Kings Do Something Franchise Has Not Seen In 34 Years Amid Four-Game Skid

Since the Sacramento Kings moved to Northern California about 40 years ago, the franchise hasn’t seen much in terms of success. The early 2000s stretch and the playoff berth in 2023 are all this team has had to celebrate, and credit to the fans because it has been enough for them to keep showing up.

Whether knowingly or simply by basketball malpractice, ownership has taken advantage of the fan base and allowed some of the most inexplicable decisions to be made. Finally, Kings’ fans seem to have had enough, and Golden One Center looks as empty as it’s ever been. In a loss at home to the Atlanta Hawks, the Kings allowed 133 points, and the starting lineup looked completely disinterested in playing winning basketball. To add insult to injury, the Kings hit another milestone last night.

Per @ESPNInsights

The -105 point differential in the last 4 games is tied for the worst differential in a 4-game span in franchise history since Feb. 1991. https://t.co/Sr740tZrt6
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) November 13, 2025

How Did It Get THIS Bad?

As you can see from the post by ESPN’s Bobby Marks, the Kings have been getting blown out at will by whoever shows up on their schedule. It’s one thing for a rebuilding team playing a bunch of recent draft picks to struggle like this, but we’re talking about veterans with decades in the NBA who haven’t been showing up.

The Kings haven’t used the same starting lineup for all four games, but their two most used five-man lineups are a -27.5 and -34.6, respectively. The first lineup includes DeMar DeRozan, Dennis Schroder, Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, and Precious Achiuwa.

The second switches out Russell Westbrook for Achiuwa and Drew Eubanks for Sabonis. The point is, the most experienced players on the Kings have been their worst. There’s no avoiding the fact that the roster makes no sense, yet somehow the on-court product has been even worse than many of us imagined.

This, not the Luke Walton era, is the most depressing era of Kings’ basketball in my opinion. Sure, this is likely going to be a shorter stretch, and the team may still win more than 31 games, which is more than Walton. The issue I have is that fans are being forced to watch a bunch of veterans who are not in the team's long-term plans get blown out every single night instead of getting a glimpse of the future. At least the Walton-led teams had De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton, playing 30+ minutes a night of entertaining basketball.

Instead, the Kings are giving 30+ minutes a night to DeRozan, Sabonis, LaVine, and Schroder with nothing to show for it. Not only would it be more exciting to watch Nique Clifford, Keon Ellis, and others fly around the court, but it might actually lead to more wins. That's a testament to how bad things have been.

Is This the Breaking Point?

Nov 12, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach Doug Christie on the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

This is kind of a multi-faceted question, in my opinion. The first part of the question refers to ownership, and the front office finally jettisoning the idea of this current team into space. For that, I really do think that the answer is finally yes. From Vivek Ranadive’s facial expression courtside to Scott Perry and Alvin Gentry clearly trying to explain to him what is going so wrong, I think there is enough pressure (or embarrassment) to give Perry the green light.

Teams will still have to pick up the phone, and there’s no guarantee that trades will materialize, but I would be genuinely surprised if Perry hasn’t been given the go-ahead to try to shop all the veterans. It’s too early to make any sense of which GMs might be on the other line when Perry does make calls, but The Athletic’s Sam Amick spoke about the less-than-robust markets for the Kings’ veterans this morning on The Carmichael Dave Show.

“It takes two to tango, the market is I think going to be an issue for them.”

“The market is going to be an issue for them… I don’t think [Domantas Sabonis] has a robust market.”@sam_amick tells @CarmichaelDave & @JasonRoss1140 that it may be easier said than done for the Sacramento Kings to trade their veteran players: pic.twitter.com/uvq165pLsr
— Sactown Sports 1140 (@Sactown1140) November 13, 2025

Whether or not trades materialize in the near future, there is something the Kings can do now to get fans engaged again. The second part of the breaking point question is has Doug Christie seen enough when it comes to the veterans. Their top three players make up over 80% of their salary cap space and look completely lost when sharing the court together.

Schroder, who is making $15 million, is having one of his worst seasons as a professional after being the Kings’ biggest summer acquisition. Despite how things have gone, there are political challenges to benching the veterans, and I’m reluctant to believe that it will actually happen.

Former Alabama guard Keon Ellis put on a shooting clinic with the Sacramento Kings last night.

Ellis’ final stat line:
▫️20 PTS
▫️7/14 FG
▫️6/11 3PT
▫️1 AST
▫️2 STLS pic.twitter.com/ynQRKCJzq2
— Crimson Coverage (@CrimsonCoverage) November 13, 2025

Christie clearly saw enough last night when he substituted a completely new five midway through the third quarter, and seeing more of that is more likely than seeing Schroder or DeRozan coming off the bench. The young guys didn’t make much of a difference on the final score, but contrary to the starters, they were actually playing defense. Ellis had 20 points, Clifford continues to flash his potential, Devin Carter had some good moments, and Maxime Raynaud is trending in a positive direction on both ends.

Will the young guys play more? Most likely, but I’m hesitant to say how many minutes Christie will take from his starters. The Kings take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, and I’ll be watching to see how the rotation changes after this historically bleak stretch.

How Did It Get THIS Bad?

Is This the Breaking Point?

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