Based on the latest offseason grades, it appears the Sacramento Kings did not have a good offseason.
This offseason, the Sacramento Kings made a few moves, and with that, the hope is for this team to be able to progress and move forward as a much more competitive team in 2026.
While the Kings may have made some solid moves, it appears they may have had a disappointing offseason based on the latest offseason grades.
On that note, Bleacher Report NBA analyst Grant Hughes put together his offseason grades, and the Kings did not grade well, in fact, they received one of the worst grades in the entire NBA, as they received a D.
In terms of the bad moves, Hughes noted that guard Zach LaVine accepting his $49 million player option was out of Sacramento's control, but even so, it does not look good.
Additionally, the Kings have to pay the remaining $24.9 million to forward DeAndre Hunter on his deal, and Sacramento will also have center Domantas Sabonis making $94.1 million over the next two years, which is a tough place to be, especially with him not even fitting the Kings' timeline.
Other moves the Kings made this offseason include waiving guard DeMar DeRozan and salary dumping guard Devin Carter to try to make more cap space, but even with those moves, the contracts on this roster are just not great.
On the positive side, the Kings did draft guard Darius Acuff Jr. with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, so if he can progress throughout his rookie season and showcase his potential, he may have an opportunity to become a key piece of this franchise moving forward.
The Kings also did make a few solid signings as they signed guard Ben Simmons, forward Precious Achiuwa, and guard Elfrid Payton.
Simmons was signed to a one-year $3.5 million deal and Achiuwa was signed to a two-year $11.5 million deal which are both great value. Payton was signed to a training camp deal, so he will be competing for a final roster spot in training camp.
When looking at this roster, there is young talent, but there are several veterans on bad contracts, so it does put the Kings in a tough spot when it comes to trades, and in particular to acquire Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren who Sacramento has been in talks to acquire throughout the summer.
For the Kings to be able to acquire a player like Duren, they must trade Sabonis or LaVine to clear the necessary cap space they need to be able to sign Duren to the max contract it sounds like he is seeking. However, it will not be easy to trade LaVine with his contract, and then also with Sabonis; as per recent reports, he has negative trade value around the league.
With that understood, if the Kings can trade away LaVine or Sabonis, or potentially both and then acquire Duren, this offseason could be viewed as a success andf possibly put the Kings in a much better position to build around the young talent heading into 2026.
