröder and LaVine are set as starters, Westbrook will likely be the backup point guard, and then the team still needs to find minutes for Ellis, Nique Clifford, Malik Monk, and Devin Carter.

Carter and Monk are good players, but they don’t make a ton of sense on this roster, and moving them should be the priority. Both were thrown around in trade talks over the summer, but now seems like the time to make something happen if the Kings want to stay afloat while Murray is hurt. 

The other option for Sacramento is focusing on youth and forgetting about wins and losses for the season. Having DeRozan and Schröder in the starting lineup may add a few more wins, but if it isn’t going to lead to the team making noise in the playoffs, then it makes sense to develop the younger members of the team.

The Kings have Ellis, Murray, Isaac Jones, Clifford, Maxime Raynaud, and Carter, who are all 25 years old or younger and need real NBA action to reach their full potential. With LaVine and DeRozan both on expiring deals next year, the future of the Kings belongs to Sabonis and the Kings’ youth, and the team needs to keep that in mind when deciding how to plan rotations for the season.

Even if the roster is set in stone for the year, getting 20+ minutes a game for Clifford, Ellis, and Jones at least sets up the team for the next chapter. 

Chances of a Soft Landing

It feels unlikely that the Kings will actually make the right decision to focus on the future, which makes a trade the only real possibility for salvaging the season. Despite all the questionable moves, it does feel like the Scott Perry and Doug Christie era has a level of seriousness that the previous regime lacked. My prediction is that this won’t end in a playoff berth, but we will see some significant roster moves that start to lay the groundwork for the next version of the Sacramento Kings.