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Russell Westbrook Unlikely to Join Sacramento Kings After Recent Report

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | Last updated Jul 2, 2025 11:48 AM ET

The Sacramento Kings are an interesting team heading into next season.

They lack any real direction. They've got "star" talents with Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis leading the way. Malik Monk and now Dennis Schroder support the core as win-now talents, too.

Yet, on paper, the Kings are just average. They aren't a strong team with the threat of making a deep playoff run. They also aren't a young, rebuilding team with a bright future.

In short, Sacramento is in the NBA purgatory, where they are too good to get high-level draft picks and not strong enough to make any postseason noise.

The franchise aimed to move Malik Monk and continue shifting their roster around, while signing free agent guard Russell Westbrook to bolster the depth chart again.

While it seemed the Kings would be able to add both Schroder and Westbrook -- former teammates with the Oklahoma City Thunder -- that no longer seems to be the case.

Chris Haynes reports that it's now unlikely Westbrook will sign with the Kings, meaning he will look to join another squad as an unrestricted free agent.

The main reason they won't be adding Westbrook is that they couldn't move Monk in a trade. Their guard position is quite full right now, and adding a player like Westbrook, simply put, doesn't make sense.

Russell Westbrook is unlikely to end up in Sacramento after the Kings were unable to find a landing spot for Malik Monk, per @ChrisBHaynes pic.twitter.com/9PfFmjqYnu
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 2, 2025

This past season, the former MVP-winning guard played for the Denver Nuggets, where he made a winning impact alongside Nikola Jokic.

While he doesn't pop in the box score like he used to, or use his once-elite athleticism as the focal point of his game, Westbrook has an unmatched energy on the hardwood.

There is still a spot for Westbrook in the NBA, even if it isn't with the Kings.

Sacramento, on the other hand, might be more set in stone with the roster in place after being unable to move Monk.

If the Kings have a long-term vision as an organization, it's not a clear one, with or without Westbrook signing an offseason deal with them.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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