ESPN Drops Shocking Prediction for Kings' 2024-25 Season

NBA pundits predict the Sacramento Kings will take a step back in their 2024-25 NBA season preview.

Oct 15, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (11) reacts to a play against the Utah Jazz during the third quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images / Rob Gray-Imagn Images

By most accounts, it has been an excellent offseason for the Sacramento Kings. Not only did they draft promising point guard Devin Carter out of Providence, they also re-signed Sixth Man of the Year Runner-Up Malik Monk to a four-year deal and replaced Harrison Barnes with six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan. The Kings also re-signed 2023 Coach of the Year Mike Brown to an extension. 

While Kings fans are optimistic that the Kings can improve on their 46 wins from last season and make a return to the postseason, not everyone has such high expectations. 

ESPN released their NBA 2024-25 Preview on Monday, and they do not share the same optimism as fans in Sacramento. ESPN has the Kings as the 17th-best team in the NBA, predicting 42.5 wins and giving them a coin-flip chance, 54.1 percent, to make the playoffs. 

While having mostly positive things to say about the Kings, they did point out the Kings’ lack of size as a major weakness: 

“The Kings are primed to have a high-powered offense. DeRozan gives the team another player who can score 25 points a night and perform in the clutch, while taking some pressure off of De'Aaron Fox. Putting DeRozan next to Domantas Sabonis will allow them to continue to use dribble handoffs, deploy pick-and-rolls and score in transition -- several big parts of their offense the past two seasons, which they hope will help integrate DeRozan. One weakness Sacramento is facing is its lack of size. The Kings have struggled against longer and bigger teams, and they didn't address that over the offseason. If they plan to play players such as DeRozan or Kevin Huerter at small forward, they will have to rely even more heavily on their offense to just outscore their opponent.” -- Kendra Andrews, ESPN 

With the Kings’ season beginning Thursday at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves, clearly, opinions are divided on how good this team will be.

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