Sacramento is earning some first quarter grades, and received a harsh one from a national outlet.
The "basement floor" is where the Sacramento Kings plateaued to in starting off December.
Grades during the first quarter of the NBA season are trickling in -- and Sacramento received a not-so-settling description. All amid the Kings' 5-16 start through the first 20-21 games of the 2025-26 season.
The Athletic handed the Kings "basement floor" label -- earning the second-lowest ranking among Western Conference teams at No. 27 overall. Here's why Law Murray of the national outlet handed them the low ranking.
"Dennis Schröder was brought in on a three-year contract to be the starting point guard on a team that once had De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton and Davion Mitchell on the roster at the same time, only for Schröder to lose the starting job to an 18-year veteran signed at the end of the preseason," Murray wrote.
He cites Russell Westbrook as a highlight despite the porous record.
"Individually, Westbrook has been fine, but the point guard indecision is one of the factors in what has been the worst 20-game start for the Kings in 15 years," Murray wrote.
Murray and The Athletic got handed a 109.1 offensive rating too, plus 119.5 rating on the defensive side.
Murray, though, points out how the Kings literally blew up their roster before the arrival of Scott Perry as general manager and Doug Christie as head coach. The team failed to keep Haliburton -- who's since become one of the faces of the league and took the Indiana Pacers to the Eastern Conference title after parting ways with the Kings in 2022.
Sacramento also drafted Fox during the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft at No. 5 overall. Fox lasted until the 2025 season before eventually finding his way to the San Antonio Spurs.
Mitchell was another top 10 pick for the Kings during the 2021 draft out of Baylor. But he's another who drifted off -- landing with the Toronto Raptors and then the Miami Heat.
Only the New Orleans Pelicans ranked lower among Western Conference teams at No. 28. N.O holds an even worse record right now at 3-18 overall.
Sacramento has currently lost three in a row, along with going 2-10 in its last 12 games. The Kings have endured four different losing streaks this season to kickoff the NBA season.
The Kings will travel to Texas and take on the Houston Rockets next on Wednesday. Houston ranks No. 4 overall in The Athletic rankings.