Three Most Disastrous Kings Lineups From Last Season

When it comes to the 2025-26 season for the Sacramento Kings, it's hard to figure out was the worst part of the season for the 22-win team that had dreams of making it back to the playoffs. They had talent, but it was known going into the season that the roster didn't fit together, and that quickly became the case as the season got underway.

Yesterday, I wrote about the Kings best lineups of the season, but today, we look at the Kings worst lineups from last year. Warning, it's not a pretty site.

According to NBA.com's lineup page, the Kings had 692 lineups that took the court last season, but many of those were for a minute or so throughout the flow of a single game. When looking at larger sample sizes, there were 22 five-man lineups that played at least 25 minutes together throughout the year, which allows for a decent sample size to start looking at stats and data.

Worst Lineup #1: -41.7 Net Rating

D. Schröder, K. Ellis, Z. LaVine, D. DeRozan, D. Sabonis | Minutes Played: 33

It's never a good thing when your worst lineup includes your three highest-paid players, making a combined $115 million. That's even more so the case when the net rating sits at a whopping -41.7. Safe to say, that makes this lineup an unmitigated disaster from start to finish, and sums up the Kings' season as a whole.

Dennis Schröder was supposed to be the steady point guard presence that this team needed, and Keon Ellis was supposed to be one of two franchise cornerstones to build around going forward. But instead, pairing them with the Kings' three All-Stars was a disaster, and both were traded at the deadline.

The good news is that's 0% chance of this lineup returning next season with two of the five players already out of Sacramento. And hopefully the front office is able to move off LaVine, DeRozan, or Sabonis this offseason as Perry retools the team.

Worst Lineup #2: -34.5 Net Rating

D. Schröder, Z. LaVine, D. DeRozan, P. Achiuwa, D. Sabonis | Minutes Played: 26

Nov 3, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Cam Johnson (23) drives to the net against Sacramento Kings guard Dennis Schroder (17) as forward Domantas Sabonis (11) and guard Zach LaVine (8) defend in the fourth quarter at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

If you want further proof that the starting lineup was doomed from the start of the year, four of the five starters appear in the second lineup as well. Schröder, LaVine, DeRozan, and Sabonis all double up in the bottom two lineups. Bringing in Achiuwa helped a little, but not enough to save this lineup.

The lack of shooting in this lineup stood out like a sore thumb, and that, along with defensive struggles, sank it from the get go.

Worst Lineup #3: -28.9 Net Rating

D. Carter, N. Clifford, D. Plowden, P. Achiuwa, M. Raynaud | Minutes Played: 80

Apr 5, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Daeqwon Plowden (left) shoots against LA Clippers guard Jordan Miller (22) during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

In yesterday's article, the Kings had a young lineup that was oh-so close to this one, swapping out Achiuwa for Dylan Cardwell. While they found success with those five, the opposite is true for this unit.

This looks like a lineup that should theoretically work on paper, but the three-point shooting isn't quite there to be able to keep up offensively. Plowden was able to up the Kings' volume from three, but even he finished the season shooting 33.3% from beyond the arc.

It's a good reminder that if the Kings want to get out of the NBA cellar next season, Scorr Perry is going to have to go after some serious three-point shooters in the offseason.

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