Domantas Sabonis Becomes All-NBA Eligible: Will He Make It?

Since being traded to the Sacramento Kings in 2022, Domantas Sabonis has fought through injury to stay on the court. In the 2022-23 season, Sabonis fought through a fractured thumb to help push the Golden State Warriors to the brink of elimination. In his first two full seasons with the Kings, Sabonis played in 161 out of 164 possible games, including 82 out of 82 last year.

While the NBA’s new 65-game threshold for end-of-season awards made things challenging for many stars in the league, most wouldn’t have expected Sabonis to cut it so close.

After dealing with hamstring, ankle, and facial injuries, Domas reached the 65-game threshold with just three games remaining in the season.

79/82 pic.twitter.com/HENBt1fduw
— Domantas Sabonis (@Dsabonis11) April 8, 2025

Now that Sabonis is eligible for end-of-season awards, the question becomes: what’s his case this year?

Sabonis has made an All-NBA team each of the last two seasons, but one could argue this is the best statistical season he’s ever had. Domas is leading the league in rebounding and tied for the lead in double-doubles while shooting 40% from deep on more than twice his attempts per game from last year. The only measurable that hasn’t lived up to Sabonis’ previously high standard is his assist numbers, which might be a microcosm of a more systemic issue.

The Kings haven’t been the same offensively this year, and with DeMar DeRozan and Zach Lavine on the roster, Sabonis has handled the ball far less. Whether that’s the main issue for Sacramento or not remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: they haven’t been very good. While they will likely make the play-in tournament as the ninth seed, Sacramento still holds a losing record, and it would be hard to say they look like a playoff team right now.

All-NBA honors are not about team performance necessarily, however, if you’re neck and neck with guys on better teams, chances are that the other guy gets the spot. This season feels exactly like that situation for Domas.

With only 15 positionless spots up for grabs, Sabonis would be up against some names that are just as, if not more deserving, like Alperen Sengun, Karl Anthony-Towns, Steph Curry, Evan Mobley, Cade Cunningham, and Jaren Jackson Jr. In fact, CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn had Sabonis on a hypothetical fourth team.

“Great season, but on a team so much worse than Towns’, he has to miss the cut for now,” Quinn writes about Sabonis.

While it’s hard to argue against a center shooting 60% from the field and 40% from three while leading the league in rebounds and scoring at close to a career best rate, Sabonis’ defensive limitations and the Kings’ woeful season both make it tough to slot him over some of the other guys being mentioned.

Domantas Sabonis has the 3rd most triple-doubles by a center ever — trailing Jokic & Wilt. pic.twitter.com/udlKiHspHY
— Real Sports (@realapp_) April 8, 2025

My prediction is that Sabonis will just miss a third team slot with either Alperen Sengun or Karl Anthony Towns (or both) making the team. While it is positionless, those are the two guys that Domas likely has the best argument against due to the fact that they’re both offensive-minded bigs as well.

If the Kings and Rockets were closer in the standings, you could easily see Sabonis making the third team over Sengun, but Houston is the second seed, and Sacramento is in ninth. The same goes for Towns, who has the Knicks in third and is also scoring more and shooting better from deep than Sabonis.

As much as I would love to see Domas on one of the All-NBA teams, Sacramento’s current 39-40 record might be the nail in the coffin of his chances this season.

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