Sacramento Kings Will be Hard to Catch in Race for 2026 Draft Picks

As of the All-Star break, the Sacramento Kings sit with the worst record in the league, and will be hard to catch in the race for the 2026 NBA Draft’s top picks.

The upcoming draft is shaping up to be one of the better in some time, with a potentially record number of teams joining in on the hunt. A number of teams, such as Washington, Indiana, New Orleans and more, have lived in the loss column most of the season, but teams such as Utah, Dallas, Memphis and more could be joining those ranks soon enough.

Still, at just 12-44 on the season, Sacramento is going to be a hard team to contend with in terms of the top odds. Their secret being, they’re just naturally a lesser roster.

Some teams have had to position themselves strategically to lose games. The Kings, losers of 14 games straight, came into the season with postseason aspirations, but have instead opted for a youth movement halfway through.

Leaning into players like Maxime Raynaud and Nique Clifford won’t afford them wins this season, but will instead bolster draft odds, and give the rookies some trial by fire experience.

BREAKING: Sacramento Kings guard Zach LaVine will undergo season-ending surgery on his right hand after the All-Star break, league sources tell me. He averaged 19.2 points, shot 48 percent from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc. pic.twitter.com/uph3thRMSD
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 14, 2026

Washington, New Orleans, Indiana and Brooklyn are all hot on Sacramento’s heels with just 14 or 15 wins, but still aren’t positioned to lose at the rate Sacramento currently is.

Grabbing the best available odds is obviously the best path forward for Sacramento. Their current project hasn’t worked out, and moving into the future with young talent could infuse the team with excitement.

Simply grabbing the best odds won’t guarantee the first pick, though. In fact, even getting the top odds would give the Kings just a shared 14% chance at landing No. 1. The much more likely scenario would be Sacramento slipping to No. 5 with a 48% chance.

The good news is that in the 2026 NBA Draft specifically, any choice in the top-five would be well worth it for Sacramento.

Players such as Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and AJ Dybantsa are likely to make up the top three, and would all likely be worthy starting points for the team’s rebuild. North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson and Houston’s Kingston Flemings sit at No. 4 and 5 for most pundits, and would be elite as far as consolation prizes go.

Sacramento does have the second easiest strength of schedule remaining, but should be positioned to grab an elite talent at the draft for the first time in years.