The Sacramento Kings traded two star-level point guards in the past three years. Unsurprisingly, both teams, the Kings, who made trades with the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers, are in a better spot than Sacramento, especially at the point guard position.
The Spurs just extended De'Aaron Fox to a four-year, $228-million contract. Fox will be playing alongside reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper. This gives San Antonio a loaded point guard core to complement Victor Wembanyama.
Some have even suggested that the Spurs have too many point guards and will eventually have to trade one of them. The Kings would love to have this "problem" of too many good point guards, as in the worst-case scenario, it offers the franchise significant flexibility.
BREAKING: San Antonio Spurs star De'Aaron Fox has agreed to a four-year, $229 million maximum contract extension with the franchise, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told ESPN. The max deal secures Fox's future in San Antonio through the 2029-30 season. pic.twitter.com/vvCdMExAbt
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 4, 2025
While Tyrese Haliburton will be sidelined with an Achilles injury this upcoming season, the Pacers are coming off an NBA Finals run led by Haliburton. With Andrew Nembhard and TJ McConnell, the Pacers are well-equipped to maintain some level of success without Halibuton. When Haliburton is healthy, the Pacers have one of the league's best point guard cores.
Conversely, the Kings are left with Dennis Schröder as their starting point guard and are reportedly considering trading Malik Monk and/or Devin Carter to sign an aging Russell Westbrook. Frankly, any of the Spurs or Pacers point guards are more impactful than Schröder.
The Kings' past mistakes put them in this spot
It's hard for the Kings not to be haunted by their mistakes, especially given how well-positioned the other franchises are. On one hand, trading Fox had to be done since he requested trade. Still, Fox's trade request was in part due to the Kings' poor decision-making. Trading Haliburton in his second season for Domantas Sabonis is an unforgivable mistake, however.
The Kings' failure to address their point guard need caused them to overpay Dennis Schröder, and it might result in them giving up on another promising young guard in Carter just to sign an aging point guard. Monk is a gifted three-level scorer; however, he is a natural off guard. Sacramento should have invested in the point guard depth while Fox was still on the roster. When they traded him, getting a natural point guard back should have been a priority.
Instead, the Kings are stuck with one of the league's worst point guard rotations. After drafting two-star point guards in the past 10 years, this is a hard pill to swallow for Kings fans, especially given the point guard depth of the teams Fox and Haliburton were traded to.