One of the Sacramento Kings' many, many problems has been continuity. It's hard to get any kind of momentum going without it. The Kings' starting frontcourt is currently made up of Keegan Murray, De'Andre Hunter, and Domantas Sabonis, and that is going to change before this season is over.
Finding any sort of consistency has been a real issue in Sacramento for the past couple of decades. Things bottomed out last season. After the firing of Mike Brown, there were a lot of major changes in a rather short period of time, not to mention the merciless number of injuries the Kings collected.
The lack of continuity, even from week to week last season, was incredibly disruptive for the team. When Sacramento committed to running their rookies and younger stars, they actually managed to find a bit of a rhythm. For that to make a difference, it needs to continue this season.
But that's not going to happen. The projected starting lineup, particularly in the frontcourt, is made of returning injured players. Murray, Sabonis, and Hunter barely played at all last season. Hunter is a special case. The Kings traded for him at the deadline only for him to get injured after two games.
Frontcourt continuity will be an issue this season
While Murray, Sabonis, and Hunter are all veterans, they have never played together as a group. Fans have no idea what this is going to look like when they actually get into a legit game situation. Murray and Sabonis have experience together, but Hunter is a bit of an unknown in this unit.
There's also the fact that Hunter's on an expiring contract. It seems unlikely that the Kings will extend him, as they're planning some big moves in the 2027 offseason and will need his salary cap and roster spot. If that's the plan, then Hunter taking up a key spot throughout the season isn't happening.
The same could be said about Sabonis. While the Kings are struggling to find a workable trade scenario for him, they are still trying to trade him. At some point, Sacramento has to start looking to the future and move Sabonis out of such an important starting lineup spot.
Players like Maxime Raynaud, Dylan Cardwell, Alex Karaban, and more are the future of this franchise. It's going to be impossible to maintain continuity until they are the consistent foundation of the frontcourt. That being said, that frontcourt is still in better shape than the backcourt. Yikes.
