As we approach the 2026-27 season, the Sacramento Kings are finally pivoting to what feels like a true rebuild. True rebuilds are usually centered around drafting and developing young talent. With this in mind, it is worth taking a look back at the Sacramento Kings’ draft picks over the last five years. 

2021: Tyrese Haliburton, Jahmi’us Ramsey

We start with the 2020 draft, which brought Tyrese Haliburton to town. The Iowa State product fell to the Kings at the 12th pick, a mild surprise at the time. Haliburton was certainly a top-10 talent at the time, and was mocked as high as the 4-6 range. 

Haliburton showed flashes of brilliance in his rookie season, but the fit alongside De’Aaron Fox never seemed to fully click. He was eventually traded to the Indiana Pacers in the blockbuster trade that brought Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento. 

Talking heads debated this trade for a long time. Both Sacramento and Indiana seemed very happy with the trade for a while. Sabonis led Sacramento to its best season in decades, helping end a record-long playoff drought. Meanwhile, Haliburton ascended to stardom with the Pacers, leading them to the NBA Finals. 

Haliburton tore his Achilles during the Finals and is set to return this season. Indiana is now well-positioned to be a contender with Haliburton leading the charge for years to come. The Kings, on the other hand, are looking to trade Sabonis as they rebuild. At this point, the winner of the trade is relatively clear. 

Jahmi’us Ramsey was an intriguing flier in the second round, but never caught on with the Kings. He has appeared in just 39 NBA games, the last one coming in the 2023-24 season with the Toronto Raptors. 

2022: Davion Mitchell, Neemias Queta

Mitchell and Queta have both turned into productive NBA players. However, just a few years into each of their respective careers, neither is producing for the Kings. That hurts. 

Sacramento still had Haliburton and De’Aaron Fox at the time it drafted Mitchell. So, Monte McNair looked to have taken Sacramento’s third point guard with a top-10 pick, behind last year’s lottery pick and a former top-five pick who recently signed a rookie extension. Even if Mitchell became what McNair wanted him to be, it was a head-scratcher for Sacramento when the pick was made, and still is today. 

Sacramento eventually traded Mitchell to the Raptors with Sasha Vezenkov for Jalen McDaniels. At this point, Mitchell’s career seemed to be reaching dicey territory. 

Luckily for him, he was again traded - this time, from Toronto to the Miami Heat. This proved to be the change of scenery he needed. Mitchell has thrived in Miami and was signed to a two-year, $24M contract last offseason. He has established himself as a premier perimeter defender and is now the starting point guard on the team that has high expectations with Giannis Antetokounmpo coming to town. 

Queta was an intriguing flier in the second round after a productive career at Utah State. He played very well with the Stockton Kings and was given some chances to take the backup center role. However, he never completely locked down the role.  

The Portuguese big eventually found his home in Boston in 2024. Queta had a limited role in his first season, but broke out last season. He averaged 10.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in 25 minutes per game - starting 75 games. This led to Boston signing Queta to a four-year, $56M extension this summer. 

2023: Jalen Slawson

This was an uneventful draft for the Kings. They traded out of the 24th overall pick, sending it and Richaun Holmes to the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas ultimately selected Olivier-Maxence Prosper with that selection. 

Slawson did not catch on with the Kings and got some run with the Indiana Pacers last season. Indiana signed Slawson to a two-way contract for 2026-27, so they saw enough to give him another look. 

2024: Devin Carter

Once again: this one hurts. At this point, Sacramento had traded Haliburton and Mitchell, so they were a little thin at the guard spot. Carter was very productive at Providence, drawing comparisons to Derrick White and Jrue Holiday. There were certainly people who talked themselves into him being a sort of gap-filler backcourt option to go with Fox. 

However, Carter simply did not pan out. Almost immediately after the draft, it was announced that Carter needed major shoulder surgery that would sideline him for at least half of his rookie season. For a team that was trying to win and picked an older guard that was supposed to help win right away, this really hurt. 

Carter struggled to find a groove once he did return, and simply never carved out a consistent role with the Kings. He was traded to the Atlanta Hawks as the Kings tried to cut costs and avoid the luxury tax. 

2025: Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud

This is the first draft class of the Scott Perry regime. Sacramento did not have a first-round pick at first, but traded into the first to select Clifford. The Kings were a mess last season, but Clifford had some nice moments. He averaged 8.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 2.4 APG, showcasing the well-rounded skill set that made Sacramento trade up for him in the first place. 

Raynaud, the 42nd pick last summer, exceeded expectations, landing on the All-Rookie Second Team. He averaged 12.5 PPG and 7.5 RPG in 26 MPG. It remains to be seen how he and undrafted free agent find Dylan Cardwell fit in a rotation that will have Domantas Sabonis back from injury, but Raynaud is expected to get significant run once again. 

As you can see, the Kings have experienced lots of roster turnover - even with high draft picks that were supposed to be key pieces for a long time. Both Clifford and Raynaud are expected to be key contributors to a Kings team that will be looking for young players to establish themselves as cornerstones for the next generation of Kings basketball.

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