We continue to hear the narrative around ‘defense’ for the Sacramento Kings as they head into the 2026-27 season, and rightfully so. They’ve struggled on that end for years, just drafted one of the worst defensive prospects in the draft in Darius Acuff Jr, and look like they are going to be bringing back two known poor defenders in Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis for at least the start of the season. That doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence that they’ll be able to right the ship defensively.
But it’s also important to remember that the Kings were terrible on both ends of the court last season, not just on the defensive side. They finished with the third-worst defense in the league, but also the fifth-worst offense. It’s no wonder they won just 22 games as that equaled out to the third-worst advanced net rating in the association.
And it leaves room for improvement on both ends of the court as the Kings continue their rebuild. But which side of the court will they improve most on this upcoming season?
The Case For Offense
While Acuff may have defensive concerns, there’s no denying why he was the seventh overall pick in a loaded draft. He can put the ball in the basket with the best of them, and even with his lower efficiency in Summer League, he showed his poise and skill on offense throughout the exhibition season.
Pairing him with a pick-and-roll partner in Sabonis and shooters like LaVine and Keegan Murray (theoretical shooter?) could skyrocket the Kings’ offensive firepower. That, along with moving on from DeMar DeRozan’s mid-range game and leaning into the three-point shot more, could do wonders for the Kings’ offense.
It’s easy to see the Kings become a high-scoring team consistently in games that approach the 130+ point range for both teams as their defense struggles to keep up with their offense.
The Case For Defense
While Acuff is the prize acquisition of the offseason, it’s important to note that the rest of the players that GM Scott Perry has brought in all lean heavily on the defensive side of the ball. Some of them, like Emanuel Sharp with his 3-and-D skills, are going to help on both ends of the court, but it’s safe to say that defense is going to be how Sharp gets on the court.
There’s also no guarantee that LaVine and Sabonis, two of the Kings best offensive players, finish the year in Sacramento. And even if they do, how much are they going to be in the rotation down the stretch if the priority shifts to the young players.
It’s also going to take time for everyone to gel offensively. The same can be said for defense, but if the focus is going to be a defense-first team, we could see all the hard work go into building that identity more this season. Between Dylan Cardwell, Murray, Nique Clifford, Sharpe, De’Andre Hunter, Daeqwon Plowden, and Precious Achiuwa, the Kings have surrounded their stars with defensive-minded role players that could lead the charge on that end.
The Consensus
It’s so tempting to take the easy way out and say the offense will be better than the defense, but the offseason is a time and place for wild predictions. So let’s have some fun and guess that the Kings defense will surprise everyone and help lead them to wins more than a high-powered offense.
There are going to be a lot of questions around Acuff and his defense, but it’s hard to ignore all the other work Perry and Doug Christie are doing to improve on that end of the court.
Final Predictions: Offensive Rating Rank – 24th, Defensive Rating Rank – 19th
Feel free to come back to this and tell me how wrong I was, because I already feel wrong writing those down at all…
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