Five key Kings games to watch during 2025-26 NBA season – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

Kings basketball is back. Well, almost.

The schedule for the upcoming 2025-26 NBA season officially has been revealed, with several intriguing storylines surrounding Sacramento.

The Kings finished as the Western Conference’s No. 9 seed last season with a 40-42 record, and a play-in loss to the Dallas Mavericks ended their season early and, more than anything, left a bad taste in their mouths.

Moments after the ugly loss, then-general manager Monte McNair and the Kings mutually agreed to part ways. The next day, Scott Perry was hired to clean up the mess alongside new assistant GM B.J. Armstrong.

Doug Christie officially had his interim tag removed and was named the coach of the Kings. He did a decent job after taking over for fired Mike Brown last season, but the real test begins in his first full campaign calling all the shots.

A new front office. A new-ish coach and coaching staff. New rookies. New starting point guard. New players, which means new training camp battles.

It will take some time to adjust to all the new, but when the ball gets rolling for Sacramento, there certainly is no shortage of interesting matchups along the way.

Here are five key Kings games to watch during the upcoming season:

at Suns (season opener) 

Wednesday, Oct. 22 at PHX Arena

This likely wouldn’t have made the list if it fell on any other date.

But because it’s the 2025-26 NBA season opener, it’s only right that this is a key game to watch. Not necessarily because of the matchup, but more to gauge where the Kings are at and how a jumbled roster on paper looks in person.

The Kings won’t face the star-studded Suns, as Kevin Durant was traded to the Houston Rockets and Bradley Beal was shipped to the Los Angeles Clippers this offseason. Devin Booker still runs the show in Phoenix, alongside new teammates Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, who were part of the Rockets trade.

Both teams have plenty of question marks to answer.

The first item on Perry’s long offseason to-do list included finding a starting point guard to fill the void left by De’Aaron Fox in February. That appears to have been checked off when Sacramento acquired veteran point guard Dennis Schröder in a sign-and-trade deal with the Detroit Pistons.

Russell Westbrook still is an option for the Kings, who likely would run the offense with the second group off the bench.

So, the projected starting lineup for the new season is Schröder, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis. Malik Monk and Keon Ellis are expected to be the first two players to come off the bench for Sacramento.

Kings rookie Nique Clifford turned heads during summer league and should find some minutes regularly off the bench.

But Sacramento still hasn’t addressed the wing position that has haunted it for years, as the depth issues partially have impacted Keegan Murray’s growth. Jonathan Kuminga once appeared to be the simple solution, but that hasn’t been the case this offseason throughout his complicated restricted free agency.

Another question that doesn’t have a clear answer as of now is who is Sabonis’ backup? The Kings traded Jonas Valančiūnas to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Dario Šarić. Valančiūnas played the backup role well for Sacramento, averaging 8.7 points on 55.6-percent shooting, with 7.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 16.9 minutes over 32 games (nine starts).

Currently, the Kings have Isaac Jones and rookies Maxime Raynaud and Dyland Cardwell on their big man depth chart. Newly acquired Drew Eubanks and Šarić also can play the center role, along with veteran unrestricted free agent Trey Lyles if he re-signs with the Kings.

Of course, training camp will help sort out the competition at all positions. But Game 1 of 82 also will be a good indication of the direction this team is headed.

vs. Spurs 

March 17, 2026, at Golden 1 Center

Despite 7-foot-3 phenom Victor Wembanyama gracing Sacramento with his presence for the first time next season and the first time since early December 2024, there is another, somehow larger, reason all eyes will be on this particular matchup.

That comes in the form of Sacramento’s 2017 first-round draft pick, De’Aaron Fox. For seven years, Fox was the King of Sacramento and, after the Kings traded Tyrese Haliburton to Indiana in 2022, was believed to be the franchise point guard for years and years to come.

But after years of continued mediocracy, including a historic playoff appearance that didn’t lead to any sustained success, a divorce was imminent. The Kings shipped Fox to the Spurs at last year’s trade deadline in a multi-team deal that landed two-time NBA All-Star Zach LaVine in Sacramento.

And while Fox already has made his return to Sacramento since the trade on March 7, it might take years for the city of Sacramento and its fans to adjust to seeing Fox in a jersey that’s not the Kings. That jersey likely will be the Spurs for years to come after Fox agreed to a reported four-year, $229 million maximum contract extension with San Antonio earlier this month.

Plus, it will be the first time both Fox and Wembanyama take the Golden 1 Center floor as teammates.

Fox said it felt good to rip the band-aid off after playing his first game as a Spur against the Kings. 

“Yeah, definitely,” Fox said on March 7. “I hope I play 10-plus more years, so I’ll be back. I’ll be here. So it’s definitely good to get the first one out the way.”

The 27-year-old point guard finished that game with 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting, with four rebounds, eight assists and one steal in 33 minutes. Sacramento won 127-109.

“I’m glad the first one is over with because now I feel like it probably won’t be as anticipated anymore,” Fox said afterward. “But next time, I’m hoping for a better game for us.”

vs. Warriors (all four matchups, really)

Nov. 5, 2025, at Golden 1 Center
Jan. 9, 2026, at Chase Center
April 7, 2026, at Chase Center
April 10, 2026, at Golden 1 Center

No matter how much players from both sides try to deny the rivalry brewing between the Kings and Warriors, no one can downplay how intense the competition is when the two teams come face to face.

It doesn’t matter when, it doesn’t matter where, but any time the Kings and Warriors play each other, the barking gets louder and the claws get sharper. It hasn’t always been that way, though, but things have only intensified since their first-round meeting in the 2023 NBA playoffs, when Sacramento took the then-defending champs to seven games but fell short courtesy of a Steph Curry 50-point masterclass.

Since that point, the teams have split their eight regular-season matchups with four wins apiece over the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. None of those games disappointed. And this rivalry that’s not a rivalry but clearly is a rivalry will have a midweek game in November feel like a playoff game in April.

While the Curry versus Fox matchups only got more and more fun to watch, that’s a thing of the past as Fox no longer is on the Kings. While there isn’t a particular matchup key to the outcome, there also is the storied feud between Kings big man Domantas Sabonis and Draymond Green.

Newer wrinkles added to the mix include a heated exchange with Steve Kerr and Doug Christie after Green set a rough screen on Ellis during their first matchup of the 2024-25 season. 

And, maybe to a lesser extent, Sacramento’s addition of Schröder, who spent about seven weeks with Golden State before being shipped to his third team of the season last year, could provide yet another interesting storyline to a book that doesn’t lack them.

Not to mention the Kuminga saga, as the Kings have shown significant interest in the Warriors wing this offseason, with the brass even having a good meeting with Kuminga last month. However, Golden State hasn’t been moved by Sacramento’s offers, and all signs point to Kuminga returning to the Warriors next season.

Who knows what this season will bring to the NorCal rivalry?

vs. Mavericks 

Dec. 27 at Golden 1 Center

The Kings will have their hands full when they come across the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft for the first time.

Cooper Flagg, who had one of the best freshman seasons in college basketball history with Duke this past season, and the Mavericks will come to Sacramento for a late Christmas treat on Dec. 27.

Flagg lived up to his sky-high expectations in his one season with the Blue Devils, averaging 19.2 points on 48.1 percent shooting, with 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 30.7 minutes through 37 games.

Aside from it being the 18-year-old’s first game against the Kings, a taste for vengeance might also be a factor leading into this matchup.

The Kings still have a bad taste in their mouths with how their 2024-25 season ended, when the Mavericks came into town and embarrassed them on their home floor in the NBA play-in tournament.

Dallas led by as many as 26 points and had a 22-point advantage when Sacramento waved the white flag and pulled its starters. The Mavericks won 120-106 and advanced to the second play-in game but lost to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Anthony Davis led the way for Dallas with 27 points in just his 10th game with the team. Klay Thompson made five 3-pointers and finished with 23 points, and P.J. Washington added 17.

Thompson’s showing was his own kind of revenge, since the last time he faced the Kings in a postseason matchup was when he went scoreless in a 2024 play-in loss when he was a member of the Warriors. The sharpshooter went 0 of 10 from the field and 0 of 6 from 3-point land in the 118-94 loss that ended Golden State’s season.

But Thompson bounced back in his next postseason appearance against Sacramento, adding to his long-time success against the franchise, which includes an NBA-record 37-point quarter against the Kings back in 2015.

Now, though, it might be time for the Kings to seek their revenge.

vs. Lakers (all four matchups)

Oct. 26, 2025, at Golden 1 Center
Dec. 28, 2025, at Crypto.com Arena
Jan. 12, 2026, at Golden 1 Center
March 1, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena

This one goes without saying, right?

Any time the Lakers are on the schedule, all of Sacramento will be watching.

The rivalry dates back decades, when the two teams battled in the 2002 Western Conference finals. The series went to a Game 7, when the Lakers ultimately defeated the Kings. The matchup between the Kings and Lakers still is regarded to this day as one of the most controversial playoff series in league history, as there was widespread criticism of the officiating favoring Los Angeles, particularly in Game 6.

The Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals and swept the Nets to secure the 13th of their 16 championship titles.

That was more than 20 years ago, yet it still stings Kings fans as Sacramento hasn’t made it to the conference finals since.

The Kings dominated the season series against the Lakers two seasons ago, sweeping all four matchups in 2023-24. But Los Angeles returned the favor last season, winning all four of its games against Sacramento in 2024-25.

Plus, any game against four-time NBA MVP LeBron James is automatic must-see TV — especially after James made his NBA debut on Oct. 29, 2003, in Sacramento. And it will be the first time James’ new partner-in-crime, Luka Dončić, will face the Kings since the league-shattering blockbuster trade that sent him to the Lakers last season.

Did we mention that Dončić loves to play against the Kings ever since they infamously passed on him in the 2018 NBA Draft? Even years later, Dončić won’t let it go, even recently directing taunts and comments toward former Kings general manager Vlade Divac during a visit to Sacramento.