An NBA writer's power ranking places the Kings surprisingly low in their deliberate tank, questioning their true intentions for draft lottery dominance.
As the Sacramento Kings continue to trudge through the 2025-26 NBA season, one thing has become clear -- This franchise is one of the 10-plus actively tanking for a chance at the No. 1 pick in a loaded 2026 NBA Draft.
3-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis and 2-time All-Star Zach LaVine have been ruled out for the rest of the campaign, along with recent trade acquisition De'Andre Hunter, and the 'Young Kings' (Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud, Dylan Cardwell, Devin Carter) have taken over.
For a desperate organization expediting the tank process through the development of top prospects under the guidance of wise veterans, many would believe that their sense of urgency would be at an all-time high heading towards this season's conclusion.
According to Yahoo Sports' Tom Haberstroh, that's not the case. In fact, he believes that five teams are ahead of the Kings on his tanking 'Power Rankings,' a surprising placement considering the franchise's scarcity of recent playoff appearances or franchise-defining talents.
"Are they tanking or are they just epically bad?" Haberstroh wrote.
"Who knows?"
"The team announced both Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis will miss the remainder of the season with injuries, which will certainly help efforts to be the Kings of the Tank."
"The presence of DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook could interfere with their nosedive, but it hasn’t really slowed down their unrelenting march to No. 1 on the reverse standings."
Haberstroh constructed his list of the 11 most 'Tanktastic' NBA teams this season while considering a variety of factors, such as draft incentive, the franchise's tanking track record, the roster's health, number of young prospects and 'Tankerific' roster.
In that case, does it truly make any sense that the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards all rank higher than Sacramento on a list about tanking in the year 2026?
Simply put, no.
In Dallas' case, the sense of urgency has been toned down a ton since their unpredictable 2025 draft lottery win and addition of Rookie of the Year frontrunner Cooper Flagg with the first pick in the subsequent draft.
As for Utah, they've constructed a roster filled with enough rising and established stars to the point that they've actually attempted to win games this season, especially after their blockbuster trade acquisition of 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr.
Granted, Jackson Jr. only saw the floor three times with Utah before undergoing surgery and being sidelined for the rest of the way.
Even Brooklyn has no right to be in these conversations after landing and actively developing all five of their first round draft pick rookies.
Add in the fact that they've still been linked to Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo in trade rumors due to their sheer amount of assets, and their case to be above the Kings on this particular list holds no weight.
In all, it's hard to believe that a 36-year-old DeMar DeRozan and 37-year-old Russell Westbrook will knock the Kings off course with regard to their lottery luck.
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