Basketball is back. Sacramento Kings set to open 2025-26 training camp

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It’s go time.

The summer of change is finally over and it’s time for basketball to begin in earnest. It all starts Monday morning when the Kings host their annual Media Day at the team’s practice facility adjacent to Golden 1 Center. Training camp starts on Tuesday and the sprint to opening begins. 

There are plenty of new faces in Sacramento, although the core rotation isn’t all that different from the group that finished last season 40-42, despite attempts by new General Manager Scott Perry to reshape the squad. 

Doug Christie earned the head coaching job after finishing last season with a 27-24 record as an interim following the departure of Mike Brown. With the aid of Perry and new assistant GM B.J. Armstrong, Christie has rebuilt his coaching staff, adding veteran assistants Mike Woodson, Bobby Jackson, Mike Miller and Chris Darnell to holdovers Leandro Barbosa, Dip Mistry and Jimmy Alapag. 

Here is what you need to know as basketball returns.

They’re Back…

Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray, Malik Monk and Keon Ellis headline a group of players who made up the core of the Kings’ rotation to end last season. This group is joined by holdovers Doug McDermott, Isaac Jones, Devin Carter and Terence Davis, who all made appearances for Sacramento last season.

The New Guys

Dennis Schröder (3-year, $44.4 million with a team option for year three), Dario Saric (1-year, $5.4M), Drew Eubanks (1-year, $2.3 million), Nique Clifford (4-year, $15.8 million), Maxime Raynaud (3-year, $5.9 million)

Schröder is the key offensive addition this summer for Perry and his front office. The veteran point guard is playing for his tenth NBA team, including his sixth team since the start of the 2023-24 season. 

The 32-year-old German national is fresh off a sparkling run in EuroBasket where he led his home country to a first place finish and MVP honors. He’s a good point of attack defender and solid game manager from the lead guard position.  

Saric played just 16 games last season for the Denver Nuggets due to injury and opportunity. He put up the worst numbers of his career, and at 31 his best NBA days are likely behind him. The Kings lack depth and experience at the back-up power forward spot, which could open the door for Saric to see the court, but nothing is guaranteed, except the $5.4 million remaining on his contract. The deadline to waive and stretch provision Saric has already come and gone, taking away any incentive for the team to move on from him in the buildup to the season. If he can’t earn a rotational spot, there is a chance for Perry to use his salary in a trade down the road. 

Sacramento finished last season with the Lithuanian twin towers of Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas at the center position. The team sent Valanciunas to Denver in a cash saving swap to acquire Saric and then used some of the savings to ink Eubanks.

Eubanks doesn’t have the resumé or sheer size of Valanciunas, but his ability to play a role and do the dirty work has kept him in the league for the last seven seasons. The 28-year-old plays hard and can help the second unit push the tempo. He’s also on a budget one-year contract in case Raynaud develops ahead of schedule. 

The Kings made a trade on draft night to acquire the No. 24 overall pick where they selected Clifford out of Colorado State. A five-year college player, Clifford comes into the league with an NBA-ready body and if his summer league stint was any indicator, the Kings may have found a diamond in the rough.

If Clifford can bring the same defensive versatility and well-rounded game he showed in Fort Collins or in Las Vegas, there is a shot he opens the season in the rotation as the back-up small forward. 

Like Clifford, Raynaud made an impact in Vegas and there is a buzz surrounding him heading into camp. The 7-foot-1 center out of Stanford put up 20.2 points and 10.6 rebounds per game in his final season at Stanford before tumbling to pick No. 42 in the 2025 draft.

The skill set is intriguing, but Raynaud will need to get stronger and learn the ropes if he hopes to avoid spending most of his rookie season with the Stockton Kings of the G League. There is an outline of a player that can stretch the defense and maybe even play alongside Sabonis for stretches.

The Hopefuls

Terence Davis (Exhibit 10), Isaiah Stevens (two-way contract), Dylan Cardwell (two-way contract), Daeqwon Plowden (two-way contract)

The Kings brought Davis back at the end of last season and he even made an appearance in the finale. He spent the summer under contract with Sacramento before being waived a few weeks back. Davis signed back with the Kings again on September 23, this time with an Exhibit 10 distinction. 

If you are confused, there is a method to the madness. By signing Davis back with an Exhibit 10, the team can offer up to a $85,300 signing bonus that gets paid out if he is cut by the parent club and then spends 60 days with the G League affiliate. The current salary for a G League player is just over $40,000 for the season, so this bonus money matters.

Davis will vie for the final roster spot, but the squad is filled with players who can play the shooting guard and small forward positions. A year and a half removed from an Achilles tear, Davis is fully healthy and ready to compete. Whether he can move the needle enough to earn a standard roster spot will likely come down to the health of the team coming out of camp.

The Kings cycled through their three two-way players from last season, with Isaac Jones joining the main roster, Isaiah Crawford leaving for the Houston Rockets and Mason Jones aging out of the two-way program. Perry replaced this trio with Stevens, Cardwell and Plowden. 

Both Stevens and Plowden played on two-way contracts last season with Stevens suiting up for three games with the Miami Heat and Plowden seeing action in six games for the Atlanta Hawks. 

Stevens played well in the G League last season, averaging 12.3 points and 8.1 assists per game. He’s a former college teammate of Nique Clifford at Colorado State and could act as the team’s third point guard in a pinch. 

Plowden turned heads with his hustle and defense during Summer League and he posted 15.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game at the G League level last season. He has the physical tools to be a solid defender, but likely needs more time at the lower level.

Cardwell is a defensive specialist who plays with a crazy motor and a mean streak. He’ll need time to develop, but there is an outline of a rim running center with plus defense. Add Cardwell to the list of undrafted free agents the Kings have gambled on over the last few years. 

Where the roster stands

As of Sunday morning, the Kings’ roster was heading toward the league maximum of 21 players (15 standard roster, 3 two-way contracts, 3 extra camp roster spots). They had signed Jameer Nelson Jr. and Jaylin Williams to Exhibit 10 contracts, and a league source also has the team adding Daniel Batcho, an undrafted big man out of LSU.

The Stockton Kings already acquired both Nelson Jr.’s and Williams’ returning player rights, making their transfer to the G League seamless. Batcho spent time with the Kings during Summer League and clearly made an impression. 

By Sunday evening, the Kings had already waived both Nelson Jr. and Williams and there is nothing new to report yet on Batcho. This is all part of preseason roster maneuvering, but the team now stands at either 18 or 19 players heading into camp.