The Sacramento Kings will be without their two highest paid players for the remainder of the season after announcing Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine each had season-ending surgeries recently.
Sabonis had surgery to repair a lingering meniscus injury in his left knee, while LaVine had surgery to repair a tendon tear in his finger. At 12-44, the Kings own the NBA’s worst record and the focus for the remainder of the 2025-26 season is on positioning for the future in the midst of a crowded tank race for lottery odds across the league.
The typically reliable Sabonis tried rehabbing the injury without surgery and playing through knee trouble, but the decision was made to finally have surgery to repair his knee and end his season. He averaged 15.8 points and 11.4 rebounds per game in limited action, and after playing in at least 62 games in each year of his pro career, he’ll end the 2025-26 campaign with just 19 appearances.
Sabonis’ name came up in trade rumors multiple times ahead of the deadline, with the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards rumored to have interest, but he ultimately stayed in Sacramento and will now focus on getting fully healthy for next season. He’ll almost assuredly be involved in more trade rumors this summer as the Kings could look to finally shift their timeline forward after bottoming out this season.
LaVine appeared in 39 games and led the Kings in scoring at 19.2 points per game, but suffered a finger injury early in February that was determined to require surgery. LaVine can become a free agent this summer, but won’t find a deal worth more annually than his $48.9 million player option. His decision will be whether to aim for a new long-term deal for less annually or to pick up his option and play out one more year with the Kings.
The Kings weren’t planning on being in the thick of the tank race this season, as evidenced by an active summer that saw them shuffle money around to sign Dennis Schröder to a three-year, $45 million deal. However, their veteran-laden squad never came together and they cut bait on the Schröder deal mere months after signing him while digging their way to the bottom of the standings.
Now they find themselves battling for top lottery odds with the Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans, Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks, and won’t have their two highest-paid players on the floor for the remainder of the season.