Kings Make NBA Draft Misstep as Season Nears End

For weeks, the Sacramento Kings held onto the top 2026 NBA Draft odds, spurred by the worst record in basketball.

It was a long time coming for Sacramento, who entered the season without draft aspirations. They seemingly owned one of the middling rosters in the NBA. One that, by injuries and more, instead offered them hope for the future in the form of the draft.

Over the last week, the Kings have taken a misstep, quickly losing out on the best overall odds and plummeting to the fourth-best.

Over their last 10 games, Sacramento is 5-5, with wins over the Bulls, Pacers, Clippers and Jazz. Unlike some of those teams, the Kings came across their bad record completely organically, and it ended up in being the difference between grabbing some crucial losses.

The most tangible action the Kings could’ve taken is sitting veteran scorer DeMar DeRozan, who’s seen his best stretch of basketball of the season of late.

Why is nobody talking about DeMar DeRozan?? pic.twitter.com/WV6Mqn24rb
— Real App (@realapp) March 16, 2026

DeRozan wouldn’t play against the Bulls, but scored 27 points in the nine-point win over LA, and a whopping 41 in a close win over Utah. Against Utah, he also tacked on 11 assists and three steals, likely seeing his game of the season against a team that is also positioning itself for the draft, and is now closing in.

While keeping a player from the rotation can be looked on less favorably, it's ultimately far more worth it to do so with names such as Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer on the table.

While the hope is that the Kings can get back on track, the reality is that they’ve likely lost an opportunity. The teams now ahead of them — Indiana, Washington and Brooklyn — have been taking those draft precautions for weeks now, months in some cases.

While the difference in the best and fourth-best odds doesn't sound monumental, it can be when the lottery balls start pinging. Weeks ago, Sacramento had a shared 14% chance at the top pick, but more important no chance to fall below No. 5. In a class offering three No. 1-level talents and Caleb Wilson, though were phenomenal odds.

Now, Sacramento has a slim chance to fall all the way down to No. 8, with the highest percent chance to land at No. 6.

The Kings are tied with the Nets, but have little hope of catching Indiana, who stands with a 2.5-game lead and all the reason to continue rolling out a bad product, given their pick has an essential 50-50 chance at landing with LA even given the best odds.

For now, the Kings will continue to roll through the 2025-26 season, hopefully being more mindful of their future, for fans sake.